Archive for Mercedes Benz

Mercedes-Benz will be unveiling a concept large luxury sedan at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show next month called the Mercedes Benz F700 concept. Unlike most of Mercedes-Benz’s previous F-class concept cars, the powerplant in this one is a little more conventional but still represents a leap in internal combustion engine technology.

No, the number 700 in it’s name does not denote a 7.0 liter engine of some sort. Instead, the Mercedes-Benz F700 will be powered by the recently announced 1.8 liter DiesOtto engine, capable of power outputs of 238 horsepower and 400Nm of torque, yet using less than 6 liters of fuel per 100km in an S-Class!

The F700 could also give us a glimpse of what Mercedes has in plan for us for the next generation S-Class in terms of styling. Expect something similiar to the Concept Ocean Drive. More details on the DiesOtto in a separate previous post.

Related Posts:
Mercedes Benz DiesOtto inline-4 engine concept
Mercedes Benz Concept Ocean Drive design study

Mercedes Benz has officially announced its new small SUV set to be launched late 2008 - the Mercedes Benz GLK-Class. This name has been speculated for a very long time now, and there have been many sightings of a disguised GLK on road tests. The compact SUV will have 2 rows of seats with place for 5, and will go head to head against competitors such as the BMW X3 and the Land Rover LR2.

DaimlerChrysler has delivered a fleet of Mercedes Benz A-Class F-Cell fuel-cell powered cars to two companies in Iceland - Landsvirkjun and Reykjavik Energy. This makes the A-Class F-Cell the first fuel-cell cars in the country.

The two companies are power utility companies, and the usage of the A-Class F-Cell in Iceland will be totally sustainable and environment-friendly as the hydrogen that fuels the car will be produced using geothermal energy or hydropower.

Many have criticized fuel cell technology as it merely moves the carbon-burning from inside the car to wherever the hydrogen is produced, thus not exactly helping the environment much in reality.

Reykjavik Energy wants one half of it’s company fleet to be fuelled by alternative sources by the year 2013. “We are convinced, that fuel cell driven vehicles are the concept of the future,” says it’s CEO Gudmundur Thoroddsson.

The Mercedes-Benz A-Class F-Cell uses a 65kW (87 horsepower) high-torque electric motor powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. It has a range of 160 kilometers. 0-100km/h takes 14 seconds, while the car’s top speed is rated at 140km/h.

Click here to read the rest of Mercedes-Benz A-Class F-Cell in Iceland

Click image above to enlarge diagram view

DaimlerChrysler has revealed details on what could be the successor to the current 1.8 liter E18 M271 used as Mercedes Benz’s flagship inline-4 engine. Quite a few car manufacturers have been combining the best qualities of both a petrol engine and a diesel engine, and this is DaimlerChrysler’s attempt called the DiesOtto concept.

This 1.8 liter DOHC inline-4 engine with variable valve control can produce 238 horsepower and 400Nm of torque, but consumes less than 6 liters of fuel per 100km - not on a small car but in the current Mercedes Benz S-Class!

Instead of the M271’s Kompressor supercharging, the DiesOtto uses turbocharging combined with direct injection. Now this is where the diesel characteristics come in - there is a special controlled auto ignition mode during low to medium engine speeds on low loads which ignites the air-fuel mixture through compression alone without spark ignition - this is called homogeneous combustion. For better emissions, the DiesOtto engine has a standard three-way catalytic converter

The DiesOtto will not be available in the market anytime soon, instead DaimlerChrysler will slowly be adding features from the DiesOtto concept to it’s production inline-4 engine one by one until the full concept is realised.

Technologies such as direct injection are already in production, and my guess is the next step would be for the Mercedes Benz inline-4 engines to go the turbocharging route instead of using a supercharger.

Have a look at the related posts below to read about engines with similar concepts being developed by other car manufacturers.

Related Posts:
Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition
Volkswagen gives sneak preview of future engine projects
Mercedes Benz inline-4 engines: M266 vs M271

Autobild magazine reports what is the opposite of a previous statement by DaimlerChrysler saying there are no plans for any further JV development with BMW other than the current hybrid drivetrain cooperation.

It seems that the end of July is the deadline for a decision on whether the next generation Mercedes-Benz A-Class will be built on BMW’s front wheel drive MINI platform, a story picked up by Reuters earlier this month.

BMW has been reportedly looking for a partner to use it’s MINI platform so that economies of scale can be brought down, as the MINI Cooper, Cooper S and the MINI One are the only cars that currently use that platform.

Previously some have been saying that if BMW gets a hold of Volvo, the next generation C30/S40/V50/C70 cars could use a MINI-derived platform. But I really don’t see why BMW and PSA Peugeot Citroen does not have a platform sharing collaboration, seeing as they are already sharing the same inline-4 engine for both Peugeot cars and the new R56 MINI.

BMW has to ensure it’s Oxford plant runs at a certain level of capacity at all times otherwise MINI will start to become a money-bleeding marque, despite it’s sales success because of high cost.

