Just in case you’ve never heard of the film, “Rendezvous”, I’ll recap it for you: it’s nine minutes of pure mayhem, as an anonymous driver hauls ass through the deserted streets of Paris in an unseen Mercedes. A Ferrari was later dubbed in, since the Mercedes was deemed too boring.
Jay Leno decided to pay homage to the original film with a politically-correct-but-still- above-the-speed-limit run down Mulholland Drive across Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles. It’s worth watching, but nowhere near as good as the original. I suspect Jay Leno would prefer to avoid jail time and felony convictions.
And Jay, if you’re reading this, some of your lines through the corners were a little sloppy. Give me a call and I’ll be happy to work with you.
The 525-horsepower Mercedes AMG E63 is simply not fast enough. That’s why tuning house Väth Automobiltechnik bored out its 6.2-liter V-8, gave it new pistons, valves, and camshafts, and tweaked its ECU to give it 605 horsepower.
There’s also a bunch of suspension and brake tweaks and a wicked-looking body kit. The resulting super E63 will hit 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour) in 4.1 seconds and is good for 211 miles per hour in a straight line. It’s enough to make you want to learn how to speak and read German.
Sometimes being a member of the automotive press has its own set of unique privileges or “perks”, if you will. Some of these include, but are not limited to: access to pre-production automobiles, insider information and access to some of the coolest autos to ever roll on pavement. Take today for example – I got to test drive a new Audi A3 TDI and BMW 335d, two new clean diesels from two of the biggest German automakers out there… make sure you keep an eye out for a full review and road test on both.
I also got a chance to get up close and personal with the new Mercedes Benz SLS AMG… OH MY GOD IS THIS THING SEXY!! Seriously, this new Merc. is a sight to behold. The SLS AMG pays homage to its Great Grandfather, the 1955 Mercedes 300SL Gullwing (a car located on my top ten list). Visually the car is just stunning. Its free flowing lines come together in a very organic form with no hard lines or rough edges. The front grill looks as though it was taken directly from the original 300SL and transplanted onto the SLS – this was a good move on Mercedes part.
For those of you old enough to remember Ms. Pac-Man, the realism with which today’s video games are delivered may almost seem surreal. Such is the case with the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG pictured above (and below, after the jump), which is set to take center stage in the new Gran Turismo 5 when it hits stores in a few months. Rendered by the pros at Polyphony Digital, the GT5 SLS AMG is a dead ringer for the production version scheduled to debut in mid-2010 and can be had for thousands of dollars less than the original. Of course, the babes you’ll attract will be limited to whatever can be found skulking around the chat rooms but hey,you know what they say, you can’t have your cake and eat it too…
If the suffocating monotony of your suburban upper class life has driven you into a deep existentialist crisis and you frequently find yourself sobbing into the steering wheel of your sensible family sedan while the opening chords of Spongebob Squarepants reverberate from the rear-seat TV screens, you should probably see someone about that. If you live in Europe, however, take the barrel out of your mouth and buck up, sunshine – Aufrecht Melcher Großaspach is here to help.
Officially unveiled this week at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, from your peripherals it might look like just another grocery getter, but the 2010 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG Estate is definitely anything but. Merc’s newest AMG wagon is a monster, equipped with a 6.2L V8 that unleashes a snarling 525 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque and makes the jump from 0-62 mph in the time it takes to pop a Prozac (or 4.6 seconds). The 7-speed SPEEDSHIFT MCT sports transmission allows you to switch between 4 different modes, Controlled Efficiency (C), Sport (S), Sport Plus (S+), or Manual (M), the last of which slams through the gears in Schumacher seconds. To ensure that whatever you’ve got rolling around in the 69 cubic feet of cargo space doesn’t go hurtling through the liftgate window, the E63 AMG also comes with AMG Ride Control and an extremely sensitive electronic damping system, and a cargo net.
Apparently it’s supercar Wednesday, with the new McLaren MP4-12C and this, the brand-spankin’ new 2010 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Gullwing coming out to play. The Gullwing has been running around in a mask (not unlike the chap we mentioned yesterday) for so long it could vote, and so the fundamentals are all pretty well-known. But that doesn’t belie the fact that seeing it in high-resolution glory isn’t damn satisfying – it’s both attractive and highly distinctive, which is a decent combination in this world of cookie-cutter supercars. We don’t have a ton of details, but we can tell ya that the awesome AMG 6.3L mill is front/mid-mounted and slinging a healthy 563 HP and 480 ft-lbs of torque to the proper (rear) axle. That’ll be good for a 3.7 second run to 60 MPH on its way to a terminal velocity in the 190 MPH range. You know, just enough oomph for the daily commute. Anyways, huge gallery below.
So what do we mean by “coolest” trim badges? Well, we figure there are two criteria for a badge being cool – either it looks really cool aesthetically, or it sends a message to the unwitting fool behind you that you’re capable of smoking him off the line quicker than Cheech and Chong can get through an ounce of Thai Stick. Click through to see what we consider the 10 worthiest badges of all time to be. And if you manage to stick all of these badges together on some poor car (only if you have permission!), send us a picture and I’ll make my boss send you a prize.
After months of spy shots, leaks, and rumors, the new Mercedes SLS AMG Gullwing has finally made an appearance in full production form, sort of. Thanks to AutoBlog and their various moles, RL has managed to get our hands on the new ordering guide, replete with more ludicrous options than you can shake your 24-karat gold-plated walking stick at.
Ordinarily we’d probably be impressed with stock options like a hand-built 6.3L V-8, but the engine in my 13-year-old 850 has also been hand-built, twice, and 563 horsepower? When you combine the output of the tow-truck, I easily get triple that. But I digress…
