Mercedes Benz S-400 Hybrid

The S class has always been the flagship offering from Mercedes Benz

Business Tycoons, Political leaders, Sports/Film superstars….you name them , and they’ve got one

And so finally , as a responsibility rather than a necessity, Mercedes decided to go GREEN with this super long, super luxury, super machine.

Last year, we all saw the rise of the BlueTec variants of all major models in the Merc line up

And now this year, they went a step ahead and installed the lithium-ion batteries inside the S class and made it a Hybrid with a promising figure of 30 mpg (wow)

Now that is quite descent for a car which is more than 200 inches long and weighs almost a mammoth 2.5 tons

Looks:- There are some minor changes, especially the grill which has got more curves than ever before. Then there are new LED head and tail lamp clusters and also some more chrome which is visible on the front bumper

But overall its very easy to recognize the S class…

Engine:- 3.5 liter DOHC 275hp V6 producing 258lb.ft. of torque coupled with high capacity lithium-ion battery supplementing 20-horsepower electric motor and an impressive starting torque of 118lb.ft.

Interiors:- All leather, some ultra electronics from the future with 40GB hard-drive GPS navigation with Bluetooth interface and Voice Control, 15-speaker Harman-Kardon LOGIC7 Surround Sound system with Dolby Digital 5.1, HD digital radio, in-dash 6-DVD/CD changer, in-dash SD card reader and the list goes on and on and on

The S class has more gadgets than a normal person would buy in his/her entire life…Its kind of too much becoz one starts to wonder whether this was supposed to be a car or some NASA control center? and add to that the driving dynamics which these days are all electronic and no mechanical (EBD, BA and some 50 more abbreviations)

Also has that braking regenerative system (remember the KERS thing which caused the biggest confusion in Formula-1 history)

Now , i dont even find it necessary to type all the things this car has, cos its got everything man has developed till date for cars and comfort.. so dont bother, the S-class has everything

Now , the point is – is the car worth all the fuss??

Answer:- Actually you can buy a Smart ForTwo along with a regular S class , and trust me u’ll save more fuel that way. But if you are here to prove that you care for nature the grand way, then probably the S-400 Hybrid is the only one for you…….so get it

Mercedes Benz BLK

For long, we have witnessed how the German Auto industry keeps itself competative

Answer:- Constant up-gradation of its respective models and targeting every segment which its rival has a car in

Now after all the buzz surrounding the BMW X1 (yes there is the 1) and Audi Q3, Mercedes-Benz did not really have a car in the compact SUV segment

But all of that has changed ; The three pointed star has been working on this new car, called the BLK class which will be based on the B class platform

Looks:- Contemporary Mercedes but not difficult to figure out the compact nature of the car along with the familiar  F-800 concept look

Is upright , so the driving dynamics should be better than the X1 (which is actually very tiny) and at the same time the length should be around 4-4.5 m. So the letters SUV can be associated with the BLK with relative ease as compared to the X1 or the Q3

Engine options :- Its not yet clear but the probable options include sizes from 1.5 to 2.0 liters

Mercedes has not revealed much , so whether the BLK has FWD or AWD is not known

The launch should be around 2012 1st half, and by then the CUV segment will have some more rivals with the Mini Countryman, Q3 and maybe the Land Rover LrX