Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Check out this spectacular 2013 E350!
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
2013 Mercedes-Benz SL550 is lighter, quicker
The high-tech and luxury features of this sixth-generation SL could bring buyers to showrooms, too.
After all, who wouldn’t want to impress a neighbor with a 0-to-60 sprint that takes just 4.5 seconds? How about the active side seat bolsters that automatically hug passengers more tightly as the car takes turns?
The quicker acceleration comes from a 429-horsepower, twin-turbo, direct-injection V-8 that replaced last year’s 382-horsepower, naturally aspirated V-8.
The active seat bolsters don’t depend on speed. They instantly inflate and press forcefully – and unnervingly for a first-time passenger – to keep a person in place anytime the steering wheel is moved appreciably.
The SL550 has improved fuel mileage. The government gives the 2013 model a city rating of 16 mpg, with highway travel rated at 24 mpg. The test car was spot on with the combined city/highway rating of 19 mpg, affording a range of 375 miles.
The starting price, including destination charge, for a base SL550 is $106,405, an increase of $1,890 from the 2012 price.
Standard on every SL are seven-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters for shift-it-yourself mode; a fuel-saving engine stop/start system; seats trimmed with leather that’s specially treated to reflect the sun’s heat and, over time, reduce sun damage; a retractable, hard sunroof that’s a heat-reflecting panel; dual-zone, automatic climate control; bi-xenon head lamps that swivel in turns and curves to illuminate the road ahead, and 12-way, power-adjustable and heated seats.
A long list of safety features go beyond the usual air bags – there are eight in the SL – and anti-lock brakes.
For example, the SL550’s brakes include automatic drying that activates whenever windshield wipers are turned on. This feature keeps brakes ready for maximum work when roads are wet.
There also are high-beam headlights that use a camera to automatically adjust the range of the lights depending on the proximity of other cars.
The new SL550 exterior styling is busy, for sure. There seem to be lines and swirls in the body everywhere, save for the rear end, which seems a bit plain. The stand-up grille in front especially evokes the early SLs.
One thing that’s not obvious: Most of the SL550 body shell is made of aluminum for the first time. Steel is primarily found inside the window pillars. The lighter aluminum accounts for the loss of some 240 pounds. Indeed, the base car weighs in at less than 4,000 pounds.
The car looks good with the hard top on and off. Mercedes boasts that the complicated, power-operated maneuvering of the roof and rear window takes just 16 seconds. A driver has to touch one button.
Roof storage reduces trunk room from 10.2 cubic feet to 7.2 cubic feet.
The newfound power can be addictive. It came on so smoothly and strongly in the test car that the car typically was going 20 mph faster than expected.
The new engine – a 4.6-liter, double overhead cam, direct-injection V-8 – has twin turbos providing 13.1 pounds per square inch of boost.
Torque is plentiful in this car and comes on quickly. Peak torque is a hearty 516 foot-pounds starting at a low 1,800 rpm and continues to 3,500 rpm.
Even though Mercedes installed a start/stop system that turns off the engine automatically to save fuel at stops, the test car got under way as soon as pressure on the brake pedal lightened, and it beat everyone away from stoplights. The start/stop worked seamlessly in the tester and was nothing like start/stop systems in earlier, lesser vehicles where the engine almost seemed to stall as it got going again.
Engine sounds were deep and confident, but steering, while direct, required a bit too light an effort at times.
Extras can be costly. The test car came with nearly $18,000 of options, including seats with the active bolsters plus a massage feature, a roof panel that changes transparency and adjustable body control suspension. Even the rearview camera was optional.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Busting the Myths of Driving a Manual Transmission
The few who do learn manual shifting usually don't pick up the skills from a driving school; rather, they got schooled by their bored Uncle Joe or their theoretically more experienced best friend — who started driving a manual transmission just last summer. This gets you by, but if performed incorrectly you can still cause costly damage to your car over time.
Case in point: Julie Sun, an Edmunds employee, who owns a 2002 Audi A4 and who has been driving a stick-shift car for ages. She recently discovered that, because of incorrect clutch and shift habits, she now has to pay $2,000 for a new clutch and flywheel.
Fortunately, Edmunds.com Editor in Chief Karl Brauer was kind enough to take young Julie out in his Ford GT and teach her the myths of the stick shift to avoid future grief and service payments.
Myth #1: It's OK to constantly "ride" the clutch. If there's a philosophical way to think about how to treat your clutch, this could be it: Whenever the clutch pedal isn't all the way up or all the way down, you're putting wear on your clutch. Picture a big red light mounted on your dashboard. Whenever the clutch pedal isn't fully depressed or fully released the light is on, and your goal is to keep the light off.
