mercedes-benz

Mercedes-Benz engineers like to tell you that the company's philosophy involves starting with an engine and building a car around it. Based on the number of models that make use of the company's 5.5-liter V-8, we find it hard to disagree. Having reviewed the S550, the E550, the SL550, and the CL550, we were hardly surprised when the midsize ML SUV arrived at our garage furnished with the 382-horsepower flagship power plant. Like its stable mates, the ML550 also comes equipped with Benz's advanced seven-speed automatic transmission and some of the less-than-advanced cabin tech that we … Read more

Ever dream of an S Class with a four-cylinder engine? The F700 research vehicle uses an innovative engine, called the DiesOtto, that burns gasoline but works like a diesel. It is amazingly efficient, with enough power to move a large sedan.

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If diesels and hybrid cars both get great mileage, why not add a hybrid system to a diesel engine? Mercedes-Benz decided to answer that in the affirmative, showing off numerous diesel-electric hybrids at the 2007 Frankfurt auto show. Because diesel engines and electric motors duplicate their most efficient performance bands, high torque at low RPMs, Mercedes-Benz found a small hybrid system was all that was needed on its Bluetec diesel electrics, rather than the more robust two-mode system coming out on its ML450 and S400.

In 2010, Mercedes-Benz will launch the E300 and the S300, both cars using a Bluetec … Read more

As evidenced by the F700, launched at the 2007 Frankfurt auto show, Mercedes-Benz expects to be building large luxury sedans long into the future. But also recognizing the need to reduce fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, the company includes some miraculous-sounding technologies in the F700. It's also using the vehicle to explore advances in passenger comfort and infotainment.

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At the 2007 Frankfurt auto show, German automakers had hybrid cars and concepts on display. Up until now, European automakers seemed uninterested in employing hybrid technologies, but Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Porsche, and Audi have all stepped up to the plate. Mercedes-Benz has an actual hybrid SUV ready for production, while the other automakers have concepts that strongly indicate future hybrid powertrain development.

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As we reported earlier, Mercedes-Benz promised 19 cars in 15 minutes at the 2007 Frankfurt auto show, and damn if they didn't deliver. The German automakers press conference resulted in a fleet of cars out on the show floor. As one might expect, Frankfurt is a huge auto show for Mercedes-Benz--the company gets a whole concert hall in the fair grounds to show off its cars. It filled the lower level of the hall with everything from the new F700 research vehicle to the Smart Micro-Hybrid. There were also quite a few variations on the hybrid theme, from regular … Read more

Mercedes-Benz USA has an answer to complaints that car navigation directions don't measure up to those from sites like Yahoo, Google and Ask.

The automaker has partnered with Google and Yahoo to allow users to send customized Google Maps and Yahoo Local Maps directly from a computer or Web-enabled cell phone to their car computer.

A new "Send to Car" icon that will appear on both companies' mapping sites will allow you to send customized directions, maps, addresses and points of interest to your Mercedes' GPS navigation system.

Once you get in your car, pushing the "… Read more

Mercedes-Benz let us loose in its new CLK63 AMG Black Series this week for a drive around the Santa Cruz Mountains. The Black Series is a fantastic car to tackle winding roads with 500 horsepower, a very smart 7 speed automatic transmission, and handling that holds the road with a vise grip. AMG is the performance tuning branch of Mercedes-Benz, and it took the CLK-Class, a two-seater coupe, and dropped a big, 6.3-liter engine in it, then added AMG's SpeedShift technology to the transmission. But then someone decided to kick it up a notch and came up with … Read more

Over dinner on Tuesday night, Geoff Day, director of corporate communications for Mercedes-Benz, hinted at many major announcements for the upcoming Frankfurt auto show. His big promise: Mercedes-Benz will introduce 19 cars in 15 minutes. These won't all be new cars, with probably a mix of concepts and updates, but Mercedes-Benz intends to make a big splash this year. We expect to see some sort of hybrid in the mix, although we couldn't pin him down on the details. The most firm information we got was the previously leaked F700 concept, rumored to be a big luxury car, … Read more