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Mercedes Concept IAA shows its mighty morphing aero aids

Modern supercars are utilizing more active aerodynamic elements that constantly adjust, to make them some of the fastest things on the road. The Mercedes-Benz Concept Intelligent Aerodynamic Automobile is using them too, but the know-how is applied here for ultimate efficiency rather than turning better lap times. In the standard design mode, the four-door luxury coupe looks like a CLS from the near future with styling that's mixed with a little of the F 015 concept. However at the press of a button or upon hitting about 50 miles per hour, the IAA transforms into aero mode to have an insanely low drag coefficent of just 0.19. To achieve the ultra-efficient shape, the rear of the concept stretches over 15 inches to guide air down the tail. Flaps in the bumpers also extend outward, and the wheels adjust to improve the flow around the sides. To trim things out underneath, a portion inside the front bumper moves, as well. Inside, passengers sit in organically shaped leather seats, but occupants have to look at a vast array of purple and blue LED accent lights. The big panoramic roof is a nice touch, though. It would be interesting to watch water tumble over this slippery shape when driving in the rain. To maximize efficiency, Mercedes powers the IAA with a plug-in hybrid that's hooked up to a gasoline engine. The result is 275 horsepower and an electronically limited top speed of 155 miles per hour. On the European testing cycle, the company figures the concept could cover 41 miles solely on electric power in aero mode. Showing the gains of the swoopy transformation, that figure falls to 38.5 miles in design mode.

2017 Mercedes-Benz C300 Coupe Quick Spin

Now that Mercedes has completed its rollout of four-door C-Class variants, it's time to subtract two doors and get down to the business of sport. The sedan smashed the entry-level luxury paradigm by being good enough to (maybe) keep you from aspiring to an S-Class. The C Coupe, on the other hand, wants to keep you from looking sideways, to certain BMW and Audi competitors. Driving Notes An obvious feature it shares with the sedan is its sense of maturity. The sheetmetal and proportions convey gravitas. The long-hood-into-short-tail that is The Mercedes Way gets another handsome showing here. There's an additional 2.4 inches between the bulkhead and the front axle – although to our eye that trim, curt rear end is overwhelmed by the visual weight of the rest of the car. It looks better on the AMG C63, where flared wheel arches put more emphasis in back. The front and rear of the coupe are altered from the sedan design. The crease under the headlights curves down into the lower intakes forming a continuous design element to the bottom of the curved lower lip. In back, the minimal taillights of the sedan get stretched across the fenders and the wider, straighter trunk of the coupe. The two-door is 1.5 inches lower than the sedan. Although the they share the same width, the coupe looks wider from the rear. Other markets will get a choice of four gasoline and two diesel engines. In the United States, we'll get the rear-wheel-drive C300 next spring with its 241 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque, same as in the sedan, with a seven-speed automatic transmission. After that will come a 4Matic version, and in summer comes the AMG C63. Mercedes hasn't broached the subject yet but our market should follow the sedan route, skipping the standard C400 to get the C450 AMG 4Matic with 362 hp and 384 lb-ft. At some point in the undisclosed future, the coupe will be upgraded to the nine-speed automatic. The interior is a delight, but that's what we're used to here – the materials look and feel excellent. The COMAND screen placement is still a hot-button issue, and we think the bezel-to-screen ratio is out of whack. Buyers don't seem to care. This year, the C-Class is just a couple thousand units behind the barn-busting 2013 numbers. In spite of the additional swoopiness versus the previous coupe, the larger size means larger interior dimensions everywhere – trunk space grows by 20 percent.

The 2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class interior is the new standard [w/video]

You can choose from 64 ambient light colors in the 2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class. Sixty-four. It's this sort of personalization that highlights Mercedes' approach with its new midsize sedan, a car I'm comfortable saying will once again secure its place as the most luxurious car money can buy in that class. It's the true Mercedes of the segment. All you have to do is look inside. If the cabin of this new E-Class looks familiar, it's because it builds on a successful Mercedes-Benz formula. There's a wealth of luxurious materials at your fingertips; leathers and trims from the S-Class trickle down to Mercedes' midsize E, and work in perfect harmony with beautifully sculpted surfaces. If I told you the pictures above show a new S-Class Coupe, you'd (probably) believe me. That's exactly how I felt during an intimate preview of the new E-Class' interior at one of Mercedes' research and development buildings in Sindelfingen, Germany. After hearing Merc's suits talk about the mission of the new E-Class, my iPhone was confiscated, and I was ushered behind a dark curtain where I met a lightly camouflaged car. Sitting inside, my first impression was the same as when I first met the current S-Class a couple of years ago: wow. Much like how the new C-Class is often referred to as a "baby S-Class," the same can be said of the new E, with even more validity. Here's why. Everything On The Big Screen The first thing you notice is the flat, dual-screen display that makes up the instrument panel and central infotainment headunit. This large piece of tech is a "Mercedes interior signature," according to lead designer Hartmut Sinkwitz. All versions of the E-Class have this setup, but in two different levels of execution. Base models get traditional fixed speedometer and tachometer gauges, with a seven-inch color display between them and an 8.4-inch color display off to the right for the COMAND system. Uplevel cars, like the ones you see here, get two 12.3-inch screens, with a huge range of customization options, and a revised main menu interface for COMAND. With that premium system, three different skins can be selected for the gauge cluster. The standard configuration – Classic – is exactly what you expect from a new Mercedes, with a clean, two-gauge design and different driver-selectable information screens in the middle. But new for the E-Class are two other views, branded as Sport and Progressive. Sport still uses the two-gauge setup, but uses different fonts and colors.