AMG cars usually come out, at least in the US, about 6-12 months after a new line is introduced. The new E55 should come out when you said, late Spring / Summer of '03, which would be 6-9 months after the new E debuts in the US this late Summer / early Fall. The new CLK line, coming to the US around the same time as the new E, is not supposed to have an AMG product for at least 1 year, however.
The '03 CL and S class get some minor facelift / rear-end / interior work this Fall '02 and the SL55 engine will appear in both models at that time. And the S (not sure about the CL) will get a twin-turbo V-12 engine option in addition to the 55 supercharged engine. The V-12 TT should have similar power numbers to the 55 but a different suspension setup and different power curve, much in the same way that the current S55 and S600 differ. That CL55 should be something very special...
Transmission on all the AMG's is supposed to be a behind-the-wheel button shift system, like Porsche's Tiptronic, except MB's buttons are behind rather than on the wheel.
Of course, until MB announces any info, none of this means much. This info comes from sources which historically have been quite reliable, but does not come directly from MB.
- A-Train
. This will probably be my in-between car for a hoped to be produced M6. That is if Bangle doesn't bungle it.
. Below is a link to the new E W211 series from MBSPY which might give you some ideas as to what the car will look like.
. All new AMGs, as A_Train said, will have the "Steptronic" tranmission ala Prosche. So not really a clutchless manual like SMG which will be available on the M5.
Linear Mode
