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2015 Mercedes-AMG C63 S Review

"It's about great cars on great roads." The late David E. Davis, Jr., said this of Winding Road when he took the reins as editor-in-chief in 2006. Our mission at that magazine was to not just review cars, but to describe the emotional experience of piloting brilliant machines down beautiful roads. "The art of driving," per David E. This all comes flooding back into my mind as I pull out of a Shell station onto Angeles Crest Highway, just south of the 210 freeway in La Canada Flintridge, CA. I'm in the 2015 Mercedes-AMG C63 S. I've got a full tank of fuel, the whole day to myself, and I'm staring down one of the finest driving roads in the country. Prior to this moment, I spent two days bombing around the greater Los Angeles area in this sinister-looking C63 S. This car is a villain, and looks appropriately so in black paint with the $750 AMG Exterior Night Styling pack. The C-Class as a whole is far more upscale in this latest generation, with its long hood, cab-rearward design, and short rear deck. "Baby S-Class" is not an exaggeration. Thankfully, the addition of AMG bits don't detract from the new C's more premium aura. Where a BMW M3 just looks like a brash 3 Series, the C63 is more like a C400 with a trick up its sleeve. The 4.0-liter V8 is an exceptional engine. Start the engine, and there's no question you're blessed with the power of AMG. Any worries I had about the new, twin-turbocharged, 4.0-liter V8 not providing enough aural delight are gone, especially with the $1,250 AMG Performance Exhaust. At start-up there's a low, burbly sound quality, typical of a V8. At full throttle, it's loud, angry, and passionate. I will always miss the naturally aspirated, 6.2-liter M156 V8 from the last C63, not only for its noise, but for its character. That said, I eagerly welcome Mercedes' new turbocharged techniques. The 4.0-liter V8 is an exceptional engine. In C63 S guise, the M178 lump makes 503 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque, the latter of which comes on in full force as low as 1,750 rpm. That's a ton of power for the 3,935-pound C63. But it never feels like there's too much to handle. Power comes on progressively, and when I mash the throttle on a straight stretch of pavement, the car is composed and controlled. And quick. Seriously quick. Zero-to-sixty-in-under-four-seconds quick. The balance between viciousness and grace is perfectly met in this new C63.

Mercedes-Benz releases stunning first images of 2014 S-Class

The all-new 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class, designated W222, is one of the most highly anticipated debuts of its model year. Every generation of the flagship sedan has broken new ground in technology and innovation for the entire industry, and the German automaker appears determined to raise the bar much further with its latest arrival as it promises to deliver "the best automobile in the world." Mercedes-Benz has just released nearly two dozen interior images of the new sedan, showing off style in design, craftsmanship in execution and pioneering advancements in technology.
Unlike all previous generations - the first S-Class officially arrived in 1972 - the 2014 model completely discards a traditional instrument cluster and replaces it with two high-resolution color displays in 8:3 format with a screen diagonal of 12.3 inches (the outgoing model's gauges were a mix of digital and analog). The left unit displays traditional analog gauges (digitally, of course) while the right unit is reserved for infotainment and comfort settings with the automaker's all-new mBrace2 - a cloud-based entertainment and information delivery system that is rolling out this year.

Daimler, Qualcomm working on wireless EVs

Despite not being available on any mass-produced electric vehicle, wireless charging is not new. In fact, Qualcomm is an old name in the business and has announced partnerships with major automakers before. In 2011, for example, Qualcomm and Renault said they would work together on wireless electric vehicle charging technology. Just something to keep in mind when you read about this past weekend's announcement that Qualcomm and Daimler are going to work together on wireless charging. To be fair, the announcement goes beyond just integrating wireless charging technology into new EVs. Qualcomm has a lot of future tech work going on that connect your car to other systems, like the 3G/4G cell network. These are the sorts of things that the two companies are going to work on first, but Halo Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging (WEVC) is on the To Do list. Qualcomm has said its Halo wireless charging parking spot technology, originally developed at the University of Auckland, could also be used in roadways at some point, so keep an eye out for Daimler test vehicles repeatedly driving over the same patch of asphalt. Daimler and Qualcomm Announce Strategic Collaboration on Connected Car Technologies MONACO – May 23, 2015 – Today, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM), and Daimler AG announced a strategic collaboration focused on pioneering innovation in the connected car. In the first phase of the collaboration, the companies will focus on transforming future vehicles with mobile technologies that enhance in-car experiences and vehicle performance such as 3G/4G connectivity, wireless charging technology for in-vehicle use and implementation of the Qualcomm Halo™ Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging (WEVC) technology. In addition, the companies are jointly assessing the application of Qualcomm Technology's newly developed Automotive Solutions. Qualcomm Technologies is collaborating with Daimler on its Wireless Power Transfer 2.0 high performance program for electric vehicles. The Qualcomm Halo™ WEVC technology provides high performance and high power in a small vehicle package that could allow Daimler customers to charge their electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrid EVs without ever having to plug them in. In addition, Qualcomm® WiPower™ technology enables consumer electronics to charge wirelessly in-vehicle.