EuropeanCarBlog

Mercedes Benz had been looking of late at the U.S. auto market, considering it to be a fair game, a place where it can sell luxury automobiles as well as the low budget ones. Estimated around $25,000, the new ‘budget Benz’ B-Class; based on the A-Class series is proposed to roll out in the U.S. market from 2008. This car will come loaded with electronic stability program with all the standard features, as other cars in its segment. Though this will be about the size of a rabbit, I found it to be well equipped with all the standard gadgets and trims, as preferred by most Mercedes owners.

As compared to the A-Class, I find the new Benz to be 43cms longer with a height of 5.2 ft, throwing a sporting aerodynamic look. The boot looks quite spacious measuring 544 liters, and the cabin is said to accommodate 5 people theoretically. However, the rear bench is seen to give room to only 2 passengers comfortably, and not three with the two singe seats separated by the armrest. However, I always search for adequate room, as I believe a lot of room takes away the driving pleasure, and the new B-Class is one of my types. Though the windscreen is much smaller I find it to give a decent flexible broad view of the road ahead. The dashboard as well as the sides is a bit smaller than its competitors. The sunroof is panoramic. The option of placing your cell phone at a holder is simply amazing. Just recline back and avail it’s hands-free advantage.

Mercedes offers DVD navigation and an Autotronic CVT gearbox to the new B-Class. This gearbox allows the engine to deliver the maximum power in a smaller time interval without any disturbance. The engine is derived from the A-Class. Though only the 115-193hp-petrol engine or the 109-140hp diesel engines will be available at the launch, I am looking to wait for some time for the 160CDI version.  The 150 (95 hp) and 160 CDI (82 hp) engines will be available a little later. The B-200 Turbocharged model is loaded with a 2.0L turbocharged engine producing 280Nm of torque at 1,800 rpm. Therefore, the new “budget Benz” reaches 100kph i.e. 62mph in only 7.6 seconds from stand still.

It is safety where Mercedes always stands out. The intelligent sandwich concept of the B-Class with the engine and transmission arranged under the bonnet and the passenger compartment; makes the passengers totally secure from the front. The power train is set to divert downwards to the pedal floor panel, and not towards the passengers compartment, in case of a serious front impact. Besides, the higher sitting position in the new B-Class is an added advantage in case of sidelong impacts.
The “2 stage adaptive” airbags are set at the front, the top and thorax positions, and that I believe it to form the most important while enjoying the engine’s overall performance.

As a person who always denied the set conventions, I had to face (and still facing) raised eyebrows from the class who abide by the norms; I think I don’t need to elaborate any further on the responses when I finally agreed that ‘D’ precedes ‘E’. Now you must be wondering what brought about the change. In a simple word – it’s Mercedes!

Did that sound like a riddle? If it’s so, then I assume you are not much into the hi-tech cabins on four wheels. Being an ardent automobile enthusiast, it has become a ritual for me to keep track of every set of wheels hitting the road for the first time and when I heard that a diesel model from Mercedes is about to show its sweet face, it revved up my own engines. After all, the new stunner from the E-series deserves some attention and for me, it’s DIESEL that stole the show. I think you solved the D preceding E riddle by now.

What astonished me most is the name behind the technology for the Mercedes-Benz E320 BLUETEC Sedan. I’ve known one thing since my college days; if blue is the color of the smoke then blue is the state of mind (or soul?) of the engine. But Mercedes, we know you being the wizard; the BLUETEC® clean diesel technology reflects cleanly the blue-blooded thought processes that made this sedan the winner. Of? The 2007 World Green Car award.

I won’t lie; I have driven quite a few Mercedes over all these years but none has been able to blend this extraordinary a fuel efficiency together with really low noise levels and that too without sacrificing on the sheer muscles of Diesel. I love to tune cars; therefore, I swept the exhaust pipe insides with my right index finger. Surprisingly, all I could see is nothing! It proves one thing - the soot and other pollutant emissions have been reduced to significant levels. Later, I found out the specialized filter and catalytic converter being the trickster, but I had reached the point of no return with this mantrap. Powerful, efficient – and it’s not even a minute by the time you realize she is going to respond by thrust for thrust (of the gas pedal).

Now, I somehow believe that $52,675 is not at all a bad price for this 3.0L DOHC 24-valve V-6 diesel engine Merc and how much ever the majority hate speed, I’m going to gun this baby at least once for squeezing out the entire 210 hp. I’m sure the aluminum cylinder block and the cast-iron cylinder sleeves can handle the heat as much as the 7-speed automatic can handle my adrenalin. But somehow, I haven’t had been able till now to outgrow the all-mechanical headiness but the E320 deserves the e-controlled shifting features to match its entire outlook. You cannot expect a memory –driven, power-tilt sunroof and selectable light-sensing headlamps to ride the same boat as a noisy, old-fashioned transmission would; an absolute Adonis won’t date a Plain Jane.

What disappoints me most about the Mercedes-Benz 2008 E320 BLUETEC Sedan is it takes out the challenge from driving; agreed that the driver-adaptive programming makes shifting the points a lot more comfortable, but taming something more powerful than I am is something that I always prefer. And where is the ground to test the expertise of the driver? The Optimum Gear Programming takes just a touch for selecting the best gears to churn out maximum acceleration (engine braking as well). Driving a car is different from sleeping! But talking about the average men, the OGP and the ESP (electronic stability control) shall see them reaching out for the expressways all the more and reaching the full 3,800 rpm this time is not going to be tough. And I also believe that at a net torque of 400 lb. ft when the engine is running between 1,600 and 2,400 rpm, anyone’s childhood dream of flying a rocket shall be fulfilled. But that’s for the people not residing in the states of California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island or Vermont. Forget about me, for right now, I’m in a dreamy state; not only for the sheer diesel power but also because of the fact that this CDI-engine can feast heartily on the B5 bio diesel and turn you topsy-turvy with ecstasy as much as it did to the mileage. Another riddle, isn’t it? Not quite, for the city mileage of 23mpg just turns to 32mpg on the highways.

So what waits? I’m expecting a state-of-the-art diesel luxury draped in performance, wrapped in comfort and elegant with stylish sophistication in the New Year. Wish you one as pleasing as the E320 itself.

Move over Night Riders, the cars with the true night vision have arrived at last. Mercedes Benz is offering its night vision system on the CL Class coupes. This system uses infra red projector beams which are built into the headlights which cover the road and the periphery. A windshield mounted camera receives a constant image and displays it on the eight inch display on the instrument panel. The night vision system gives a night view of the road up to 500 feet ahead.
BMW is also a contender in this race. They boast that their night vision system uses the Far Infra Red Technology which covers the road up to 1000 feet.

thecarconnection.com has more details on the future of night vision. 

The Mercedes CLS has not seen a lot of changes since its debut in 2004, but is apparently being redesigned for the 2008 model year. The new styling cues are apparently a new front Grille, maybe a new bumper and new tail lights as well, hard to tell by the spy shots.

Remember those ultra intelligent and technology savvy cars in the James Bond’s series, which had equipment to find any location with a click of a button? If you think, that’s just wishful thinking, we have news for you. Mercedes-Benz USA, in collaboration with google and yahoo has unveiled a new navigation system called “Search and Send”. This high tech mechanism helps car owners to download customized Google maps and Yahoo local Maps directly from a computer or web enabled cell phone to their car’s computer
This means that next time you want to go somewhere and do not know the way, you don’t need to worry yourself on it, just ask the person to send the directions to your car’s computer.