That's a general way you might think about how to drive a manual transmission vehicle. In truth it's OK to spend a second or two in the process of pressing or releasing the clutch pedal (you certainly don't want to treat it like a light switch), but in general the less time spent in this transitional period the better.
Myth #2: Use the clutch to hold your car in place on steep hills. If you're stopped on a slight incline you must use the brake to keep the car from rolling backward. If you're worried about rolling back between the time you release the brake pedal and engage the clutch you can "cheat" by pulling the emergency brake. Don't fully apply the E-brake unless you're on a really steep hill. Instead, just use enough E-brake to keep the car from rolling backward. Then engage the clutch when traffic allows and pull away from the stop, being sure to release the E-brake as soon as you start moving forward. The most important rule, however, is never use the clutch to hold your car in place while waiting on an incline. Doing this will burn out that imaginary red light on the dash — as well as really burn out the clutch.
Myth #3: Use the clutch to save your brakes. The clutch can theoretically be used as a braking device when slowing down, but this is more trouble than it's worth. First, if you're using the clutch to slow a car to "save your brakes" you better be really good with the clutch. If you're not smooth in your downshifting you'll be putting extra wear on the clutch.
Anyone want to guess which components cost more to replace — brake pads or a clutch plate? You're better off just pushing the clutch pedal in and leaving it in, and/or shifting to neutral, when slowing down in a manual-shift vehicle — especially if you aren't extremely smooth at downshifting. If you are smooth at downshifting and you feel like going through the trouble, you can constantly downshift and release the clutch as you slow down. But even doing that action smoothly won't make your brakes last appreciably longer.
Myth #4: It's impossible to be perfectly smooth when engaging the clutch. Always try to learn exactly where the clutch pedal is when the clutch starts to engage. You can practice this in a parking lot, and once you are familiar with it you can use this knowledge to make every shift smoother. This will add confidence to your ability to stop and start on an incline, and it will make downshifting easier, because you can quickly let the clutch pedal go from the floor to the area in the pedal travel where the clutch actually starts to engage (it's different on every car). Once you get to that point quickly you can then modulate the speed at which the pedal is released to achieve a smooth engagement. This is how you can keep from rolling back on an incline without using the E-brake.
Myth #5: It's normal for the car to lurch when downshifting. When you do downshift (without coming to a complete stop) it's important to "rev-match." This means raising the engine's rpm as you release the clutch to more closely match your vehicle's engine speed to the rear-wheel speed. Again, this is only important on downshifting. As you accelerate and upshift you don't have to worry about rev-matching. By giving the engine just a bit of throttle when you downshift you can make the clutch engagement smoother, which reduces clutch wear and head bobbing on downshifts.
If you get really good at rev-matching you can even try heel-and-toe downshifting, which is what racers use to get the smoothest downshifts, and the best lap times, around a road course. Heel-and-toe shifting is actually a whole other article, but in short you must apply both the brake pedal and the gas pedal simultaneously, thus slowing the car down and rev-matching the engine to rear-wheel speed — all at the same time. This can be accomplished by carefully placing your right foot on the brake pedal and the gas pedal.
But for the sake of your clutch, and the safety of your fellow drivers, please don't try heel-and-toe shifting until you've fully mastered the basics mentioned above!
Source: Edmunds
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Be the talk of the town when you roll down the street in this terrific-looking 2009 Mercedes-Benz S-Class.
This is a fantastic car that we have placed at a great price! Call us today to get a more up and close look at it!
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Mercedes-Benz Shows Off 2013 SLS AMG GT
in a slew of new images. Besides the new name – the supercar is now called the SLS AMG GT – the boffins at AMG have also seen fit to boost the power rating of the flagship Mercedes. While torque from the naturally-aspirated 6.2-liter V-8 engine is the same 479 lb-ft as the 2012 model, horsepower is up by 20 to a total of 583 hp. Maximum velocity hasn’t increased from last year’s 197 mph, but the dash from 0 to 60 mph has fallen by a tenth of a second to 3.6 seconds. The seven-speed automatic has been revised, with manual-mode shift times “significantly” shortened and a more pronounced double-declutching function. The AMG Adaptive Performance suspension has been stiffened up with a more aggressive spring/damper tuning, rounding out the SLS’ upgrades under the skin.
