Spies are everywhere, well in the automotive world they are. Worldcarfans.com has just released a spy photo of the 2009 Mercedes-Benz CLK spotted in Stuttgart, Germany. The new CLK will be replacing the current model and said to be scheduled to be out in 2009. It was reported that the 2009 CLK coupe can be expected by early 2009 and a rag-top convertible will follow in summer.

The new CLK will be competing with the BMW 3-Series coupe, the Audi A5 coupe, and the 2009 Audi A5 convertible.

The report also suggests that the 2009 CLK be offered in three different engine choice, namely, a V6 with 272 horsepower, a 388 horsepower V8, and a 503 horsepower CLK 63 AMG.
News from: http://www.worldcarfans.com/9071107.010/spied-2009-mercedes-clk

Just recently, mobilemag.com reported that the Italian automaker, Fiat will be working with Daimler for the next-generation Mercedes-Benz A-Class and B-Class compact cars. According to the report this is just one of their projects aside from an agreement that Fiat would be producing truck engines for Daimler, a deal worth $3.49 billion.

The said plan is still being worked on according to Sergio Marchionne, chief executive at Fiat. He also said that it is possible that they extend the partnership with Daimler, saying, “We’re not just talking with Daimler about engines,” said Marchionne. “We’re talking about everything.”

The results are yet to be seen for both companies have not release any details regarding their plans.

Source: http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/354/C13798/

It was a fun-filled weekend for the first anniversary of Mercedes-Benz World. Aside from the jam packed Surrey-based Mercedes-Benz World previously reported, various activities like prize draws wherein 20 visitors got a chance to ride the SLR McLaren or with the Silver Arrows Display Team as they drive through the handling circuits.

But that’s just the start of it, until the event was graced by the presence of one of the world’s greatest motor racing legends, Sir Stirling Moss. According to Carpages, he was there to get the keys of a brand new Smart Fortwo, which is a gift for his wife, Lady Susie Moss.

In a special ceremony, President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz UK, Wilfried Steffen, presented the keys to Sir Stirling. After that, Sir Stirling eagerly greeted his fans.

Peter O’Halloran, managing director of Mercedes-Benz World said, “It was an honor to have Sir Stirling with us to celebrate our first anniversary. For many visitors awaiting his appearance, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to come face to face with their racing hero and for those unaware of his arrival it was an extra special birthday treat.”

Attendants of the event were able to get passenger rides on the handling circuits in the AMG, and 4MATIC off-road vehicles throughout the weekend celebration. They also received their own miniature birthday cake.

O’Halloran later added, “The weekend was a great success and with next year’s events calendar already taking shape, we hope that visitors will continue to get involved with all of the excitement Mercedes-Benz World has to offer in 2008.”

News from: http://www.carpages.co.uk/mercedes_benz/mercedes-benz-06-11-07.asp

Edmunds.com recently took a closer look at the German ingenuity of Mercedes-Benz’s DiesOtto. Imagine the fuel efficiency of a diesel engine minus the rattle and without compromising its power. DiesOtto was first introduced at the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show and featured in the Mercedes-Benz F 700. The F 700 was intended to be a research vehicle to demonstrate technologies that might be incorporated into future S-Class sedans.

It was termed as DiesOtto to honor Rudolf Diesel, who invented the compression-ignition internal combustion engine, and Nikolaus Otto, who popularized the four-cycle internal combustion engine.

DiesOtto achieves the diesel-like fuel efficiency and great performance through the new combustion strategy called Homogenous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI). Edmunds.com said that HCCI “combines the technique of spark ignition when the engine is cold or accelerating with the principle of diesel-style auto-ignition under partial loads.”

Until the temperature and pressure rise high enough to ignite the mixture, a lean air-fuel mixture is compressed in the cylinder. HCCI technology then creates a flameless release of energy throughout the entire combustion chamber that completes the combustion process and promotes low temperatures. Fuel efficiency and low-temperature combustion is achieved by the HCCI engine with the help of the lean operation.

In the F700, the Mercedes-Benz DiesOtto engine works with a small gasoline engine, two-stage turbocharging, direct fuel injection, variable valve timing and HCCI.

