2012 Mercedes-Benz CL550 4Matic

We all know that the Mercedes-Benz CL is a fabulous ride with stunning design and the ability to sprint to 60 mph in less than 5 seconds (and that's the "base" CL550). But what I got to enjoy about the CL this time around is its excellent all-weather capability. Even on all-season tires, the all-wheel-drive CL550 easily tackled Ann Arbor's first real snowstorm of the season. You've actually got to be careful because the car insulates you so well from what's going on outside and on the road surface that it's easy to find yourself going faster than you should be on slippery surfaces. The heated steering wheel and seats and excellent defrosters made my snowy late-night drive home that much nicer. With winter tires on a CLS550, the only limiting factor in winter would be ground clearance.

Read more: http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews/editors_notebook/1201_2012_mercedes_benz_cl550_4matic/viewall.html#ixzz1m0sNVZCQ

2012 Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG First Drive: A 500-Plus-HP SUV that Can Outrun Your Worries

At some point during a two-day drive of the all-new Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG, something interesting happened. Your author learned to stop worrying and love the bomb.

Learned to stop worrying about the ML63’s carbon footprint. Worrying about its two-and-a-half-ton weight. Worrying, ultimately, about the sheer ludicrousness of turning the mild-mannered, safety-centric M-class SUV into something that should wear a court-ordered ankle bracelet. We can’t recall the exact moment, but all this consternation likely disappeared while the twin-turbocharged 5.5-liter V-8 was swallowing 14.5 psi of boost and delivering 518 horsepower. AMG claims that the ML63 will achieve 60 mph in less than 4.8 seconds. Select the AMG Performance package, and the boost goes up to 18.9 psi, which yields 550 horsepower and a 4.5-second 0-to-60 sprint by our estimate. (Some context: In our hands, the previous ML63—equipped with AMG’s naturally aspirated 503-hp, 6.2-liter V-8—blitzed to 60 mph in 4.6 seconds.) Top speed, with or without the essential Performance package, is governed at 155 mph.

One of our favorite parts of the original ML63 was its exhaust note. Part big-block Chevrolet Chevelle, part offshore powerboat, all perfectly inappropriate for high society. AMG has managed to preserve that sound in the latest version despite its engine’s slightly smaller displacement and two pesky turbochargers in the path of the exhaust gases. Deep and loud under full throttle, but with a slightly uneven and menacing sound at idle, the 5.5-liter is a perfect mimic of the old 6.2. Maybe that’s why it wears the same “ML63” badges on its fenders and rear door. Or maybe AMG just ordered too many of them and hasn’t run out yet.

Read More: http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2012-mercedes-benz-ml63-amg-first-drive-review

GreenCarReports: Mercedes-Benz E-Class Top Model Goes Carbon Fiber In 2015

The launch of a new Mercedes-Benz E-Class is always important, given the influence the car has in the luxury sedan sector.

We'd be hard-pressed to call it exciting though, rapid AMG models excepted. That could be about to change however, as one example of the model's next generation will be very different from the others.

According to CAR magazine (via Motor Authority) one variant of the next Mercedes E-Class would use a carbon-fiber structure, rather than today's steel, to shave as much as 770 pounds off the weight of today's car.

That's a huge difference, and though it won't be applied across the entire E-Class range - presumably due to the relative expense - it will give Mercedes-Benz a high-tech challenger for cars like Audi's e-tron and the BMW i models, both of which use similar lightweight construction.

The E Superlight, as its provisionally known, would also feature a hydrogen fuel-cell powertrain, as seen in the recent F125! concept shown at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show.

Mercedes is expected to make around 20,000 units per annum, by 2017. Production would begin in 2015, by which time the carbon E-Class's fuel-cell powertrain should also be catered for by a larger hydrogen infrastructure.

Read More: http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1071852_mercedes-benz-e-class-top-model-goes-carbon-fiber-in-2015

Mercedes Milwaukee

2013 Mercedes-Benz SL550: M-B’s Big Roadster Drops a Few Pounds

Sport leicht, or sport and lightweight. Despite the two-plus-ton heft of Mercedes’ big boulevardier, that’s what SL has supposedly stood for ever since the car debuted in the ’50s. Now in its sixth generation, the SL promises to be more car than ever: more powerful, more efficient, and more light.

Maybe Some More Sport, Definitely Lighter

Adding power was the easy part. The SL550, which will be the first of the updated SLs to go on sale, will be powered by Mercedes’ new 4.7-liter twin-turbo V-8. The direct-injected engine makes the same numbers here as it does in the CL550: 429 hp at 5250 rpm, 516 lb-ft at 1800. Those figures represent increases of 47 hp and 125 lb-ft compared to the outgoing SL550’s 5.5-liter V-8. The engine is backed by a seven-speed automatic transmission and now gets standard stop/start functionality. Mercedes predicts a 0-to-60-mph time of 4.5 seconds, 0.8 better than its claim for the last SL550, although runs that begin with the engine off will take a few extra tenths. Since the company’s estimates are generally conservative—we hit 60 in 4.8 seconds with a 2011 SL550—figure on something closer to four seconds flat. And then realize that’s as quick as the outgoing SL63.