Anyway, the MINI Production Triangle which includes the Oxford, Hams Hall, and Swindon plants is very interesting. Check out my MINI Production Triangle story.

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Related Posts:
BMW wants to increase cooperation with Benz
Mercedes Benz not interested in futher BMW JV
MINI Production Triangle and Oxford plant tour

Now this is some serious madness. Everyone knows the Sultan of Brunei is mad about cars, but there’s just something about being THIS mad and having the kind of money he has that will result in beasts like these being made.

This is the Mercedes-Benz S73 T AMG, a special edition made to the Sultan’s specifications. He ordered not just one, but ten of these. You basically take a W140 Mercedes Benz S-class, convert it into a wagon, slap what looks like a W140 600SEC nose on, and somehow plonk a 7.3 liter M120 E73 V12 DOHC engine into it, the very same engine that AMG builds for the Pagani Zonda C12S. This engine makes 565 horsepower at 5,900rpm and 750Nm of torque at 4,500rpm.

Other AMG parts have also been fitted, including the exhaust system, brakes, suspension, interior, and in case the Sultan ever gets bored of the sound of the V12, he can always listen to the custom fitted Sony in-car entertainment system.

It isn’t the most powerful S-Class around though - the new W221 S65 AMG makes over 600 horsepower from it’s twin-turbocharged 6.0 liter V12 engine.

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Interface experts Apple is supposedly working on a satellite navigation interface cum in-car entertainment system for DaimlerChrysler to use in it’s Mercedes Benz cars.

This new “iNav” (just guessing what it could be called, couldn’t be iDrive as BMW has used that) will be available in Mercedes Benz cars from 2009 early onwards exclusively for six months, of which after that period it’s a free for all for any manufacturer to adopt Apple’s satellite nav system.

Both Apple’s iPod and even the new iPhone have had support from both car manufacturers and aftermarket car accessory makers, with the latest BMW iDrive supporting both iPod and iPhone control.

Most mid to high end aftermarket head units also support direct iPod control instead of just accepting input through an aux interface.

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The new W204 C-Class now comes in AMG form as the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG, a compact monster powered by a normally aspirated high 11.3:1 compression 6.3 liter V8 engine putting out 451 horsepower at 6,800rpm and 600Nm of torque at a high 5,000rpm - but this does not mean the 6.2 liter engine doesn’t have any grunt on the low end! At least 500Nm of twisting force is already available from 2,000rpm onwards.

Straight line performance is naturally good - 4.5 seconds from 0 to 100km/h through a fast-shifting AMG SPEEDSHIFT PLUS 7G-TRONIC transmission, which enables you to shift gears automatically or through steering wheel shift paddles. The shift modes include a Sport, Comfort and Manual mode. The engine and gearbox combo also features automatic throttle-blipping during downshifts.

The front axle has been redesigned to take all the new power. It has a new three-link front axle design which has a 35mm wider track, supplemented by flared wheel arches. The suspension has been upgraded to an AMG sports suspension. The rear suspension has a 12mm wider track, and drive shafts have been reinforced to take the increased torque.

Steering is via an AMG speed-sensitive sports steering, which might be disappointing to some as the whole perception with speed-sensitive steering is that you lose alot of feel, but AMG promises a direct ratio feel when you are driving spiritedly.

For safety, the car’s 18 inch or 19 inch wheels hide huge 6-piston caliper 360×36mm discs at the front and 330×26mm discs with 4-piston calipers at the rear. The Electronic Stability Control program is also enhanced with a 3-stage ESP program. You can pick from ESP ON, EPS SPORT, and ESP OFF, much like BMW’s DSC, DTC and DSC Off functions.

However, traction control logic is never completely off in AMG’s ESP software, even in ESP OFF mode. Brake pressure is still applied sometimes to create the effect of a mechanical diff-lock.

Click here to read the rest of W204 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG

If you remember, I blogged some time in the middle of last month on a report that BMW’s sales and marketing chief Michael Ganal wants BMW to increase cooperation with Mercedes Benz in efforts to reduce R&D costs, something it is already doing in the field of hybrid technologies together with General Motors.

The feeling isn’t mutual apparently, as Mercedes-Benz recently rejected the proposal. DaimlerChrysler’s head of marketing for the Mercedes Benz marque says the company board general consensus is that cooperation with BMW will not likely extend further than the current hybrid drivetrain joint development.

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Related Posts:
BMW wants to increase cooperation with Mercedes-Benz

German business weekly WirtschaftsWoche reported that DaimlerChrysler AG’s Mercedez Benz unit may drop the A-Class and use a B-Class replacement to represent both A-Class and B-Class models in the next generation of that product range to arrive somewhere in the year 2011. In place of the A-Class will be a new compact model more like a small coupe rather town car like the A-class, to go against rivals Audi and BMW, especially since the latter has just announced the 1-Series coupe.

Reuters says when contacted, a DaimlerChrysler spokersperson said he could not comment on the report.

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