carcounsel.com |HID|

Mercedes is going back to fixed service intervals rather than ones based on how the car’s been used. Click here for more…

The revised SL doesn’t look much different, but I’m happy to see MB engineers have focused on making the car more organic and driver focused. The average SL buyer might not appreciate the changes but it’s nice to see MB paying more attention to what you can’t see, something they’d been ignoring for nearly a decade.

Changes to the engine include a larger throttle valve on the inlet manifold for improved breathing, changes to the management system to alter the operation of the fuel-injection system to make it cylinder selective, and there is a new supercharger unit that is claimed to be more efficient at higher operating speeds… Mercedes claims 0.2 second is shaved from the 0-to-62 time… This SL55 AMG is a more compelling car to drive hard over challenging roads than its predecessor. The car’s overall character remains pretty much the same, but with greater control and added directness built into the chassis you find your confidence levels growing. Changes to the active body control system help rein in body movements faster and provide a more progressive action. The steering ratio is also sharpened with new mapping and a revised hydraulic pump combined with a reworked damper for the steering rack. Along with more compliant bushings on the four-link front suspension, this improves on-center steering feel and provides sharper turn-in response. The former model’s electrohydraulic brakes are replaced by a fully hydraulic system. – Automotive News

There is just one final question mark hanging over this S-class: the critical area of refinement… on even slightly coarse surfaces there is surprising road noise, at least on the optional rubber fitted to the test car. It’s not enough to spoil the car but… it’s more than enough to suggest very strongly that, unless looks and grip are paramount, you’d be better off with the standard rims. – Autocar

seen in Car and Driver Forums:

Q) Why doesn’t Lexus offer a manual transmission in the IS 350?  Any plans to do so?

A) The IS 250 is our core model, representing over 80 percent of sales. With this volume, we believe the IS 250 with manual transmission (M/T) will meet the needs for those consumers desiring a 6-speed manual and provides a very competitive value.  The volume of M/T sales within the segment the IS 350 will compete is very small, and we do not forecast enough demand to warrant production of a M/T choice for the IS 350.  If the market should change, we will, of course, consider a M/T for the IS 350.

Commentary: A driver who choses a manual is generally an enthusiast, so we’re surprised that the more powerful car comes as an auto only. That said, manual transmissions are a relative afterthought to Lexus and Mercedes-Benz. Proof: the foot activated parking brake makes it impossible to keep the car from rolling back when starting off on a hill in a manual…

(BMWs and Hondas tend to make better manuals, Benz and Toyota better autos).

UPDATE: AutoExpress has driven the manual IS250, and find it the weakest link in an otherwise compelling package…

...the engine’s tendency to hang on to the revs means making smooth progress requires concentration – and this isn’t helped by the clutch’s heavy action at the top of its travel, or the fact that the gearlever is angled, and takes some getting used to. Thanks to the auto’s closer gearing, the manual car is thirstier…

UPDATE 2:

you can opt for a manual IS. That said, you probably shouldn’t. Lexus’s command of super-smooth auto transmissions is unquestioned, but it doesn’t have a good manual. The shift lacks the positivity and involvement of the 3-Series, feels notchy and cheap and is set at a weird angle that, although arguably ergonomic, upsets the otherwise effective cabin symmetry. And this isn’t an option that does any favours to that fabled Lexus refinement… [buy] the manual and you end up with a hell of a lot less car. source: Top Gear

somehow, the car still fails to make my mouth water. Perhaps I’m put off by the overly styled sheetmetal, which lacks the grace of its predecessor. I’m also not taken with the synthetic feel in the major driving controls and the electronics-heavy interior. Even in a luxury sedan, I’d like more driver involvement. source: Car and Driver

A few years back when everyone was gawking at the first Maybach to hit the dealer I just stood there shaking my head. It was too big to seem drivable, too like the S class inside to feel special.

If anything the Maybach proved what I’d been trying to warn people of: how substandard the rest of the Mercedes line had become since the mid-90s. The last-generation S class was considered too weak in its body structure to meet the Maybach’s goals for refinement and safety so the car was based on the slab-sided, heavy, over-the-top S class of the early 90s.

In this Top Gear piece Paul Horrell reminds me why he’s one of my favorite writers and the Maybach is one of my least favorite cars.

Here are some excerpts:

Why do I take such a harsh view of the Maybach? Because it’s so unimaginative. It’s simply a Mercedes, but bigger, faster, flasher, more luxurious… It doesn’t have the unique architecture of an Arnage or Phantom, or their elevated eyepoint. And as Maybach has already found, if you don’t differentiate it from the rest of the range, when the S-Class moves on – with Pre-Safe and night vision and all the rest – the Maybach gets left behind. Whereas the Phantom and Arnage have never pretended they’re about technology or toys, and so they stand aloof and unaffected by what’s going on among the 7-Series and Audi A8…

The Maybach won’t die any time soon. It has a 10-year lifespan, and it’s three-years-old, so it’s another four years before the critical moment when they have to decide whether or not to develop a successor…

It’s supposed to be the best effort in history from the people who, don’t forget, actually invented the car – and yet it’s not as good as the S-Class. It’s wildly expensive at £289,090, yet oddly incapable of moving people. It’s all substance and no meaning.

1) Mercedes Benz claims its research indicates drivers of the new S class have a heart rate 6 beats per minute lower than when driving competing cars. Given that it’s said every creature has 1,000,000 heartbeats on this earth…

2) The car can sense (and try to avoid) an impending accident for you – click here to find out more…

Click here...

Unlike the BMW’s 3.0 liter, the Benz’s 3.5… has the low-end grunt to pin your ears off the line as well as the high-rpm horsepower to pin your grin as you chase the horizon. As Walton noted about the Teutonic sixes, “The BMW I-6 is, indeed, smoother than the M-B V-6; however, it takes what feels like twice as long to reach the redline and only begins to make power above 4000rpm.” The Lexus 3.5, similar to the Mercedes’, has power on hand throughout the rev range – just a lot more of it. source: Motor Trend, 02.06

(One could argue that rivals focus on their engines to make up for BMW’s clear lead in chassis feel, but this torque deficit is another reason BMW inline sixes tend to be better when paired with manual transmissions while competitors do just fine with an auto).

Fact: Mercedes Benz sold just 70 Maybachs in 2005.

(Yes the new 57S is faster and more nimble, but people don’t buy Maybachs based on the way the car drives).