2014 Glk350 4x2 New 3.5l V6 24v Automatic Rwd Suv Premium on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2017 Mercedes SL gets more beauty, power, and equipment

The first gestation of the R231-generation Mercedes-Benz SL-Class was appreciably better than the excellent R230 it replaced, it just didn't look nearly as good. Answering for one of its rare design sins with a facelift for the 2017 model year, Mercedes succeeds in restoring the skin-deep glory the R231 SL deserved from the beginning. They didn't stop at the skin, either, giving buyers plenty of additional technical reasons to make the upgrade. The new design establishes its new beauty with the grille and headlights. The grille has essentially been flipped upside down - it is now wider at the bottom than the top. It is flanked by sleeker headlights pulled out to the edges, and now full-LED lights are standard. The front fascia below gets much more pronounced, especially on the AMG versions with their larger intakes and chrome-trimmed A-wing motif across the horizontal span. Brilliant Blue and Designo Selenite Grey Magno join the color palette. The SL400 becomes the SL450, its 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 juiced up from 329 horsepower to 362 hp, and 354 pound-feet of torque to 369 lb-ft. Both it and the SL550 shed their seven-speed automatics for the new 9G-Tronic automatic. Inside, new designs for the gauge cluster look back at the driver, ambient lighting options have expanded to include polar blue and polar white, and the center console storage ambient lighting throw a brand logo on the two USB ports fitted inside. The roof can be opened at up to 25 miles per hour now, and the trunk separator automatically gets out of the way when you put the top down - no more having to do that yourself beforehand. Turning the page on performance, non-AMG models come offer Mercedes' curve-tilting function with Active Body Control. It counters cornering forces by tilting the body up to 2.65 degrees into a turn; choosing it removes the Eco function from the five Drive Select modes, replacing it with Curve mode. The AMG SL63 and SL65 models come with a mechanical rear differential lock standard - formerly part of a $9,000 upgrade package, an updated seven-speed transmission, and faster shifting via aluminum shift paddles. We'll get looks at the AMG SL63 and SL65 at the LA Auto Show, the refreshed range hits dealerships in late spring next year. Mercedes has a lot to tell you in the press release below, so dig in.

Recharge Wrap-up: 2015 Honda CR-Z now on sale, Daimler and Linde building hydrogen stations in Germany

The 2015 Honda CR-Z hybrid is now available at dealerships, for slightly more money. The CR-Z starts at an MSRP of $20,145 (plus $790 in destination charges), up from the $19,995 price of the 2014 model. For those who don't want to row their own gears with the six-speed manual transmission, the available CVT adds an extra $650 to the price, but also offers better fuel economy, especially in the city. The manual-equipped CR-Z gets 31 mpg city/38 highway/34 combined, while the CVT version is rated at 36/39/37 mpg. The 1.5-liter engine and electric motor provide a combined peak 130 horsepower. The manual CR-Z offers 140 pound-feet of torque, with the CVT version providing 127 pound-feet. Customers can also soup up their new CR-Z with upgrades (including a supercharger) from Honda Performance Development. Learn more in the press release below. Daimler and Linde are teaming up to build hydrogen fueling stations in Germany. The automaker and gases and engineering company, with the help of a few oil and gas companies, plan to install 13 new stations by the end of 2015. The installations precede a push by Daimler to get more fuel cell vehicles on the road. "From 2017, we are planning to bring competitively priced fuel-cell vehicles to market," says Daimler's Herbert Kohler. "So now is the time to build a nationwide fuelling infrastructure." Linde will supply the stations with fully renewable hydrogen. Read more in the press release below. In 1899, an EV set a world landspeed record, and Wired has revisited the story with a nice look back at the "La Jamais Contente" and its driver, Belgian engineer Camille Jenatzy. Jenatzy built an electric car to race in a hillclimb, which he won while clocking a top speed of 17 miles per hour (measured the old-timey way - without radar guns). Just a few weeks later, another man set a landspeed record of 32 miles per hour, beginning a back-and-forth series of setting new records. Then, on April 29, 1899, "The Red Devil," as Jenatzy became known as, surpassed 100 kph (62 mph) when his torpedo-shaped electric car set a record of 65.8 mph. It was powered by two 25-kilowatt electric motors. Read the whole story over at Wired.

Mercedes chief invites Audi, BMW to compete in F1

Mercedes-Benz didn't just win the Formula One World Championship in 2014 – it positively dominated it. The team won all but three of the grands prix this season, scoring a one-two finish at more than half of them and landing at least one car on the podium at every race without exception. It goes without saying, then, that the German automaker thrives on competition, but now it's welcoming even more. Speaking with Germany's Sport Bild at its homecoming celebration in Stuttgart, Daimler chief Dieter Zetsche welcomed Mercedes' biggest rivals Audi and BMW to join it on the F1 grid. Noting that the three German brands share some 80 percent of the market for luxury automobiles, Zetsche said that F1 would make a natural arena of competition for Mercedes, Audi and BMW to fight for top bragging rights. The three currently compete against each other in front of home audiences in the DTM touring car series – effectively Germany's equivalent to NASCAR – but of the ten races held this year, the majority were in Germany itself, and all of them took place in Europe. BMW last competed in F1 when it bought the Sauber team in 2006, but withdrew from the series in 2009. Despite its progenitor Auto Union having fielded the famous Silver Arrows in pre-war grand prix racing, Audi has never been a player in modern F1 racing, though recent rumors have linked it to a potential foray – spurred by the arrival of sister-company Porsche on its home turf at Le Mans, the departure of several of its key endurance drivers and the hiring of former Scuderia Ferrari chief Stefano Domenicali. Porsche had similarly considered an F1 program before getting the go-ahead to compete with Audi at Le Mans. As for the prospect of Mercedes competing in other international racing series, Zetsche added that year-long preparations for 24 hours of racing at Le Mans didn't present a good cost-benefit ratio in his estimation, but that Formula E (where Audi currently supports a quasi-works entry) would be worth a closer look.