Nik J Miles

Posts Tagged ‘Mercedes-Benz’

“This thing is like the love child of a tour bus and a Hummer!” declared my 17 year-old daughter. She considered the massive Sprinter in the driveway for a moment and then added, “But it’s kinda nice.”

In 6 years of reviewing all kinds of new cars, I have to admit I’ve never brought home anything quite like the Sprinter. It’s a diesel-powered, 12-seat van, tall enough to stand up and walk around inside, powered by an economical and fun 6-cylinder turbo-diesel engine. Read the rest of this entry »

There are precious few automakers who can put together a luxury car like Mercedes-Benz, and the E-class represents the mid-size luxury line for Mercedes in America.  And among the E-class offerings, there’s nothing as luxurious as an E550 Cabriolet. For pure power and enjoyment, this is your car.

Starting at $64,800, the E550 Cabriolet gives you a refined luxury 4-seat convertible, with fully automatic top operation and every modern convenience you could want.

The 5.5-liter direct-injected V8 engine produces 382 horsepower and 391 pound-feet of torque – all neatly available to use with a close-ratio 7-speed automatic transmission with steering-mounted paddle shifters.  Yet even with its breathtaking acceleration and speed, the Benz gives you a respectable 15/22 MPG. Read the rest of this entry »

Choose between a 3.5-liter V6 or 2.5-liter inline 4 cylinder

Blackberry Farm-Walland, TN – Mercedes-Benz just introduced one model of their third generation SLK Roadster to U.S. journalists in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee – the SLK350 naturally aspirated, direct injection V6. A four-cylinder turbocharged model will follow early next year, and perhaps after that, an AMG version.

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High fuel prices have caused Mercedes-Benz to rethink sizing and propulsion options on the premium brand offerings and the company is testing the waters in the U.S.  by showing the Concept A-Class at some of the recent auto shows.

“The Concept A-Class introduces the new Mercedes-Benz design idiom into the premium small car segment in a sculptured, light and expressive interpretation,” says Professor Gorden Wagener, Head of Design at Mercedes-Benz. “We use the term ‘captured energy’ to express the sheer dynamism exuded by the Concept A-Class. Our formal sources of inspiration were the wind and waves, as well as aviation engineering, resulting in this “cool” look.” Read the rest of this entry »

Arriving in U.S. Mercedes-Benz showrooms in September 2011, the all-new 2012 C63 AMG will offer the latest addition to the company’s high performance arsenal.

The new coupe joins the successful C63 AMG Sedan and CLS 63 AMG as well as the AMG family of coupes which includes the CLS63 AMG and the CL63 AMG.

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The Original 4-Door Coupe On Steroids

Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. – Helen of Troy may have been the face that launched a thousand ships into battle, but the Mercedes-Benz CLS was the face that launched hundreds of thousands of cars.  The Mercedes CLS made design history in 2006 (2004 in Europe and South America) when it created the swept back roof line that was marketed as a “four-door coupe”.  In succeeding years the roofline was emulated by more than a dozen other automakers, but none captured the full essence of the CLS.

The fall of 2010 brought a new generation of the sexy four-door and early in 2011, the 2012 version of the CLS 63 AMG performance model debuted producing perfect 10s in the “Wow Factor” rating. Read the rest of this entry »

“Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG: The next gullwing classic?”

It has been said that “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, and that’s indeed true up to a point. There’s no question that in the case of either the classic Mercedes-Benz 300SL gullwing of the mid-‘50s, or the new Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG gullwing, that they are both elegant and beautiful, and highly desirable vehicles. Several colleagues have expressed however, that in their perception, the earlier version is by far the more beautiful and desirable of the two. Here we come to an impasse, as both cars have equal merit in their own right and are both lustworthy objects to any true auto aficionado. Those that claim the original, iconic gullwing ranks as superior in value and substance to the newer SLS AMG version, due so while stating that the latter is nothing more than a marketing exercise or ploy that possesses no real merit in terms of value or collectability, while also suggesting that the 2011 SLS AMG will soon be forgotten by those in the know – I seriously doubt it.

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“Mercedes-Benz F-Cell World Drive Makes Stop in San Francisco “

The F-Cell team of three Mercedes-Benz B-Class vehicles, took a break in San Francisco recently from their ambitious world-circling trek on day 40 of their trip to enlighten area automotive journalists on such issues as: the viability of hydrogen-fueled vehicles for clean transportation; the benefits of hydrogen-fueled electric-powered vehicles; the reality and practicality of a hydrogen refueling network or infrastructure; and to answer the question of whether or not zero emission vehicles are ready for mass production, and to represent 15 percent of vehicle sales by 2025.

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The C-Class Coupe is a fully fledged four-seater

Mercedes-Benz completes another link in the nomenclature restructuring process with the introduction of the 2012 C-Class Coupe in Geneva.

“By extending the C-Class portfolio, we are consciously targeting new customers,” says Dr. Joachim Schmidt, Head of Sales and Marketing at Mercedes-Benz Cars. “The new model is youthful, stylish and expressive. What we are offering is an exceptionally sporty way to enter the world of the Mercedes-Benz coupe.” Read the rest of this entry »

With a few differences, the Mercedes-Benz R350 is much like a small business jet – for example a Cessna Citation Mustang, a smaller Bombardier LearJet or even the upcoming HondaJet.  The concept is the same, they all carry about a half-dozen passengers including the driver (pilot), they have plush, leather-clad cabins and there is room for some luggage.  The big difference is about 40,000 feet of elevation, a few hundred miles per hour, jet fuel versus diesel fuel and a few million dollars.  The results are the same; both take people from point A to point B.

For 2011, Mercedes-Benz has updated the R-Class with some evolutionary design changes which don’t jump out at you, but they freshen the look, especially from the A-pillar forward.  We like the R-Class styling; it reminds us of a wagon version of the sexy Mercedes CLS, the car that started the burgeoning four-door coupe segment. Read the rest of this entry »