Some of this newfound quickness will be thanks in no small part to a reduction in weight. The 2013 SL550 uses the company’s first all-aluminum body in a series-production model, which is claimed to make it 275 pounds lighter than the car it replaces. If you’re having trouble imagining the weight difference, Dr. Thomas Rudlaff, who was responsible for the aluminum shell, puts it into perspective: “The effect is as if a large passenger has stepped out of the car.” (Keep the fat American jokes to yourself.) We should mention that some high-strength steel tubing is used to reinforce the A-pillars, lest they accordion in a crash. The suspension also uses lightweight pieces, and Active Body Control, M-B’s adaptive suspension, continues to be an option. The SL will switch to electric power steering, which should improve efficiency while hopefully retaining some semblance of feedback.

All of this weight loss is despite a dimensional gain. The 2013 car is 1.4 inches longer, 2.2 inches wider, and rides on a 1-inch-longer wheelbase. Front and rear track also are increased. Mercedes says this all helps create a larger cabin. We had no complaints about the interior room before.

Read More: http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2013-mercedes-benz-sl550-news

Wisconsin Mercedes Dealers

Mercedes-Benz Teases 2013 SL Roadster, Gets Serious with Technology

Since 1954, Mercedes-Benz has sold a car badged as an SL model. That “SL” designation originally meant “sport leicht,” or sports lightweight in English. But in recent years with the base Mercedes-Benz SL550 roadster ballooning to more than two tons, it carried the SL name in spirit only.

Fortunately, Mercedes-Benz seems to be backtracking a little with its history and heritage, putting those two little letters to work again. Employing extensive use of aluminum throughout the next-generation SL roadster, Mercedes-Benz says the car will lop 300 pounds from its weight. Best of all, the German automaker is more than happy to show just how it’s doing it.

Most automakers keep the development of future models  under tight wraps. Not so with Mercedes-Benz this time, as it is proudly flaunting working prototypes of the cars testing and their uncovered bodies for the world to see. The company has said the car will feature plenty of new luxury features for its well-to-do clientele including spray-on insulation that will make the car quieter than the current model, doors that will open—and stay open—at any angle, and a zinc coating to prevent corrosion on any steel bits left on the car.

It will also have windshield wipers the company is calling “magic vision” that will virtually eliminate limited visibility due to water on the front window, especially when using the washers. The wipers will have a heated function for cold weather in addition to having built-in ducts that collect and channel excess water off the windshield, which can be programmed to work differently for summer and winter driving. The next SL will also have an acoustically-tuned footwell to better reverberate the car’s subwoofer, optimized for when the top is either up or down.

Read more: http://blogs.automotive.com/mercedes-benz-teases-2013-sl-roadster-gets-serious-with-technology-67775.html#ixzz1eYGB5r35

Car and Driver - 2012 Mercedes-Benz B-class: First Drive Review

When the first Mercedes-Benz A- and B-class appeared on the market, the tall compacts offered great practicality but little in terms of material quality or driving enjoyment. Welcome, then, to the second-generation B-class. It's another high-roof hatchback, but this time it looks far less awkward, is larger, and rides on a new platform for which Mercedes has big plans.

The architecture beneath the new B will underpin a plethora of new models, including the next A-class, a crossover, a sedan and station wagon—the latter two four-doors likely will be mislabeled "coupe" and "shooting brake," categorizations once reserved for vehicles with two passenger ports. While the appearance of the B-class in the U.S. is uncertain, at least a couple of its siblings are a sure thing for our shores. If the B-class stays behind, that might be okay with us—it’s the least attractive of the group. But after two days in this four-wheeled shopping bag, we were impressed by the improvements over the last generation and hopeful for its future derivatives.

The Following Political References Are Only Jokes

The suspension errs on the side of comfort, but the electric power steering is precise. It’s still an understeerer, but the B-class seems to enjoy cornering. It’s enabled by a stability-control system that has morphed from rigid totalitarianism to slightly authoritarian rule, allowing a bit more leeway before intervention. Libertarians will be appeased by the Sports package, which firms up the suspension and results in a B-class that is almost tossable. The optional variable-ratio steering is an unusual and welcome feature in this class, with response that is noticeably more direct and a natural weight. This is one of the best steering setups we've experienced in a Mercedes.

Read More: http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2012-mercedes-benz-b-class-first-drive

Mercedes-Benz Looking to Build BMW X6–Fighter, Teases 2015 Production at Tuscaloosa Plant

An image has surfaced on Twitter of a new Mercedes-Benz model to be built at the company’s Tuscaloosa, Alabama, plant. The banner you see here appeared at an event celebrating the allocation of the new model to Tuscaloosa; the move includes a $350 million investment and the creation of 400 new jobs at the factory. The “vehicle” pictured is really the CLS-wearing-a-sheet sculpture the company showed off at the Detroit auto show in 2010, and it’s accompanied by text reading “Introducing the Newest Addition to our Family” and “Start of Production: 2015.”

Despite the CLS preview on the banner, we think it’s a safe bet that the new Benz will be an SUV with a coupe-like roofline. It would go up against the currently unchallenged BMW X6, which has proven popular in spite of—or, really, because of—its funky looks. Just as the X6 is a remixed X5, the Mercedes crossover likely will share its architecture with the mid-size ML-class. The Tuscaloosa factory currently produces the M-, GL-, and R-class, and will build U.S.-market C-class models by 2014.

Read More: http://blog.caranddriver.com/mercedes-benz-looking-to-build-bmw-x6%E2%80