Mercedes-AMG E63 to get drift mode

• Full coverage: 2016 Paris motor show.

Mercedes-AMG has confirmed that Drift Mode will be on the engineering menu for its next E63 performance sedan – no doubt leaving road safety zealots with pitchforks at the ready.

Due to be unveiled at January's Detroit motor show, the E63 will switch rangewide to a fully variable all-wheel drive system that can send up to 100 per cent of drive to the back wheels. Mercedes-AMG boss Tobias Moers firmly wants the large car to power oversteer like the current rear-driven version.

"It's really fast, it's all-wheel drive standard as everyone knows, it's right-hand drive as well and we're going to have a Drift Mode in that car," he tells Drive during an interview at the Paris motor show.

Moers confirmed that the deliberate electronic dabbling – which dials in extra rear torque bias to create a slide – will specifically be called Drift Mode, and he couldn't resist a cheeky shot at the reactionary complaints of Australian police and road safety commentators when a similar setting debuted in the Ford Focus RS earlier in 2016.

"Yeah, but maybe it's banned in Australia," he teases.

The Mercedes-AMG boss further revealed that the new generation E63, which was spied by Drive during the international media launch of its E43 on roads around Stuttgart, Germany, this week, will produce more than 450kW of power.

"It's going to be 600bhp [447kW] around, below and above," he says, indicating there will be two tunes for the 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine in a similar position to the outgoing 5.5-litre twin-turbo V8 offered in E63 (overseas only) and E63 S with up to 430kW.

Currently the 4.0-litre makes a maximum 430kW in the Mercedes-AMG GT R halo coupe.

The 0-100km/h claimed acceleration will be "three point something" according to Moers, which would place the next E63 somewhere beside the 3.7sec Audi RS7 Sportback that boasts an identically engine configuration with 445kW/750Nm outputs.

"It is the biggest step we've ever made with an E-Class to be honest," further claims Mr Moers.

"In terms of styling, visibility of the car, presence of the car, it's totally different than it used to be, tyre sizes, drivetrain, suspension, everything. We've never made bigger steps in generation changes in the past."

The prototype vehicle spied by Drive reveals the additions of muscular wheelarches, a quad sports exhaust system and a wide cross-hatch grille as obvious E63 additions, while Michelin Pilot Super Sports tucked up under the guards.

Moers believes the E63 will be a tearaway at the Nurburgring, but he casts doubt over Porsche's claim the Panamera Turbo can clock a sub-7min 40sec lap of the famous 23km-long circuit.

"It's faster on the [Nurburgring] Nordschleife than ever. It's going to be under 7:50 with the standard tyres in development," he says.

"You know they [Porsche] announce something in under 7:40 and I don't know what they did … Chasing for the lap times and announcing them, you can do anything with the right tyres and things like that, I don't know what they did."

Also ruled out are a E63 R hero model – "there is no intention to do so, when you have the S letter for our derivative portfolio, the R is dedicated for GT," he says – and Drift Mode filtering into the all-wheel drive system of the A45, which is a natural rival for the Focus RS.

To that possibility, the Mercedes-AMG boss simply answers "no".

The Mercedes-AMG E63 is slated for an Australian launch during the second half of 2017 priced from around $240K.

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