2006 - Mercedes-benz M-class on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Race Recap: 2016 European GP was a cakewalk for Rosberg

Formula 1 teams had no setup data or tire information for the six-kilometer Baku City Circuit hosting the European Grand Prix, and that's the reason for much of the weekend's excitement. Nico Rosberg snatched pole position after Mercedes-AMG Petronas teammate Lewis Hamilton hit the wall during qualifying. When the lights went out, Rosberg put in a clinical drive way out front to score his second career grand slam: pole position, leading every lap, fastest lap, and victory. Sebastian Vettel put in a similarly lonely drive in his Ferrari to second. The German had little to do on track other than get around his teammate on Lap 28, and that came courtesy of team orders. Sergio Perez started from second on the grid, but a gearbox change after clouting the wall during Free Practice dropped him to seventh. The Mexican cut his way through the field after his sole pit stop on Lap 17 of the 51-lap race, passing Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen for third on the final lap. It's Perez's second podium in three races after finishing third in Monaco. Force India has five podium finishes in its eight-year history, and Perez's name is on four of them. Raikkonen followed in fourth. Stewards hit the Finn with a five-second penalty for crossing the pit-entry line during the race, so even if Perez hadn't passed him on track, Raikkonen would have been classified fourth. Hamilton's up-and-down weekend ended with a burst of radio messages and a whimper. He climbed from tenth on the grid to fifth in the race, then his energy recovery system began harvesting in the wrong places. The snafu cost Hamilton two seconds per lap compared to the leaders. The trouble came from a switch turned to the incorrect position, but the FIA ban on driver assistance meant Hamilton's engineer couldn't tell the driver how to fix the problem. At one point when Hamilton said he was going to reset the whole car, his engineer replied, "Um, we don't advise that, Lewis." Hamilton finally found the proper setting on Lap 43, but turned the engine down again when he realized he couldn't catch the leaders. Mercedes said that Rosberg had the same issue, but Rosberg fixed it on his own. Valtteri Bottas got his Williams across the line four seconds behind Hamilton. Red Bull teammates Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen couldn't get their tires to work, forcing both racers to pit twice before finishing seventh and eighth.

Mercedes-Benz S-Class Cabriolet completes the luxury trinity

In its continuing bid to simply eat the lunch of the Bentley Continental GT, Mercedes-Benz has followed up on the S-Class sedan and coupe with a new S-Class Cabriolet. Aristocrats, take notice. Below the beltline, all is familiar. That means the same stylish sheetmetal, from the chiseled front fascia to the strong character lines to the pert rear end. Expect the cabin's accommodations to mirror the hardtop model. But the third member of the S-Class family differs above the beltline, where we see a sumptuous canvas roof. The three-layered top is, unsurprisingly, quite advanced. It uses a three-layer, acoustically optimized design that promises a quiet ride. The top can be dropped or raised in under 20 seconds and at speeds of 37 miles per hour. Finally, the addition of a canvas cover doesn't do much to the S-Class' aerodynamics, as the cabriolet still returns an impressive 0.29, which compares favorably with the 0.27 of the four-door model (the coupe's CoD isn't available). Opting for the S-Class Cabriolet will entitle you to some additional standard equipment, including Mercedes' AirScarf neck heater. The droptop will also pioneer the German brand's new Thermotronic climate feature, which takes complete control of the HVAC system and makes adjustments based on the findings of 12 sensors and 18 actuators. The sensors include those for interior and exterior temperature, solar radiation, air quality, and dew point, among others. Yes, your S-Class will have a sensor for the dewpoint. Also new to the S-Class Cabriolet – not to mention the S-Class line as a whole – is a 9G-Tronic nine-speed automatic transmission, which is already featured on the SLK-Class and the new GLC-Class. The new 9AT will be limited to the S550, while the new S63 Cabriolet will use the coupe's seven-speed AMG Speedshift transmission. Both engines, meanwhile, mirror their coupe counterparts, with 449 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque for the S550 and 577 hp and 664 lb-ft of torque on the AMG model, allowing the latter to hit 60 mph in just 3.9 seconds and reach a limited top speed of 186 mph. Both the S550 cabriolet and its Mercedes-AMG counterpart will make their global debut at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show, later this month. Read on for the full press release from Mercedes-Benz. The new Mercedes-Benz S-Class Cabriolet Open-top luxury Stuttgart. The new S-Class Cabriolet is the fourth variant of the current S-Class family in the U.S.

BMW can't build enough M3 wagons, but the U.S. won't see any

Why, oh why, won’t the automobile companies that supposedly cater to Americans give us a viable touring wagon? Seems that BMW is one manufacturer thatÂ’s aware of the question, but skirts the answer. WhatÂ’s more frustrating is that the German company, and others, have for years been off-handedly tossing out the same refrain: “Maybe weÂ’ll bring a wagon back to the U.S.” Not. All the more irritating then is the news that the Bavarians have increased production in Munich of its M3 Touring longroof version to keep up with demand. The information comes via Bimmer Today, which spoke with BMW M CEO Frank van Meel. He said that the company was surprised by the amount of interest in the M3 Touring since its debut during last year's Goodwood Festival of Speed. In fact, he said, the company had to facilitate a production ramp-up within its Munich facility. Despite that increased production, the backlog of orders means that customers are still on wait lists, he said. Last year, van Peel admitted that demand for M-wagons in the U.S. has been steadily increasing, and exporting a touring example was a concept BMW was "taking into consideration.” Crossovers certainly are this decadeÂ’s version of the wagon, which leaves American enthusiasts will few choices: only expensive versions from Audi, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz and a couple of others. Details that were announced last year — a few months before the wagon went into production for sale in Europe, the U.K. and elsewhere — noted that the M3 Touring was only available in Competition spec with xDrive all-wheel drive and a 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six with 503 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque. Pricing started at GBP80,550 ($105,000 U.S.) More data on the M3Â’s intro here. Related video: