Mercedes-Benz Wants to Introduce you to The Ultimate Long Distance Car

Dec 062011

When you take a diesel engine, couple it to all wheel drive and stick it into what is arguably the benchmark in luxury cars you should have guaranteed winner

The Mercedes S class is arguably the ultimate luxury car. It was all the manufacturers aim to beat with their large, luxury cars. There are however a few things that stop it from being the definitive class leader in North America. Unlike comparable BMWs it is not particularly fun to drive. Jaguar and Audi have started making their large cars mostly from aluminum, which saves weight and in turn improves handling, fuel economy and acceleration. All wheel drive is now quite common on its competition thanks to Audi, and it remains a pricey and rare option for the Mercedes. Lastly it is quite expensive and thirsty.

Mercedes ha listened  to quite a few of these problems and has brought over a solution, the S350 Bluetec 4matic. This is a very long name but in typical, efficient, German fashion it tells you quite a lot about the car. S is the body style, meaning it is an S class, 350 denotes the three litre V6, Bluetec means it runs very cleanly on diesel fuel and 4matic means that it is all wheel drive.

Mercedes Bluetec technology uses high powered catalytic converters and neutralizes the exhaust with ammonia to create diesel fumes that are as clean as those produced by a gasoline car. Diesel fuel also generates more power than gasoline so diesel engines are more fuel efficient. All wheel drive also means traction all year round.

When you take all this and pack it into the S class you get a VERY expensive but spectacular long distance car. The engine produces 240hp which is not that much, but when teamed to the 455 lbs/feet of torque you hit 100 in about seven seconds which is certainly more than adequate for a luxury cruiser.

This is also impressive when you factor in that the EPA estimates 21mpg in the city and 31 on the highway. When you factor in a 90 litre tank, drivers can easily log 1000 kms between fill ups.

Prices start at $109,000 which is quite a bit considering that does not include features expected on a large luxury car like cooled seats and a rear-view camera. Mercedes diesels are know for their longevity so expect to see these on the roads for the next 25 years or so and in the used car bargain section in about 15 years.

Mercedes Benz S350 Bluetec 4matic

An Abundance of choices: Two, Forced Induction, Rear-Wheel-Drive Wagons Now on Canadian Market

Dec 062011

Gearheads almost universally consider rear-wheel-drive as the best setup to get the best handling car. I consider wagons to be the best compromise for family vehicles that do no have to seat more than five people on a regular basis. This is a site devoted to forced induction so that brings us to a crossroads where two sportwagons are waiting for us now that we are in the 2012 model year. The Cadillac CTS-V Wagon which debuted in 2011 and the brand-new Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG Wagon.

Cadillac starts with a C so I will be looking at it first.

With its supercharged V8 the Cadillac is bolder brasher and significantly cheaper than the Mercedes

The CTS-V is a package that boggles my mind. General Motors, the company that will sell you the same old-school ,body-on-frame SUV with one of three manufacturer badges has made a rear-wheel-drive station wagon that is powered by a 6.2L  supercharged V8?! Oh and to add to the delightful surprises it comes standard, with a six-speed manual gearbox. I also have to mention the optional Recaro seats that are a $3,910 option but only a fool would buy one of these without Recaros.

Another must-have is the $1,660 panoramic moon-rof. You cannot get this on the sedan, and the giant skylight is reason enough for me to get the wagon. The automatic gearbox uses six-speeds, has paddles and stickers for just under $ two grand. But do you really want the automatic with this car? Yes it is a GM so the automatic is generally pretty close to on par with the manual but remember this is a detuned version of the supercharged V8 from the Corvette ZR1. Don’t you want to enjoy working a stick shift that is moving 556 horsepower and 551 lbs/feet of torque to 100 4.5 seconds?!!

 

The Mercedes is more subtle, more comfortable, more refined and more expensive

The Cadillac carries an MSRP of just under $80,000 once you add some must-have options. You could save about $10,000 by buying one in the United States but then you have to deal with warranty headaches and import duties.

The Mercedes is entering its first year of production with the new twin-turbo 5.5 litre V8 that replaces a naturally-aspirated 6.2 litre unit. The name carries over but the name of the old wagon never made a ton of sense anyway because it should have been the E62. Either way, while the CTS-V is the first fast wagon from Cadillac, the E63 AMG follows a tradition going back to the 1980s.

Because Mercedes has so much experience with fast wagons, they made sure the E63 AMG had two folding seats in the trunk so it will seat seven comfortably and legally. While this is not ideal for seating that many people on a daily basis it works well for the occasional shorter drive.

