by Keiichi (RSS feed) August 18th, 2010 at 7:59 pm
Wondering what the next Mercedes-Benz CLS might look like? Well, here’s something to fuel your imagination. These images had been leaked out despite Stuttgart’s best efforts to keep you guys and gals scintillated with anticipation. It’s a four-door coupe that’s just waiting to be queued into the production line.
As you can see, the next CLS will take a lot of design cues from the Shooting Break CLS concept, specifically the front grill and the more raunchy fascia. The sectioned style of the headlights have been retained from the current design, albeit they’re somewhat more slender and a lot more attention-grabbing. The LED arrays that are clearly visible makes you wonder how this baby will appear in the evening, all sexy and intimidating. As with the Shooting Break CLS concept, the rear quarter panels are well-rounded out, giving it that graceful stance that just begs high-speed cruising. More graceful, in fact, than the current CLS.
As you step inside, the exclusive four-seat arrangement plus a full-length cabin console won’t fail to raise you on cloud nine, as if you’re sitting on your very own limousine. The level of refinement? Almost at par with the E-Class and S-Class. Level of comfort? Definitely worth the hype.
Under its powerful yet slender hood, a brand new 3.5-liter direct injected six banger is an option, as well as a twin-turbo 4.6-liter V8 that’s rated at 430 horses and 516 pound-feet of feet-numbing torque. And yes, in case you and everyone else are wondering, there will be an AMG version down the line, and it will surely be blessed with Mercedes-Benz’s brand new 5.5-liter twin-turbo V8.
There you have it—credible leaked images of the next CLS. You can bet your bottom dollar that an official press release will soon follow. Until then, keep tuning in ‘cause we’ll be sure to give you updates.
A big thank you to Marcus Jordan over at the Mercedes-Benz Passion Blog for uncovering those prints
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by Keiichi (RSS feed) August 18th, 2010 at 10:46 am
Despite the financial crisis that plagued the automotive industry in 2009, car manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz haven’t given up from trying to reach more niche markets. Unlike other companies who are afraid that their attempt at tapping into a niche segment would simply draw popularity and thereby kill the main purpose of exclusivity, Mercedes-Benz has plans is to introduce a shooting brake concept, something the company has never tried but is boldly considering.
News of this actually comes after fellow German rival BMW talked to the media about creating a shooting break model of their future 6 Series. It seems Mercedes-Benz wants to enter the fray instead of just passively sit around. Autobild magazine thus reports that Daimler’s breadwinner is considering a shooting brake concept that shall be included in the C-Class range. And since the C-Class is about to be reworked, a shooting break variant would be very much welcome.
If successful, the C-Class shooting break will be called the CLC, and should be something of a mix between a sedan and a wagon, although very much sleeker. The image above, however, is a CLS Shooting Break concept. Although the CLC would probably take up similar design cues. More details to follow, but right now, we’ll leave you to your imagination.
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by Keiichi (RSS feed) July 16th, 2010 at 2:49 am
Moving forward doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to drop all your past achievements and start from scratch. Sometimes, you’ve got to take pieces of past, successful projects and use them to build new creations. That’s what Mercedes-Benz is set to do with the next generation of the ML-Class. This time, the company is looking into putting in elements from their up-and-coming GL-Class and future R-Class models, plus advancements in powertrain systems to please future power and emission requirements.
By mid-2011, the 2012 Mercedes-Benz ML-Class SUV shall still be shrouded in mystery. There are, however, several spy shots of an advance prototype that shows a leaner form, albeit having the same wheelbase. Shots of its interior are included as well, accompanied by a computer-generated rendition of what it’s preferably going to look like.
There are some suggestions that the drivetrain may turn out to be a hybrid—both diesel and electric—although there are rumors that a gasoline-electric hybrid—as suggested by the divulged ML450 Hybrid—may be possible as well. A purely electric version of the ML Hybrid is even more possible, with what looks to be an 80-horsepower electric motor coupled with a direct-injected twin-turbo 3.5-liter V6. Battery power is speculated to be around 18-mile duration on full electric power alone.
Source: MotorAuthority
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by Keiichi (RSS feed) July 8th, 2010 at 3:15 am
You already heard of the rumors that Mercedes-Benz is planning on building a smaller version of the SLS. That supposed spin-off would have been called the SLV, sharing the front-engine layout of the Gullwing. But the company decided to forgo that project for something a lot more, shall we say, promising. Mercedes-Benz is still going to work on an SLS derivative, but this time round they’re going to call it the SLM. The M stands for mid-engine. Oh, so NOW you’re listening.
Who would have thought Mercedes-Benz would decide to veer away from the SLS platform and boldly go where so many others have (not?) gone before. Well, at least for this company, a mid-engine super car sounds a little farfetched. Well, only time will be able to tell if it’s going to be a reality. Right now, all we have is a source from AMG saying that creating another front-engine super car would endanger the cash flow being pulled in by the SLS.
So what’s the deal behind the SLM? Lightness and efficiency, apparently. Something to jive with the current trends in the industry. Although the mid-engine layout still puzzles a lot of people, us admittedly. Our source says that it’s the best way not to hurt SLS sales and to be able to rival the Audi R8 and the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Coupe. Sounds promising, don’t you think?
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by Keiichi (RSS feed) July 8th, 2010 at 2:05 am
EADS, a military technology supplier, has just unveiled its partnership project with Mercedes-Benz. Dubbed as the 6.X Concept, it is Mercedes-Benz’s next in line G-Wagon Light Armored Patrol Vehicle. Based on the LAPV 5.4, its designed to have less weight at the benefit of having improved protection plus an increased payload carrying capacity.
