Mercedes-Benz F800 Style Concept - Auto Shows

By the time we head to the Geneva auto show in a few days, there won’t be many surprises left to report—which is fine by us, as we’ll be busy arguing with French-speaking cabbies about accepting euros instead of Swiss francs.

Now Mercedes has prematurely announced the F800 Style concept, which seems to be a pretty faithful look at the upcoming 2011 CLS. If accurate, it looks like the next CLS will be as dramatic a departure from the old as the original was from the E-class on which it was based. That’s disappointing to us, as the current car is among the most beautiful cars on the road today, whereas this one—in pictures at least—seems to be based on Zoolander’s “Derelicte” line of nonsense spun as fashion. It looks like they borrowed ideas from a few carmakers and combined them into one, then slapped on an SLS grille and put a BMW 3-series front fascia on the rear. But we’ll reserve final judgment for when we see it in person.

Choose Your Own Alternative-Propulsion Adventure

On the mechanical side of the equation, Mercedes says the F800 could use either fuel-cell or a plug-in hybrid locomotion. Both options are “already close to the series production stage,” according to Prof. Herbert Kohler, “Head of E-Drive & Future Mobility and Chief Environmental Officer at Daimler” and the proud bearer of what is officially the longest title we’ve ever seen on anything. Ever.

The hybrid powertrain couples a direct-injection, 300-hp V-6 gas engine with a 109-hp electric motor that lives in the seven-speed transmission housing and draws its power from a 10-kWh lithium-ion battery stashed under the rear seat. Normally, simply adding the power figures of the internal-combustion engine and electric motor will not accurately produce a hybrid system’s actual power output. But in this case, Mercedes claims just that, stating the F800 has 409 combined horsepower.

The F800’s hybrid powertrain is largely based on that of the upcoming S500 hybrid, which is set to out-thrift its current S400 hybrid once the next-gen S-class arrives. Electric-only range is 18 miles, although speed along closer to the battery-operated limit of 75 mph—higher than what the S500 will allow—will no doubt shorten that leash. The vehicle’s nav system will use the map to show the radius of travel allowed on remaining battery power, although that functionality seems silly given that there’s an internal-combustion engine aboard to propel the car beyond those borders. Mercedes justifies the feature by saying, “should municipalities only permit purely electric automobile traffic in the future, the driver can determine whether the electric range of his or her vehicle is sufficient for the journey into and out of the urban area.” We think that, should municipalities only permit purely electric automobile traffic in the future, we’ll be finding a new municipality in which to reside.

Nevertheless, M-B claims 81 mpg on the Euro fuel-economy cycle. Despite such thrift, the F800 also is said to boast impressive performance. Zero to 60 mph is claimed at just 4.7 seconds, and top speed of course is restricted to the usual German limit of 155 mph.

For the fuel-cell version—we haven’t forgotten about it—the batteries beneath the F800’s rear seat would be displaced by two hydrogen tanks, and two additional tanks would be placed in the transmission tunnel. The motor would be the same one as is in the B-class F-cell, which is available now through a pilot program in California. An electric motor near the rear axle would develop 134 hp and torque in the neighborhood of 210 lb-ft. Not only is this powertrain already found in the F-cell, but Mercedes also has a fleet of city buses operating in Germany propelled by a double dose of this arrangement.

Intelligence Inside

While both the hybrid and fuel-cell drivetrains are imminent, whether we’ll see the technology packed into the F800’s cabin soon is a toss-up. The familiar COMAND system gets a new interface that integrates a touchpad similar to that of the new Audi A8. With Mercedes’ version, the driver uses a fingertip to draw on the touchpad and a camera captures its motion and overlays a ghostly image on the infotainment screen in the center stack. This way, the information display operates as a touch screen without demanding the driver lean forward and without the messy fingerprints. It also recognizes commands similar to those familiarized by the iPhone—tap, wipe, push, turn, and zoom. Additionally, the display in the instrument cluster uses a mirror to make information appear farther away, which will reduce fatigue as the eye switches from near to far focus less often.

Mercedes’ existing safety tech sees an update with the F800, as well. Distronic Plus, the adaptive cruise control, gets Traffic Jam Assistant, which will not only maintain following distance down to and up from a stop, but will now track the vehicle ahead and control steering inputs up to 25 mph.

Pre-Safe, too, gets updated, being promoted to Pre-Safe 360. It will now monitor the area behind the car when stationary in traffic and engage the brakes just before anticipated rear-end collisions, the better to prevent the Mercedes from being pushed into the vehicle ahead. But if the driver sees a window for escape and jumps on the gas, the car will immediately release the brakes.

While we aren’t so excited about the shape of the F800 and hope the expected resultant CLS doesn’t look so much like what you see here, we look forward to seeing the technology featured in the F800 in future Mercedes vehicles.

