Mercedes-Benz E350 BlueTec gains nine-speed automatic transmission

Mercedes-Benz has recently made an announcement with respect to a series of updates for the facelifted E-Class, including the adoption of a nine-speed automatic transmission.

The rear-wheel drive E350 BlueTec with the seven-speed 7G-Tronic automatic transmission has been now replaced by a newly developed 9G-Tronic nine-speed auto box. However this change would not have any impact of the speed capability of the model as it achieves the 0-62 mph (0-100 kmph) spring in same 6.6 seconds as before which means there aren’t any improvements in terms of performance.

However the good news is that the fuel efficiency has been bettered to 53.3 mpg UK (44.3 mpg US or 5.3 liters / 100 km) from 51.4 mpg UK (42.8 mpg US or 5.5 liters /100 km) earlier. Also the CO2 emissions have come down from 144 g/km to 138 g/km. This has become possible mainly because of the two additional ratios and inclusion of stop/start function in the new model.

The E350 BlueTec which comes with 9G-Tronic will return 44.1 mpg UK (36.7 mpg US or 6.4 liters / 100 km) in the city, while the 7G-Tronic model achieved 40.9 mpg UK (34 mpg US or 6.9 liters / 100 km). But on the highway, the figures have remained the same at 60.1 mpg UK (50 mpg US or 4.7 liters / 100 km).