Good Guy Mercedes To Give The New C450 Sport A 3.0 Twin-Turbo V6

After the new Mercedes C-Class was revealed, we wondered if the German manufacturer might slot the blistering 355bhp 2.0-litre turbo found in the A45 under the bonnet, to create a sort of 'sub' AMG model. When Autocar reported that a performance-biased C450 AMG Sport model was on the way, we thought Mercedes had done exactly that.

As it turns out, Stuttgart has gone for a more conventional choice. It'll actually be powered by a revised version of the M276 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 found in the C400, kicking out a healthy 367bhp. Interestingly, that's a very similar figure to the old W203 C55 AMG.

The C450 AMG Sport won't be an official AMG machine (much like BMW's M Performance sub-brand) instead being built with input from the Merc performance arm, and is intended to plug the gap between the C400 and the upcoming C63. With AMG Mercs getting increasingly powerful (up to 500bhp is rumoured for the C63), having sporty 'sub' models like this C450 seems like a good plan. It'll be released in 2015.