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In 1998 we were introduced to a rather “smart” city car that aimed to maximise interior space whilst being one of the smallest production cars on the road. The original Smart ForTwo proved popular in its infancy with its ability to park nose first into parallel spaces appealing to those in crowded environments. However, from that point the car failed to meet targets and its bigger brother, the ForFour, so much so that it was axed after just two years. Today Smart are back and determined to make a success of their compact cars as they launch the All-New Smart.
Kick things off with the baby of the range, the all-new Smart ForTwo is a uniquely styled package which we have to admit is rather good looking. The funky two door city car retains its rear engine and rear wheel drive. Its cabin has been kept minimalist but also injects an almost concept car aesthetic. Although a small space, just like the first ForTwo the interior has been made to feel airy. This Smart ForTwo is actually no bigger than the original!
The all-new Smart ForFour again has rear wheel drive and is rear engined. It is clear to see its similarities in proportions with the new Renault Twingo which it was co-developed with. Whilst not quite as visually pleasing at the ForTwo, this ForFour delivers more practicality seating five in a body that is longer than the original.
There will be three petrol engines on offer outputting 59BHP, 70BHP and a turbocharged unit with 89BHP.
When one slice is not enough, you eat the whole cake. Why buy one pizza when you can buy two? If you are of this mindset you might be looking at the Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG Coupe and thinking “whilst it is all well and good, more is still more.” Welcome to the Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG Coupe. The ultimate luxury coupe from the German brand.
Not content with winning the World Cup, the Germans have now unleashed the 2015 Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG. Armed with muscular bulges and intakes big enough to swallow small children, the S65 is the range topper at £183,065. It is powered by 6.0 litre V12 engine that produces 621BHP and 738lb ft of torque. 0-62MPH takes a mere 4.1 seconds whilst its top speed is electronically limited to 155MPH. Mercedes new “magic body control” system also features ensuring that occupants can enjoy the lavish interior without being shaken like a martini on bad roads. AMG sport seats dominate the cabin which is beautifully detailed with aluminium. Despite possessing all of this performance potential the Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG Coupe is said to be capable of returning 23.7MPG.
Mercedes-Benz current range deserves all of the compliments it is being paid. From the little A-Class right up to the SLS AMG, these luxury German automobiles are proving very hard to fault and are doing a good job of making BMW sweat a bit. It is that time of year again when various models get a nip and tuck and today it is the 2015 Mercedes-Benz CLS and CLS Shooting Brake that are in the spotlight.
For this year the CLS gets small refresh that includes some external tweaks. New LED headlights and more butch front bumper, featuring larger intakes, join with the latest incarnation of the Mercedes-Benz grill. This “family face” has been making its way across to all models for nearly a year. Inside the cabin remains relatively untouched but now possesses an 8 inch monitor for infotainment. Changes to the steering wheel roundoff the cabin. A new engine joins the range in the form of the 2.1 litre turbocharged CLS220 BlueTec which produces 168BHP and 295lb ft of torque. The CLS63 AMG gets a power bump to 549BHP.
The 2015 Mercedes-Benz CLS and CLS Shooting Brake will make their debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and go on sale this September.
Are you intending to make your next-door neighbours Rolls-Royce look like a Matchbox toy? Are you a dictator who does not tolerate being dictated to? Do you wish to induce the fear of God in the unfortunate soul who happens to glance upon their rear view mirror when you are behind them? If your answer is yes to one, or even all of those three, then Mercedes-Benz likely produce the only car that will completely satisfy your inner child. And by “car” I mean road legal monster… The Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6×6.
Dominating your screen right now is a Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6×6. Words are hardly sufficient to describe this biblical behemoth produced by the German’s slightly nutty AMG division. Let us start with numbers because we can all understand something quantifiable. It weighs 3,775KG. That is more than an adult female African elephant! It is powered by a 5.5 litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine that produces 536BHP and 560lb-ft of torque. It has 6 wheels, 5 locking differentials, 4 side exiting exhaust pipes, costs 3 times as much as a standard G63 AMG (at £380,000), has two turbos and if you took out the huge spare wheel from its loading bay… Will easily fit a partridge in a pear tree.
Thanks to the ever helpful staff at Mercedes-Benz World Brooklands, we were given access to a car of which there is only one in the UK, at this moment in time, and just 32 in the world. The Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6×6 began as a military vehicle designed for the Australians. The highly capable off-roader in Army guise has a 3.0 litre V6 diesel engine, but then AMG decided that Wednesday afternoons should be more exciting and so plonked one of their engines into it. Prototypes impressed and once a buyer or two was found, Mercedes decided to produce the 6×6 AMG by order.