The Mercedes does however have some major flaws in the form of price. Without any options this car stickers for over $102,000 in Canada and is not much cheaper in the US at $91,000. This is before you get into options, many of which I think are necessary. The first is the AMG performance package, which really should be standard. It costs $7,500 and the first thing it does it boost power. Without this package, the AMG produces 518hp and 516lbs/feet torque. This is not a lot when you consider the vastly cheaper Cadillac. So Mercedes has raised the power to 550 HP and 590lbs/feet torque. Slightly less horsepower than the Cadillac but a lot more torque. It also raises the top speed from 250 to 300 km/h. Lastly is a limited-slip-differential, something that is standard on the Cadillac and should be on the Mercedes.

For $2,500 you can have night vision on the Mercedes which detects pedestrians. This system has been around a while and I think it is worth it if you are spending this kind of money.

Lastly is an option that is divisive. For $13,750 carbon ceramic brakes are an option. These are rotors that never wear out, they never fade and they stop in a much shorter distance than the standard units. on the downside they cost quite a bit, tend to squeal unless you are working them very hard oh and have very little feel so it is difficult to stop gently. The Mercedes is also only available with a seven-speed automated manual. There is no torque converter and there is one computer-controlled clutch. So no clutch pedal but your shifts won’t be as smooth as in a traditional automatic or even a dual-clutch unit from a VW GTI.

The Mercedes does at least come standard with a giant moon-roof like on the Cadillac but even without the carbon brakes this car stickers for $109,000. The Mercedes, with its seven seats, and automatic gearbox seems like the more family-oriented car, rather than the manual-gearbox, five-seat Cadillac. So if you are looking to drive your sleeping kids home in a quick but smooth manner, skip the noisy, jerky, carbon brakes. If you want the faster car, get the Cadillac.

Mercedes=Benz E63 AMG Wagon
Cadillac CTS V Wagon

The Fiat 500 Abarth is Dramatically Arriving Soon!

Dec 062011

If you read this blog chances are the Fiat 500 Abarth has been at least somewhere on your mental radar screen for the past couple of years. It recently moved up on the watch list when specs for the North American model were announced at the LA Auto Show. Well since I saw this internet ad produced by Fiat for North American web browsers it is damn near all I can think about.

This is an astoundingly great advertisement and makes me want one of these pocket rockets badly! Now for those of you who will cry foul on this ad by objectifying of women I say no. This ad puts the woman in the position of power as she slaps him, berates him and takes some of his cappuccino. She is also taller than him, putting her at an authoritative angle. But did you spot the awesome Abarth Scorpion tattoo on the back of her neck?

Enough of the ad, BACK TO THE CAR! For decades, North American enthusiasts have felt slighted by European manufacturers, receiving dumbed down versions of their hot performance models in extremely limited quantities, and that’s if we got these versions at all. We have missed out on the Audi RS2, the original BMW M3, and we only get the VW Golf R cars in very limited numbers and that is only every four years. Things have changed with the Abarth. Fiat is desperate for a toe-hold in the North American market to bring the brand back and maybe even bring Alfa-Romeo as well.

This means our 500 Abarth is not only equivalent to the European model, it is superior. It is in fact based on the top spec European 500 Abarth Esseesse (they spell out SS so consumers pronounce it in the Italian manner.) Our 500 Abarth takes 101hp, 98 lbs/ft of torque 1.4 litre engine that is found in every other 500 in North America and adds an intercooled turbocharger. This pumps things up past the 138hp, 152 lbs/ft of torque that the European Abarth produces, up to the SS levels of 160hp and 170 lbs/ft of torque.

Abarth, for the unfamiliar is to Fiat what AMG is to Mercedes, RS is to Audi, M is to BMW and SVT is to Ford. In-house tuners who do magical things. They have added larger vented brake rotors, remapped the five-speed stick, and lowered the suspension. They redesigned the traction control which can be switched off, added sports pedal, heavily bolstered seats and a performance wheel that reminds of the one in my MKV VW GTI. In the video below they give a good amount of background info on the car. The Fiat representative also hints that while for now the Abarth is coupe only a cabrio like they have in Europe could be seen on our shores.

Prices have yet to be announced for the 500 Abarth but based on how Fiat prices compare to about 30% less than prices for comparable Minis and that the Cooper S starts at about $29 thousand I would expect the Abarth to sticker from $21 thousand to $24 thousand. The Abarth will be in showrooms early 2012.

For anyone who was curious, this is what the Italian woman was saying in the commercial.

What are you looking at?
What are you looking at?!
Are you undressing me with your eyes?
Poor guy…you can’t help it?
Is your heart beating? Is your head spinning?
Do you feel lost thinking that I could be yours forever?