The 6.X Concept’s high torque common rail diesel engine will be able to hurl it up to 150km/h while transporting up to 1.3 tons of payload. Protection comes in the form of an armor plate system that enables damaged plates to be dropped off in an instant and be replaced with new or spare plates. The system even comes with a mine-deflector plate that protects the LAPV from ground level booby-traps. As an interesting bonus, the LAPV is equipped with an individual tire inflation system that automatically adjusts tire pressure depending on battle ground conditions.
Mercedes-Benz put in place a variable lift front and rear coilover air shock absorbers that are completely adjustable. It’ll be able to lift the LAPV up to 450mm off the ground. Its high performance hydraulic braking system works with four ventilated disc rotors to make climbing and descending hills an easy affair. Branded as the ultimate go anywhere ride, it has a host of radar jamming, communication and mission control systems to make every mission possible.
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by Keiichi (RSS feed) June 11th, 2010 at 4:09 pm
What do you think cars will look like forty years from now? Well, here’s a rendition by artist Felipe Palermo.
Apparently, his view of the future isn’t that farfetched, except his design looks like a boat on wheels. What’s funny about this design is it doesn’t seem to have glass windows. Are people of the future supposed to be breathing polluted air? If so, then this design takes its roots from convertibles. But if you look really close at the body and the wheel layout, you’ll notice that it resembles somewhat a Formula One racecar. So apparently Palermo also had performance in mind.
Another part of the design that’s quite bothering is the wheels and tires. Either they’re super shiny slicks, or are made of some kind of fiberglass. According the press release, however, the tires can be injected with rubber once they wear out. It sounds weird but hey, all good ideas sound funny at first. Case in point is Wilbur and Orville Wright. They damn well near killed themselves trying to take off at Kittyhawk. How’s that for weird ideas? We all know where they ended up in history books.
Finally, according to Palermo, the car uses magnetic levetation, a.k.a. MAGLEV, technology, to allow its floating body to ‘roll’ into a turn to put weight onto the inner tires. Such a technology should make Formula One cars cornering look slow. Palermo says his inspiration for this design was the legendary Silver Arrows, Sir Bruce McLaren, and of course, the 1954 Gullwing. So, yeah—it’s a cool concept. What do you think?
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by Francis Isberto (RSS feed) April 22nd, 2010 at 11:50 pm
The term “Shooting Break” is the name for its latest concept vehicle. “Break, or the homonym Brake, was the name once given to carriages used to ‘break’ in wild horses and also to restrict (or ‘brake’) their urge to move, so that they could be put to use as work horses.
Since the carts could easily be broken as part of this process, people tended not to use ones which they may have urgently needed for other purposes. Where necessary, ‘Brakes’ were often fitted out with variable bodies, which were only really used to carry along anything that may have been necessary for the hunt, for example. Any such vehicle which was used when going out shooting was called a Shooting Brake or Shooting Break.
In the 1960s and 1970s, motorized Shooting Breaks were popular in Great Britain–exclusive crossover vehicles, which combined the luxuriousness of a coupe with the luggage space of an estate.”
Another term for Break is “Engine break-in” where the goal of modern engine break-ins is the settling of piston rings into an engine’s cylinder wall. Shooting Break is a unique name for the new evolution of Mercedes Benz.
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by Muamer Hodzic (RSS feed) April 19th, 2010 at 10:58 pm
Mercedes-Benz may have caught everyone off guard with this gem. It’s codenamed the X218 CLS Shooting Break (yes break instead of brake like we usually see with concepts) and will be shown off at the Beijing Motor Show along with the next-gen CLS (codename C218).
Since this does seem to be an almost production ready vehicle, we can assume that the next-gen CLS will look very close if not exactly the same as this Shooting Break concept, especially in the front.
Just like the original CLS was a ground breaking re-invention of the typical 4-door seden, the 4-door Shooting Break concept wants to re-invent the wagon or estate category. As you will see in the pictures below, the production ready CLS concept offers potential customers an elegant and clean look, dominated by natural wood and leather materials. The full-length center console highlights the four-seat layout, and the the wooden floor of the luggage compartment contrasts nicely against inlaid aluminum protective loading strips.
The concept will be powered by the forthcoming new V-engine generation from Mercedes-Benz. It will have a 3.5 liters V6 engine, which will produce 306 hp. The other engine will be a turbocharged 4.6-liter V8 that puts out around 435 horsepower and over 400 lb-feet of torque.
Well if that isn’t enough power then there is always the AMG version. This will be a 5.5 liter V8, turbocharged direct injection, with over 560 hp and 664 lb-ft of torque.
We’ll be posting even more info/pictures/videos soon, so stay tuned.
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by Muamer Hodzic (RSS feed) September 7th, 2009 at 2:37 am
The near-series Mercedes-Benz Concept BlueZERO E-CELL PLUS electric car combines environment-friendly electric mobility in the city with unrestricted suitability for long-distance driving. This is made possible by the combination of the battery-electric drive with a combustion engine. The range extender gives the BlueZERO E-CELL PLUS a total range of up to 600 kilometers, with 100 kilometers thereof solely under electric power and thus free of local emissions.
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by Muamer Hodzic (RSS feed) January 16th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
MotorAuthority has posted some great computer illustrations of what should be the next E-Class Cabrio (aka Convertible). While the E-Class Sedan and even the Coupe will be unveiled at the Geneva Auto Show in March, followed by a release in middle of 2009 sometime, the Cabrio will be release a year later in 2010.
It’s said that just like the E-Class Sedan, the Cabrio will be heavily based on the ConceptFASCINATION that we saw at the Paris Auto Show. The car will be 10cm longer than its predecessor as well as have a new folding hard top.
Engines wil include the new 272hp (203kW) 3.5L V6 engine as well as Mercedes’ 5.5L V8. There is no doubt that AMG will equip it with one of their 6.2 V8 with 481hp.
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