Obviously this military grade Goliath sports all of the creature comforts a wealthy man or woman could desire. Hiring a small crane to lift you into the exceedingly high driving position, you find yourself bathed in the usual Mercedes-Benz luxury. Seating four with plenty of space, the interior is beautifully upholstered to the same levels as all AMG cars. Above the driver sits a series of gauges used to inflate and deflate all six tyres dependant on what the terrain demands. A 7 speed automatic gearbox is at your fingertips transferring power to all six wheels. The 6×6’s top speed is 100MPH, not that you would want to go any faster in something this vast, but its limitation isn’t electronic. The 37 inch wheels are the cars limiting factor in terms of terminal velocity.
The Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6×6 is an astonishing thing to look at with its flared carbon fibre wheel arches, 6 wheels and sheer size. It has some sort of gravity about it as everyone who looked at it struggled to detach their eyes from this beast. Another typically mad moment from AMG? Maybe, but the world is a much more exciting place thanks to Mercedes putting the 6×6 on the road.
When some people go out and buy a car they like to make a statement. Many choose according to what they perceive to be a prestige brand, others make a purchase to rival what their neighbour owns. Then you have BMW X6 customers… Years later we still don’t know what their intentions were when buying a big 4X4 that tries to look like a coupe and is completely impractical as a result, but the fact is some people went out and bought them. Now Mercedes are to join this segment in an act of what we can only describe as the blind leading the blind. Mercedes-Benz Concept Coupe SUV Makes Beijing Debut.
The Mercedes-Benz Concept Coupe is a preview of the German’s up and coming MLC model due next year. As mentioned, it rivals the BMW X6 and so naturally carries an OTT visual assault to the senses. With strong body lines as seen on the CLA and a bulbous buttocks as seen on a hippopotamus, we are not sold on its design. But then what do we know as non-X6 owners? Powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.0 litre V6 engine, the Concept Coupe SUV produces 328BHP and 354lb ft of torque. Its gearbox has 9 forward speeds and sends power to all four wheels. The MLC is, as the name suggests, will be based upon the Mercedes-Benz ML.
The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG is quite the machine. This long bonneted and gullwing equipped car not only looked every part the modern grand tourer, but also went like a bat out of hell! Alas, all good things must come to an end and the SLS is seeing out its production run with a Final Edition model. Powered by a 583BHP V8 engine, it is not going off into the sunset without causing a scene. However, the question of what will replace it soon comes to mind… The Mercedes-AMG GT begins to show itself.
Today at the New York auto show Mercedes-Benz announced a few key things about their new flagship model. Firstly, and very controversially, the car will drop the “Benz” part of its name parting with tradition and instead adopt Mercedes-AMG in its title. This is the second AMG developed sports car Mercedes are producing and the name change is to highlight that further. Named Mercedes-AMG GT, the cars interior has been shown for the first time featuring a dominant centre stack and body hugging seats. Finished in carbon fibre and masses of leather, it all looks very smart, as you would expect the very best of Mercedes to be.
The finished article will be revealed and go on sale by the end of this year.
We all know the brand AMG today as the performance arm of Mercedes-Benz. The German tinkerers are credited with building some of the most characterful cars to ever wear the three pointed star. Founded by former Mercedes engineers Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher, their boosting of Mercedes performance to customers garnered the attention of Mercedes-Benz itself which started to buy and invest in AMG. This eventually resulted in the company being sold in its entirety by 2005 to Mercedes-Benz. But where did the fame and success come from? The big moment for AMG can be traced back to one car… AMG and The Red Pig.
The Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL was a big luxurious German saloon powered by a 250HP 6.3 litre engine. It was in fact Germany’s fastest production car at the time of being new, but that was on the autobahn and nowhere near a race track. Why should it ever venture onto a track? It is about as far from a racing car as you can get! That was until the 1971 24 hours of Spa endurance race.
Built for a private owner, the AMG prepared 300 SEL became known as The Red Pig. However, beauty is only skin deep and this car was a beast in every respect not just appearance. Now with a displacement of 6.8 litres and producing 420HP, this AMG packed a punch. Aluminium doors, flared arches and racing suspension were all part of package. When this Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.8 AMG rolled onto the grid people laughed at it and poked fun. Little did they know what would happen next!
