1999 Sl 500 Mercedes Benz on 2040-cars

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2015 Russian Grand Prix was full of crashes and DNFs

Mercedes-AMG Petronas non-executive chairman Niki Lauda said of Lewis Hamilton's race-day domination this year, "The guy is driving like a god." Qualifying is another story, though – teammate Nico Rosberg taking pole proved that sometimes deities have to settle for second on the grid. Williams driver Valtteri Bottas surprised himself and his team with third place, half a second behind Hamilton but 0.05 sec ahead of the first Ferrari driven by Sebastian Vettel, while a mistake on Kimi Raikkonen's final flying lap left him in fifth, 0.4 sec behind Vettel. The Sahara Force India team had a good showing, with Nico Hulkenberg qualifying sixth just ahead of teammate Sergio Perez in seventh. It's the first time they've had both drivers in the top ten on the grid since the 2014 British Grand Prix. Romain Grosjean is leaving the stormy waters of Lotus at the end of the year for the unknown waters of Haas F1, but he made the shoestring operation look really good before Renault takes over by taking eighth place on the grid. Max Verstappen qualified well again with ninth in the Toro Rosso, ahead of the first Infiniti Red Bull Racing of Daniel Ricciardo in tenth. Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat lined up eleventh for his home grand prix, certainly a disappointment after locking up fifth place on the grid last year in a Toro Rosso. When Pirelli brought soft and supersoft compounds to Sochi, the company said it hoped this year's race would be better than last year's. We're sure this first-lap mishap isn't what they meant. Rosberg and Hamilton dragged it down to Turn 1, with Rosberg getting the inside line. Hamilton had to go wide at Turn 2 as Rosberg fought to hold position, but they left a mess in their wake: Hulkenberg spun going into Turn 2 and stopped in the middle of the track, and Marcus Ericsson in the Sauber – who'd started 16th – collided with him. Both cars were out of the race immediately, and the Safety Car came in. The Safety Car returned to the pits on Lap 3 Rosberg led the field, but just two laps later the German complained of a sticking throttle pedal. Two laps later he had to retire, unable to drive the car properly. That put Hamilton at the front, and we've seen that race a bunch of times before. He built a double-digit lead and never lost it.

Brabus 600 brings a dose of black subtlety to Frankfurt

The latest AMG-fettled C-Class from Mercedes-Benz is a wonderful thing. It's turbocharged heart may displace just 4.0 liters, but that forced-induction powerhouse spits out 503 ponies and 516 pound-feet of torque. That's enough to satisfy even the most power-mad compact luxury sedan junkie, right? Apparently not, as the Brabus 600 now exists in this world, and it just debuted at the 2016 Frankfurt Motor Show. As its name suggests, the turbocharged wick has been increased up to 600 horsepower (or 591 if you're not metric) and 590 lb-ft of torque. Shuttled through all four wheels via a seven-speed automatic transmission, that's enough gumption to push the Brabus 600 to 62 miles per hour in 3.8 seconds, which is a tenth quicker than the regular Mercedes-AMG C63 S sedan. Top speed nudges up from 180 mph to 186, or an even 300 kilometers per hour. Of course, this wouldn't be a proper Brabus if it didn't sport a bunch of body modifications, and the 600 doesn't disappoint. There are diffusers, spoilers, and wings galore in clear-coated carbon fiber with either a matte or shiny surface, depending on the buyer's preference. All of that looks pretty cool, but we're less smitten with the oversize fender outlets. Aluminum monoblock wheels measuring 20 inches in diameter and fitted with carbon accents round out the body kit. Inside, Brabus fits the 600 with a custom leather interior that can be tailored for each buyer. A new speedometer that goes to 340 kmh (211 mph), redesigned aluminum paddle shifters, and, of course, stainless steel scuff plates with a color-changing Brabus logo. Because who doesn't love subtlety? If you want to know more, there's a full press release down below. But what you really need to do is scroll through the image gallery above to take it all in. Enjoy. Related Video: World premiere at the IAA 2015 New from BRABUS: 600 horsepower, 800 Nm and 300 km/h for the Mercedes C 63S A rated power output of 441 kW / 600 HP (591 bhp). A peak torque of 800 Nm (590 lb-ft). A sprint time of 3.8 seconds from 0 – 100 km/h (62 mph). A top speed of 300 km/h (186 mph). And exclusive sporty options from aerodynamic enhancement and wheels to the suspension and the interior: At the 2015 IAA in Frankfurt am Main, BRABUS (Brabus-Allee, D-46240 Bottrop, phone + 49 / (0) 2041 / 777-0, fax + 49 / (0) 2041 / 777 111, Internet www.brabus.com) presents an extensive tuning program for the new Mercedes C 63S in a world premiere.

Mercedes G500 4x4 rumbles into view

Mercedes keeps raising the bar with the G-Class: just when you think the legendary Gelandewagen couldn't get any more hardcore, it mashes the throttle and does exactly that, plowing through a bank of snow, sand, hell or high water in the process. What you see here is the latest. It's called the G500 4x42. Aside from the various engine specs, the G-Class has been offered in a number of body-styles. Right around the same time that the two-door convertible was discontinued, Benz rolled out the indomitable G63 AMG 6x6 – a half-million-dollar, six-wheeled monster truck powered by Affalterbach's 5.5-liter twin-turbo V8. Evidently enough people liked the idea but didn't see the point in that extra set of wheels, so Mercedes has toned it down – just a little – but kept the high-riding suspension. The result is the truck we've seen testing a couple of times now in a bright shade of Hulk green, and which is now just about ready for its debut. On the scale of extreme G-Wagens, it slots in between the standard model and the 6x6, keeping the jacked-up suspension and giant wheels, but losing the extra axle. The G500 moniker also indicates that it'll at least be available with the 382-horsepower, naturally aspirated, non-AMG version of the 5.5-liter V8 that we'd know as the G550. Just how much of a premium Benz will charge for the beefed-up version, we don't know, as further details are set to be released next week ahead of a likely debut in Geneva. But hopefully it'll be closer to the $115k it gets for the standard version than the $500+k the 6x6 goes for.