Seeing as Fiat has not been back in North America for long, reliability of these new Mexican made cars is unknown. Time will tell if Fiat still stands for Fix It Again Tony. For more info check out theofficial site.

Turbocharger+Supercharger=Twincharger

Oct 262011

The mechanical sorcery that is the VW Twincharged engine. Image courtesy of Autoblog

Turbochargers can be laggy. Superchargers generally do not have this problem but they use more fuel than turbos. Some manufacturers get around the lag issue by using a twin-turbo setup with a smaller one spooling up first to minimize lag. Volkswagen has taken the astounding solution of putting both a turbocharger and a supercharger on their 1.4 litre engine.

The supercharger runs from idle until about 2,400 rpm when the turbo starts to spool, the clutch on the supercharger completely disengages so the supercharger is bypassed once the engine is running above 3,500 rpm. The downside of all this is that the engine is astoundingly expensive and have circulated about its death.

This peppy little unit is found in the Polo GTIand the Golf GT, neither of which are available to North American shoppers. This little engine w0n the prestigious Ward’s Engine of the Year award when it debuted in 2009. It is definitely worthy of this win putting out 178 HP. Remember that it was only a few years back that the Golf GTI had 180 HP.

The Brits seem to like this engine in the Polo GTI and I think I want one despite what I fear of what it would cost to maintain once the warranty runs out.

Drooling for the Audi TT RS

Oct 252011

If you don't respect this car, shake your head. Image courtesy of Audi.

The Audi TT has always been a very pretty car. I thought that was all it was really. Then it seems that someone at Audi made a version just for me and I started drooling. The folks at Audi’s skunkworks, the RS division, have done something magical. The first ingredient in this car that I am fantasizing about is the engine.

It is no secret that Audi began to dominate rally racing in the 80s with their Quattro all-wheel-drive systems but one unique thing about fast Audis until the mid 1990s was that they used five cylinder engines. My favourite kind of engine because I am weird like that and also a rarely used one. Eventually fast Audis began featuring bigger lazier six and eight cylinder engines so I focused on fast Volvos. Then RS took the only five cylinder engine in the world I don’t like, the sluggish naturally aspirated model feature in VW Jettas, added a turbo, modified extensively and made it into something I ache for.

It is mated to the latest Quattro all-wheel-system and is available very soon in North America with a manual gearbox as the only transmisison and coupe as the sole bodys-tyle. Who wants a convertible, when they can have an all weather sports coupe?

The 360 HP engine is 70 down on the 430 HP beast in the Audi R8 supercar but the TT RS has 27 more foot lbs. of torque than its pricier sibling with 343 VS. 316. The R8 is twice as expensive at  just over $134 thousand compared to $67 thousand and change. The TT RS also has two more seats, is only three tenths of a second slower to 100 at 4.3 seconds and is almost as fast as the R8 clocking in with a top speed of 280 KM/H instead of 300.

 

Well I know what I am saving up for and it is not an R8!

RIP Two-Wheel-Drive Volvo Wagons

Oct 252011
Red Volvo V50

This great little wagon is no longer for sale in North America. Photo courtesy of Volvo Cars

Volvo is known for their station wagons. I like station wagons because they are easy to park, roomy, good on gas, have room for my dog and many other reasons that pale in comparison to the fact that they drive like normal cars instead of SUVs! Yet Volvo of North America has stopped selling its station wagons here for 2012 by not importing the fun and practical V50.

Dan Johnston, a Volvo Spokesman, told Inside Line that the reason for the death of the V50 “It’s a matter of profitability.” Sadly it seems that the wagon hating USA dictactes what cars Canada gets from Volvo. This is just a shame as Canadians do love wagons but not enough it seems.

I realize that the XC70 is simply a V70 with all wheel drive, raised suspension and ugly plastic trim but when you add those feature to a wagon you turn it into a crossover! To be fair the V70 that was for sale in North America was such junk I am not surprised they stopped bringing it over in 2010. It was too big, too slow and too thirsty. It was also only available with a 3.2 litre six-cylinder that was naturally aspirated and hence unworthy of my blog!

XC70

This is not a wagon! Image courtesy of Volvo Cars

I will miss the V50,With a 227HP turbo five cylinder putting out 236 foot lbs of torque it was quick. This same engine is used in theFord Focus RS they have over in Europe. The virtually lag free engine could be mated to front or all-wheel-drive so it could handle almost anything! The chassis is the same great cornering design used on the Mazda 3 and it is a shame to see such a quick practical car leave the market.

Hopefully Volvo will bring back a replacement some time soon, but until then I guess I have to buy used.