AMG’s Red Pig not only won its class at Spa, but finished second overall beating race bred cars driven by the very best drivers. It would have won outright if it were not for its thrust for fuel and tyres. An incredible achievement, one that shot AMG to fame.
A trip to Mercedes-Benz World Brooklands revealed the racing car on display for a short period. Thanks to the very kind staff we were allowed to get a bit closer than most to the fabled creature. It is an astonishing machine to look at with a demanding presence and awe-inspiring girth. Yet, this car before me was not the real thing, although as close as you can get to it. Built by AMG in 2006 following the exact plans of the original, this example stands in the place of the Spa legend. The reason? The racer was sold to an aircraft manufacturer to test landing gear at the high speeds it could achieve. It was destroyed and no longer exists. A very great shame, but at least this exacting replica stings as a testimony to the originals achievements.
Everything has its time and with the world changing as rapidly as it does these days it never takes too long for something to become obsolete. The current trend in the automotive industry is one of turbocharging, not just for performance, but also emissions. Strict European laws that come into force soon will see the majority of naturally aspirated engines as too polluting. However, sometimes with change comes good things and that is certainly the case for the Mercedes-Benz SL 400. New Twin-Turbo V6 for Mercedes-Benz SL.
The Mercedes-Benz SL 400 replaces the 3.5 litre naturally aspirated V6 SL 350 model. Underneath this revised cars long bonnet now sits a 3.0 litre twin-turbo V6 unit. Although it is down on overall capacity, the new engine produces 328BHP and 354lb ft of torque. That is enough to get the new SL from 0-62MPH in 5.3 seconds, 0.7 seconds faster than the outgoing SL 350. Fuel economy is stated at 39MPG combined emitting 172g/km CO2 making this car faster, cleaner and more fuel efficient than option it replaces. Top speed is electronically limited to 155MPH.
The new Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe is a fantastic combination of German luxury and elegant coupe body styling. We are big fans of its flowing lines and large proportions that make it a GT car that seemingly exudes wealth. But what if you wanted more? Maybe a way to separate yourself from those other rich folks who live across the road? The Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG Coupe might be right up your street.
Proposing a slightly more muscular architecture over the standard coupe, the S63 with aggressive grills and devilishly handsome alloy wheels is exactly what we would expect from AMG. Powered by a 5.5 litre twin-turbo V8 that produces 577BHP, the new car has the power back up its atheistic. Available in rear or all wheel drive, this AMG coupe will get from 0-62MPH in 4.3 seconds with RWD or 3.9 seconds with the 4Matic option. Both variants are electronically limited to 155MPH. The big Merc also comes with the companies clever “Magic Body Control” which scans the road ahead and adjusts accordingly for the surface, as well as a function that leans the body into sharp corners.
The Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG Coupe will make its debut at the New York motor show and go on sale in November.
We had not yet had a good poke around Mercedes-Benz latest offering until the other day. Whist the crossover market is forever growing in popularity, it made sense for the Germans to take advantage of the platform that underpins the A-Class and create a baby SUV. The Mercedes-Benz GLA slots into the range as a high riding hatchback that is available with a range of engines and optional all wheel drive. We got the opportunity to prod around a preproduction model at Mercedes-Benz World Brooklands.
A shiny new Mercedes-Benz GLA 220 4Matic is currently parked in the lobby of the huge Mercedes structure. Locked to the general public, we were given the keys to open the car up and take a good look around the new baby Benz.
Proportionally the car looks great with its long bonnet and curved rear. The GLA isn’t as tall as what the pictures would have you believe, that is down to some of its bold design features. Its large grill, strong body lines and angular headlights give it an air of aggression that maybe some of its competitors lack. In AMG-line trim this GLA appeared very smart and ever the premium product just like its little brother, the A-Class.
The interior is a masterclass in high quality surfaces. Leather wraps itself around large bolstered seats whilst aluminium details the sculpted shape that makes up the console. A chunky steering wheel is presented to the driver along with a familiar Mercedes-Benz instrument cluster. In the back what would a be a rather dark space is brightened with a two section glass roof. Head room is good and whilst leg room is far from tight, its isn’t the most spacious in the class. The boot is adequate, but again rivals do offer more storage.
Mercedes-Benz have done a good job with the GLA presenting a well built and pleasant interior. I don’t think the exterior can be faulted as it looks great, especially in black.
For a more in-depth opinion to be formed on the GLA we shall just have to wait until we drive it.
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