(BY JARED GALL, PHOTOGRAPHY BY PATRICK M. HOEY AND THE MANUFACTURER)

Mercedes-Benz SL-class - Spied 2013

The Mercedes-Benz SL-class is a perpetual favorite among the wealthy and glamorous, and with the current model, the Germans got the formula right again. In production since 2001, the R230 SL has already gone through two face lifts. The soft, outdated look of the original design has been sharpened, albeit at the expense of the overall stylistic balance of the car. It's time for Mercedes to get busy putting the next generation into production.

And so the last update done for 2009 will likely be the end of the road for this SL; these photos show that the next generation is well along in its development. While the basic concept of the SL will remain unchanged, there will be a lot of updates under the skin. Most important, the awesome V-12 engines, a 6.0-liter and a twin-turbocharged 5.5-liter, will get the bullet, and the naturally aspirated, 6.2-liter AMG V-8 will be gone as well.

The AMG version of the next SL will instead be powered by a turbocharged 5.5-liter V-8 which will likely produce 563 hp and 553 lb-ft of torque, says Henner Lehne, analyst at CSM Worldwide in Frankfurt, Germany. Lehne expects M-B to downsize the engine portfolio, with the three non-AMG versions that will launch initially powered by V-6 engines. Two naturally aspirated engines will make 241 hp and 311 hp, while a turbocharged V-6 is expected to turn out 382 hp—as much as the current SL550’s 5.5-liter V-8. Mercedes is working on engine stop/start systems as well, but a full hybrid is far off, if it comes at all.

Under the skin, the next SL will share many components with the E-class; outside, the look will remain similar to the current model. "Mercedes needs to be careful the SL doesn't come too close to the SLS AMG," says Lehne. Chief designer Gorden Wagener, fond of experimental styling elements, will have to exercise significant restraint if he wishes to preserve the SL's character.

For a while, Mercedes-Benz toyed with the idea of returning to a conventional softtop, somewhat more appropriate for a vehicle that is rarely used as a year-round daily driver outside of temperate climes. But in the end, Mercedes decided to keep the retractable hardtop, which has become somewhat of an SL trademark.

We expect the SL to come with all the electronic wizards—crash-prevention tech, night vision, and lane-departure warning systems, for example—for which modern Mercedes vehicles have become known. Taken from the vast corporate parts bin, these electronics will aim to make the next SL, due to be launched in the third quarter of 2012 as a 2013 model, as safe and convenient as it is glamorous.

(BY JENS MEINERS, PHOTOGRAPHY BY KGP PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE MANUFACTURER)

Mercedes SLS AMG (2009) CAR review

Mercedes-Benz is on a roll. After the excellent new C-class and E-class saloons – proper Benzes, as opposed to BMW wannabes – now comes the most eagerly waited new sports car since… well, since last week’s launch of the Ferrari 458 Italia, and the previous month’s unveiling of the McLaren MP4-12C, and the previous month’s brilliant new Porsche 911 Turbo. So much for the prophets of gloom, foretelling the death of the supercar!

This Mercedes SLS AMG is most famous for its doors, which is a little weird. First up, do those gullwings work?

They do – though there is no benefit to ingress and egress compared with usual front-hinged doors. These roof-hinged doors are commendably light – as with the rest of the car’s skin, they are made from aluminium – so they’re easy to open and close. The only trick is to grab the door handle on the way in. The door is too high to grab once you’re seated.

They could have fitted electric doors, but that would have added weight in the very place you don’t want it – up in the roof, where the electronic actuation would have been sited. Weight paring was a priority, which is right and proper for a sports car.

OK enough about doors. Is it supercar fast?

You bet. Top speed is electronically governed to 197mph (you wonder what’s the point of stopping the fun at almost 200mph?) and 0-62 is dispatched in only 3.8 seconds. The big 6.2 V8 revs hard, woofles pleasingly when touring, bellows like a bull elephant under hard acceleration, and all the time the soundtrack is backed by that lovely V8 rumble. When it’s on full song, an SLS sounds like a NASCAR stocker at full chat on the banks of Darlington. It’s marvellous music.

The only slight surprise is the lack of big punch at low revs – you need to get the engine spinning before it really delivers.

Gearchange is by a seven-speed dual clutch paddleshift box, which changes fast and smooth. If you fancy lazy-man motoring, it will happily and smoothly drift along in automatic.

The engine is based on the same 6.3 engine (actually 6208cc) used in the C63 and E63 AMG models – except for inlet and exhaust systems, different valves and the dry sump engine. Power is also boosted – up by over 100bhp compared with a C63.


(By Gavin Green, main image photography by Mark Bramley)