According to Mercedes Benz, instead of manipulating the cylinder head, variable compression is achieved by physically influencing the crankshaft. DiesOtto’s project leader Günter Karl says, “We can adapt the compression ratio very well to the operating points, so we have good efficiency.” He continues, “Under part load we go as high as possible — higher than spark ignition but lower than diesel. At wide-open throttle we can go lower, so we have no knocking.”

With all the promising effects the DiesOtto has, many are wondering when it will be available in the market. Mercedes-Benz said it will be awhile before it is released since there are many things that need to be done. Günter Karl says, “We have a pressure transducer in each cylinder for closed-loop combustion control. This is absolutely necessary to get good transient behavior between HCCI mode and spark-ignition mode.” He also added that the complexity of the system may need “real physics in the ECU.”

Source: http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=123274

An automaker’s job does not stop with just coming out with excellent cars but it also involves looking into the future. True enough, Mercedes-Benz has racked up the designer’s to come up with another futuristic find as it presented the 2057 Mercedes-Benz SilverFlow at this year’s Design Challenge.

Christened as the Mercedes-Benz SilverFlow, this unique-looking one-seater has a combination of gold and silver colors for a more minimalistic feel to it. This car, however, is far beyond ordinary as it is actually made up of micro-metallic particles. Through the use of magnets, the SilverFlow transforms into its car form. To the convenience of its user, this futuristic car can be melted and what will be left is just a small body of metal. With that extraordinary capability of the Mercedes car, parking or keeping the car will no longer be problem. By simply using the magnets again, this one of a kind vehicle transforms again into its original form.

What was the story behind the Mercedes-Benz SilverFlow design? The car was inspired by  the Terminator 2, which is a famous Arnold Schwarzenegger film. According to the German automaker, it sees automobiles only geared with low-grade carbon fiber from China 13 years from now. With that, the established car company will seek high and low for new materials for its products. Then the engineers of the company will have found the T-1000 liquid metal.

The 2057 Mercedes-Benz SilverFlow maybe more of a fictitious four-wheel machine for now but with the technological advancements at present plus the genius minds of human beings, anything is possible now. The SilverFlow may become one of those possibilities.

Mercedes-Benz has tried the conventional billboards, print and television ads, as well as podcasts in promoting its luxury brand of quality vehicles. As if that is not yet sufficient, the German automobile company has recently came out with a sound logo for probably its radio broadcasts, which is slated to debut on the first day of November.

The official sound logo of Mercedes-Benz, which will be in an acoustic format, will be concentrating on the three-pointed stars emblem of the luxury brand. According to the company, the official sound logo was taken from an English choir that is composed mainly of young boys. Experts hired by Mercedes-Benz had to get hold and to isolate a solo vocal from the choir’s song, which dates way back in the 1990s. From there, this part became the basis of the upcoming sound logo. With the help of Jung von Matt, who is the automaker’s lead agency, the final version was finally crafted and is set to be heard in a few days.

“Our new sound logo is going to make the Mercedes-Benz brand not only visually, but also acoustically distinctive, and thus more quickly recognizable,” said Dr. Olaf Göttgens, who is Mercedes-Benz Cars’ Vice President Brand Communications. “This acoustic trademark is a perfect fit for Mercedes-Benz—it is emotional, elegant, and unmistakably associated with our brand.”

Next month, the Mercedes-Benz World (MBW) situated in Brooklands, which is the former motor sports circuit in England, will be turning a year old. As part of the festivities for its first year in the automobile industry, it will have a huge celebration slated on November 3 and 4.

Without any entrance fee of any sort, just about anybody can enter and take part in the special MBW party. Upon arrival, each person will be given a ticket for the special draw. These special guests and regular visitors will be given the chance to take part in an abundant raffle of the MBW. For just one lucky individual, he or she can take home the established and high-end Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren sports car. Pure luxury and strength are combined in this car, which is equipped with precision-engineered Mercedes-Benz Parts, that was developed by the German automobile company and the McLaren Automotive.

Other festivities next weekend includes taking the curtain off the new Silver Arrows AMG Display Team. This group of talented exhibition drivers are set to show off their skills in maneuvering Mercedes-Benz vehicles. Moreover, for £15, people can already seat at the passenger’s seat of the exhibition cars.

