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2015 Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG Coupe

For Mercedes-Benz to truly demonstrate the capabilities and sensations of the S65 AMG Coupe, it needs to commission the building of a highway halfway to the moon. That's right, a ribbon of Autobahn roughly 120,000 miles long, with 50,000 miles of twisties and sweepers. Let's even add some loop-de-loops though the ionosphere, since, you know, we're going all the way with this. We've been following the headlines about progress on a new lunar lander and the SpaceX Mars Colonial Transporter, but we recently discovered that we've already got both of them in the S65 AMG Coupe. This isn't a car, it's a rocket ship. And it's not perfect, but it is spectacular. Starting with the way it looks. When Mercedes unveiled the concept at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show, I wasn't impressed. In fact, I told the Mercedes PR person, "It's fine, but the rear end doesn't do anything for me." And today? I'll have the crow, please, with lots of ketchup. When the test car you see here arrived, my loins tumbled and my knees developed a slight tremble. By the following week I was posing thought experiments like, "What's hotter: me in this car, or nothing else ever?" It's big – just eight inches shorter than the S-Class sedan and only an inch narrower. It's an inch longer than the Porsche Panamera and four inches wider, but just 0.3-inches taller than that slinking sport sedan. Its size and segment seem to have freed the designers' pens, and we think it's the best and most unapologetic expression of the brand's current language. We'd normally vote "nay" to a face full of chrome, but the coupe has the width to spread the polished elements around, and the top-to-bottom three-dimensionality indeed earns the adjective "jewel-like." A button on the center console lifts the entire car to protect those jewels when needed. The profile doesn't give up on the rising, sculpted wedge we've known for years – the one we used to love on the SL-Class. And again, the 16.6-foot expanse of sheet metal gives those opposing swage lines an unhurried opportunity to carve the body. The sidelong swell is enhanced by the carbon-fiber rocker panel laid into the concavity along the bottom, as well as those hips over the rear wheels. Speaking of which, the polished, 20-inch forged rollers are spot on. The bluff backside is sculpted just enough to keep it interesting, from the decklid spoiler to the horizontals across the bumper and carbon diffuser. Mostly, though, it seems to say to anyone behind, "Please.

2017 Infiniti QX30 First Drive

If you've heard anything before about this car, the 2017 Infiniti QX30, it probably has to do with its corporate parents, an odd couple if there ever was one. Renault-Nissan, Infiniti's corporate overlords, inked a deal with Mercedes-Benz to share some mechanical components and platforms. That deal put a new, very modern 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four under the hood of the Q50 and was the genesis of what you're looking at here. What are you looking at here? We drove this car in 2015, when it was called a Q30 – originally it was going to be the lower-riding counterpart to the slightly jacked-up QX30. Then Infiniti decided it'd make more sense to sell all variants of this vehicle as CUVs in the US, so we have three slightly different flavors of the QX30 instead. There's the normal version; the Sport, which is 0.6 inches lower; and the AWD, which is 1.2 inches higher. Infiniti brought us to Seattle to sample the Sport and AWD flavors on a semi-circumnavigation of the Puget Sound. It didn't rain a drop, thanks for asking, and instead was sunny and mild the whole time. It's easy to make the QX30 sound more confusing than it actually is. This is essentially a Mercedes-Benz GLA250 with full exterior styling and partial interior design by Infiniti, built in the UK alongside several other Nissans. The powertrain and chassis, including the optional AWD system, were all "co-developed" with partner Daimler, with final calibration and tuning by Infiniti engineers. Here's another way of explaining it: Infiniti needs an entry-level car to appeal to new premium car shoppers, and the QX30 is the prescription. It's a hatchback that's been given the mildest of CUV treatments and a lot of marketing descriptors. That's because hatchbacks are sales death in America. In Europe, they'll see right through the CUV posturing and realize it's just a hatchback offered in three different suspension heights. Whatever you call it to make it palatable to Americans, it's a useful little vehicle. This car is mechanically identical to the Q30, so there are some things we can gloss over. Both are powered by a transverse-mounted 2.0-liter Mercedes inline-four. It's a turbocharged, direct-injection gasoline engine, and it sure feels like one. It sounds like a rock tumbler full of nickels and runs out of breath at about 5,000 rpm. All versions make 208 hp at 5,500 rpm and 258 lb-ft of torque between 1,200 and 4,400 rpm – more than adequate but less than thrilling.

Mercedes-Benz V-ision e Concept ups the plug-in hybrid van game

The various V-Class vehicles from Mercedes-Benz don't get a lot of press around here, but when the German automaker brings something as unusual as the Concept V-ision E (yes, there's a dash in the name) to the Geneva Motor Show, we're happy to make an exception. The standard powertrain V-Class was first unveiled in Geneva last year and it returns in 2015 as a decidedly Daimleresque take on a plug-in hybrid van with a whole heap of cool new technology under the hood. C'mon, you know you want a luxury plug-in hybrid van. Well, if you think you don't want a van like that, listen to the specs and maybe you'll change your mind. It's got an all-electric range of up to 31 miles (if you're going no faster than 50 mile per hour), roughly 78 miles per gallon equivalent (based on the stated fuel economy of 3.0 liters burned per 100 kilometers) and a top speed of 128 mph. That should be plenty to get the basketball team to the tournament on time and in style. The powertrain has a total system output of 333 horsepower thanks to a four-cylinder engine and a 90-kW electric motor. If those numbers sound vaguely familiar, that's because Mercedes said it's "the same advanced drive system" as what's found in the Mercedes-Benz C 350 e, even though some of the performance figures differ. Stylistically, Mercedes has pulled no punches, adding two sun roofs, a real wood floor, nappa leather and executive seats along with something shiny and silver called "designo titanium alubeam" paint. In short, this is an everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach to PHEV design, and we like it. It's just a concept, though, so don't go asking to buy one just yet. Instead take a better look in the gallery above and dream of going to the auto show prom in a van like this. V-Class concept car with a PLUG-IN HYBRID drive: Mercedes-Benz Concept V-ision e - Higher Performance at Lower CO2 Emissions Stuttgart, Mar 03, 2015 At the Geneva International Motor Show the Concept V-ision e from Mercedes-Benz presents a preview of the great variety of development potential offered by the V-Class. The concept vehicle combines environmentally friendly performance with the lightness of modern luxury. The most advanced PLUG-IN HYBRID technology available ensures extremely powerful propulsion in the model, as the highly efficient drive-system duo consisting of a gasoline engine and an electric motor delivers total system output of 245 kW (333 hp) and system torque of up to 600 Nm.