2012 Mercedes-benz Sl-class on 2040-cars

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Sunday Drive: A new Rambo Lambo takes center stage

Surprise! Autoblog readers love fast cars. Doesn't matter what shape; doesn't matter what size. As long as it's got big power, wicked acceleration, and ludicrous speed, you're interested. Take, for instance, the brand-new Lamborghini Urus. It's got a 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 sending 641 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque through an 8-speed automatic transmission to all four wheels. It hits 62 miles per hour in 3.6 seconds, and has a top speed of 189.5 mph. Ludicrous speed? Check. And although you'd be hard pressed to draw a line straight back from the upcoming Urus to the old, off-road-ready LM002, at least you can say that Lamborghini does have a history of producing overpowered SUVs. A 5.2-liter V12 engine producing 444 horsepower and borrowed from the Countach certainly qualifies as big power, especially considering this was in the 1980s and '90s. A prime example just sold for nearly half a million bucks. Moving along to more traditional sportscars, we got a sneak peek at the next Porsche 911's interior, thanks to some intrepid spy photographers. And we spy with our little eyes some major changes to the quintessential German sportscar. Finally, we round out this Sunday Drive with two First Drive reports. Both are German, but past that, they couldn't be more different. Either way, ludicrous speed is all but guaranteed by either one. As always, stay tuned to Autoblog for all the latest automotive news that's fit to print. The 2019 Lamborghini Urus, fastest SUV in the world, has landed Rare U.S.-spec 1990 Lamborghini LM002 fetches $467,000 at auction Next Porsche 911 will get a major interior overhaul 2018 Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe/Cabriolet Review | Creamy goodness 2018 BMW M5 First Drive Review | Power meets traction

2015 Malaysian F1 GP springs hot, humid surprises [spoilers]

In the two weeks since Australia both Mercedes and Ferrari spoke of the improved performance from their respective cars. In Malaysia, Ferrari showed it. Lewis Hamilton still put his Mercedes-AMG Petronas on pole position, but Sebastian Vettel got within two whiskers of the Brit, lining up second just 0.074 behind. Afterward, Vettel said Ferrari could win the race if everything went well. But in qualifying we didn't know how much of Ferrari's performance was truly down to the car and how much was down to the wet weather that struck near the beginning of Q2. The rain didn't hamper Nico Rosberg's run – the German said "I just didn't drive good enough" – and he took third spot in the second Mercedes-AMG Petronas. Showing what the Infiniti Red Bull Racing chassis can do when the power unit is working properly, teammates Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat grabbed fourth and fifth. Whippersnapper Max Verstappen, in his second race, qualified in sixth with an excellent drive through the rain; just 0.030 behind Kvyat, he said he could have got fifth if he hadn't had a running problem with his brakes. Williams head of vehicle performance Rob Smedley said he wouldn't complain about Mercedes' advantage, but Felipe Massa has spent the whole season so far banging the alarm about Ferrari's pace. He says Williams has lost its straight-line advantage, part of the reason the first Grove car is back in seventh, while Valtteri Bottas is in eighth. Between them was Romain Grosjean in the Lotus, but he got dropped two positions for a pit-lane infraction in Q2, so he'll be tenth. Ahead of him is Marcus Ericsson in the Sauber, who would lead the charge to turn in another surprise for the Swiss team. But the real surprise came from the Scuderia Ferrari, who, on a bright, sunny day proved that they don't need to add water for race-winning pace. While Hamilton got made usual awesome start at the lights, Vettel channeled that other famous German Ferrari driver and immediately cut across the track to intimidate Rosberg, maintaining his second place position into the first turn. Arguably the race-winning move came three laps later at that same turn, when Ericsson plunged in too fast and swapped ends, beaching the rear of his Sauber in the gravel trap. The safety car came out when the recovery truck emerged to retrieve the Sauber, and nearly all of the front-runners took to the pits to swap out of the medium tires. Vettel, however, didn't.

Mercedes-Maybach Pullman is the luxury car for the discerning dictator

For decades, Mercedes-Benz and Mercedes-Maybach cars have been the ride of choice for leaders across the globe, presidents, ambassadors, dictators and despots alike. The Pullman model — a long-wheelbase six-seat variant — has been particularly popular with this select clientele. This week, the German automaker announced the latest version of the car, the Mercedes-Maybach Pullman S650. Essentially, this is a stretched version of the V12-powered Maybach with two rear-facing seats just behind the front row. Mercedes is calling this vis-a-vis seating. There's also a partitioning glass between the front seats and the rear cabin. This is of course to help prevent the chauffeur from learning and spilling any state secrets or plans for plans for secret moon bases. New for this model is a front-facing camera for rear-seat passengers. This allows occupants to watch for any oncoming obstacles, barricades or road blocks. Visually, there's no mistaking the Pullman for another Maybach or really anything else on the road. The car is 21.3-feet long, 4.5-feet longer than the standard Maybach or roughly the size of two and a half Smart Fortwo placed bumper-to-bumper. The requisite 20-inch 10-hole wheels are present and the standard pinstripe Maybach grille has been updated with a slightly new design. The car only comes in S650 trim, meaning it's powered by a 630 horsepower 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12. As expected, the Mercedes-Maybach Pullman isn't cheap. Orders have started, but be prepared to shell out at least $615,000 before adding any custom touches. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2019 Mercedes-Maybach Pullman View 10 Photos Image Credit: Daimler Design/Style Maybach Mercedes-Benz Luxury Special and Limited Editions Sedan mercedes-maybach mercedes-maybach pullman