Mercedes-Benz E320 BLUETEC is now available in California and this diesel-powered luxury car from the German automaker could be the answer for those strict emission norms set by numerous agencies in this sunny state as well as the 50 others in the United States.

After a year in the industry, the Mercedes-Benz E320 BLUETEC vehicles are now scattered all over the US. More motorists are becoming aware of the noxious gases, which includes Sulfur oxide, produced by engine combustion. Among the Mercedes-Benz Parts, the precision-engineered engine of the E320 is the highlight of the pro-environment car. Such engine allows a cleaner fuel burn to produce as much as 224-horsepower but with lesser harmful gases.

Nitrogen oxide is among the numerous harmful gases that come out of the exhaust tip. This kind of gas is very prevalent especially in gasoline-powered engines but are also present in diesel-powered ones. What the Mercedes-Benz E320 BLUETEC engine does is it does not allow air contaminants to get out. Similar to a catalytic converter, the engine is equipped with filters that traps in air contaminants like the Nitrogen oxide. The engine of this luxury car also gets additional aid from the two cat cons installed. These are just some of the reasons why Americans are lured into gearing up with a E320 BLUETEC car.

“Thanks to the highly favorable emission characteristics of this car, only minor technical adjustments were required to obtain type approval for the clean compression-ignition engine in California,” said Dr. Leopold Mikulic, who is the company’s vice president for Passenger Car Engine and Powertrain Development.

Just in time for the holidays, Mercedes-Benz will be coming out with the E300 BLUETEC. Moreover, the company is slated to release more models carrying the same environment-friendly auto parts in its system.

The past year can be considered as a successful one for the United Kingdom-based Mercedes-Benz World as the luxury auto center’s first 12 months were packed with patrons and enthusiasts that totaled to 306, 698 individuals.

Mercedes-Benz world was established a year ago with aims of building stronger ties with its customers and future users. The three-story center, which is being housed in Surrey, also showcases the latest offerings of the luxury car company. By the 26th of this month, the Mercedes-Benz World will be a year old and will celebrate its successful year in fashion via numerous shows and exhibitions this October until November. Visitors, especially those near the Brooklands area will have the rare chance of experiencing first-hand the surprises the German company has prepared.

“When we launched Mercedes-Benz World back in October 2006, we set ourselves a number of high targets including our aim to get 300,000 guests through the doors within the first year,” said Peter O’Halloran, who is the three-pointed stars center’s managing director. “The fact that we are approaching our milestone first birthday knowing we have exceeded this target, makes the celebration all the more important.”

During the past months, the center has already hosted numerous events that promote driver safety among young drivers as well as the older ones. The huge center is also equipped with various driving tracks that are used to test new car models. Activities of the center are all geared into entertaining visitors of what the company can offer to them.

“When we opened in October last year, we promised that Mercedes-Benz would bring ‘Autotainment’ to the UK and we have certainly delivered on that commitment,” said O’Halloran.

Aside from Surrey-based experience center, Mercedes-Benz World is already scattered across the globe. The company has centers in South Africa, Singapore, Frankfurt, Milan, Stuttgart, Berlin, and Paris.

Mercedes-Benz has taken the meaning of luxury up a notch as the German automaker promises to come out with the electronic log book system for its sleek cars in the CLS and E lines.

The e-log book christened as the Digital Service Booklet (DSB) will be made available extensively in all the models in the CLS and E lines. What exactly are the benefits of this high-end DSB for the Mercedes-Benz owners? Similar to normal logbook, this system will be able to store every car service details done to a CLS-class or an E-class vehicle. Moreover, the dealership concern will have to print out a hard copy of the details of the service and provide every time an owner’s copy. These hard copies containing important details will be kept in a folder provided by the dealership.

It is a different case, however, for those auto shops that do not necessarily carry the luxury German brand. These non-Mercedes-Benz establishments can still access the DSB via the Block Exemption Regulations but will only have certain details available. The full records of the customer cannot be viewed by these shops.

For the convenience of the Mercedes CLS or E-class owner, it is better to have the services done through a franchised shop to enjoy the benefits of the DSB e-log book.