Aesthetically, the SLS AMG GT Coupe and Roadster now wear darkened headlights and red brake calipers along with the same 10-spoke forged alloy wheels wrapped in 265/35R19 rubber up front and 295/30R20 in back as before. Inside, the standard designo interior package can be had with quilted leather in three new color combinations: mocha brown/porcelain, grey/porcelain, and mystic red/porcelain.
The 2013 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT goes on sale later this fall, but U.S. pricing has yet to be announced. The 2012 Coupe started at $192,175 and the Roadster at $198,675 (both prices with destination); European pricing for the 2013 GT Coupe starts at €204,608 ($267,018) and €213,010 ($277,983) for the Roadster.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Check out this special!
Complete detail now only for $99.95! Get your Mercedes looking sharp for the Fall!
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
2013 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 45th Anniversary Edition Debuts at $577,474
Daimler said it plans to build just five of these custom racecars. The SLS AMG GT3 is the racing version of the SLS AMG.
The special model, which is equipped with the AMG 6.3-liter V8 engine, marks the Mercedes-Benz SL's 45th year.
Details on the car include carbon bodywork covered with a special magno graphite matte paint and AMG light-alloy wheels. A "45 Years of Driving Performance" logo adorns the car's gullwing doors.
The interior gets a full steel roll-over cage, six-point seatbelts and carbon-shell seats.
Buyers of the 45th Anniversary Edition can expect a white-gloves treatment at the factory here. They will receive an "in-depth introduction to the operation of the new vehicle," along with a tour of the factory and the AMG Performance Studio.
Daimler said it has sold 49 SLS AMGs worldwide to date.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
2014 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive debuts in Paris
made the bold promise to launch an electric version of its SLS AMG gullwing supercar on the market by the end of 2013. Since then we’ve seen several concept versions of the car, which was labeled the SLS AMG E-Cell, though now we’re getting our first look at the production version, which is called the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive and has made its world debut at the 2012 Paris Auto Show. That name may certainly be a mouthful, but the part that you should concern yourself with is the car’s output, which comes in at a staggering 740 horsepower and 737 pound-feet of torque. Not only does this make the SLS AMG Electric Drive the most powerful electric car currently on the market, but the fastest too. According to Mercedes-Benz, the SLS AMG Electric Drive will sprint from 0-60 mph in less than 3.9 seconds and easily reach its electronically limited top speed of 155 mph. The fastest gas-powered SLS AMG, the 583-horsepower SLS AMG GT, needs only 3.6 seconds to reach 60 mph, though it isn’t hindered by a heavy battery pack. The battery back in the SLS AMG Electric Drive weighs just over 1,200 pounds, and is rated at 60 kWh. It has a range of about 150 miles with mixed driving. Charge time takes more than 20 hours using an ordinary household outlet, though Mercedes-Benz plans to offer a quick-charge option. But it’s not just about brute power with this car. Like the original concept versions, the production SLS AMG Electric Drive packs four motors, one mounted to each wheel via an axially-arranged transmission design. By controlling the torque of each of these motors through a new AMG Torque Dynamics system, the vehicle promises to handle much better than its gasoline counterparts. The technology behind the AMG Torque Dynamics system was developed together with engineers from the Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 team, who were able to contribute their extensive know-how with KERS hybrid concepts. Note, Ferrari’s replacement for the Enzo supercar is expected to feature its own setup relying on this principle. To counteract the heavy batteries is a full carbon fiber monocoque, another feature that should help the SLS AMG Electric Drive stand out from the regular model. Though costly, adopting carbon fiber for the car’s central structure helps engineers achieve the high standards of performance implied by the AMG badge. Benefits include a weight saving of around 30 percent over standard aluminum, but high strength too. But the changes don’t end there. Racing-style pushrod shocks replace the vertically-arranged system in the regular SLS AMG, as the electric drive system--and the now driven front wheels--required a different axle setup. The brakes are carbon ceramic units. Inside, the cabin layout remains much the same as the gas-powered versions. One new element is the controller for the AMG Torque Dynamics feature, which offers the choice of Comfort, Sport and Sport Plus modes for the ride and handling.
On the outside, there are a few subtle details that allow us to tell the gas and electric versions apart. Most obviously, the SLS AMG Electric Drive is devoid of any exhaust tips and features a new “Electric Drive” badge on both its front fenders. The bumpers are also slightly different to the gas versions, particularly the rear one, while the grille and front intakes are painted to match the body color. So far the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive has only been announced for the European market, where it will go on sale next year priced from 416,500 euros (approximately $536,000). There’s no word yet if a U.S. launch is planned, though we’ll keep you updated if the situation changes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)