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Cadillac ATS-V and Mercedes-AMG C63 S pitted Head to Head

Our favorite (and only) Autoblog-alum-turned-Motor Trend staffer is back with another Head to Head video, this time pitting the Cadillac ATS-V with the Mercedes-AMG C63 S. This performance machine shootout is ostensibly a way to figure out which of these new super sedans will earn the right to go toe-to-toe with the undisputed champion of its segment, the BMW M3. In reality, it's just a really good excuse to put three of the hottest sedans on the market on video at the same time... and there's certainly nothing wrong with that. Jonny Lieberman spends time in each of the two new challengers on the road, picking apart their powertrains, chassis and driving dynamics on the kinds of twisty roads drivers of these cars will relish. Then, he hands the keys off to Randy Pobst, who sort of acts as an unmasked version of a certain tame racing driver, except that he talks and has a personality. 0-60 and quarter-mile times are equated, braking performance is measured and scores are tallied before the two sport sedans end up at Willow Springs raceway. Interestingly enough, the car that proves (just slightly) faster at the race track isn't the car that wins the comparison. Curious? We're not going to spoil it for you. Check out the video, above. Then, for more action of these two machines, check out the videos just below. Related Video: News Source: Motor Trend Channel via YouTube BMW Cadillac Mercedes-Benz Luxury Performance Videos Sedan motor trend cadillac ats-v mercedes-amg c63

Daimler exec hypothetically discusses 3-cylinder engines for small hybrids

Is three the magic number of cylinders for Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler and its efforts to build smaller powertrains for its compact hybrids? Potentially, yes, the German automaker could see the need for three-cylinder mills, Automotive News reports. The company doesn't have any plans for them as of yet, though. Daimler executive Bernhard Heil talked with Automotive News about the challenges of using four-cylinder engines in a front-wheel-drive setup and said that three-cylinder engines could work in transverse-mounted powertrains for hybrid cars. For now, though, the company doesn't actually have any plans to go in that direction, Mercedes-Benz spokesman Christoph Horn said in an e-mail to AutoblogGreen. Horn wrote that Heil "actually said that if ever MB would use a three-cylinder engine than [it would be] in a configuration where space is restricted, such as when using a hybrid power train in a compact car." Of course, the only compact "hybrid" that Mercedes-Benz has is the 2015 C-Class, but that refers to the "hybrid" body is made of 48-percent aluminum, up from the current nine percent, as well as steel. It has nothing to do with the powertrain. Beyond that, there's always the Mercedes-Benz S500 Plug-in Hybrid that the company unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show last fall, but that model, which will debut in Europe later this year and arrive stateside next year, has a 3.0-liter turbocharged V6 and an 80-kilowatt electric motor that propels the plug-in from 0 to 62 miles per hour in 5.5 seconds. Not exactly three-cylinder territory, that.

F1 title fight gets closer | 2016 US Grand Prix recap

We ran into an old friend at the US Grand Prix: an on-form Lewis Hamilton. Reliability and proper clutch actuation helped the Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver resurrect the kind of performance we haven't seen since July at the German Grand Prix. After demolishing the previous qualifying record around the Circuit of the Americas, he put the field in his mirrors as soon as the lights went out, was never bothered by anyone behind, and crossed the finish line 4.5 seconds ahead of teammate Nico Rosberg. The drive was exactly what Hamilton needed to keep his molecule-thin Championship hopes alive. Rosberg, however, did exactly what he needed to do as well by finishing second. The German had a sketchier path to the checkered flag than Hamilton, getting pushed back to the third at the start by Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo. Worse, Ricciardo appeared to have the pace to keep Hamilton honest ahead and hold Rosberg behind. Red Bull and Mercedes matched one another's pit stops, and it was clear the German would need more help to pass the Aussie. Rosberg didn't have to make his own luck, Ricciardo's teammate Max Verstappen made the luck for him. Ricciardo pitted on Lap 26, ceding second position on track to Rosberg. On Lap 30, Verstappen's gearbox failed while headed down the back straight. The Dutch teenager said the team told him to try to get the car back to the pits, so he dawdled through a few corners before following more team orders to pull over and park. Verstappen's parking spot and bad gearbox meant marshals couldn't push the car off the track, they needed to use a crane. That brought out a Virtual Safety Car, slowing the whole race down and allowing Rosberg to run a longer stint while losing less time on old tires. When the German came in for new tires on Lap 31 he emerged ahead of Ricciardo, and they ran that way to the end of the race, much to Ricciardo's disappointment. Sebastian Vettel claimed fourth for Ferrari, a placing perhaps due only to Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen retiring from the race. An otherwise anonymous weekend for the scuderia called attention to itself on race day when Raikkonen had to call it a day after a botched pit stop, and Vettel couldn't make any impression on the teams ahead. Fernando Alonso rode home to a brilliant fifth for McLaren. During the first stint while rummaging around outside the top ten, the Spaniard complained about his lack of pace. By Lap 15 Alonso was tenth, on Lap 34 he was eighth.