New Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake

It took Mercedes-Benz a little over two years to turn the Shooting Break Concept from the 2010 Beijing Auto Show into the production CLS Shooting Brake (that's no typo, the German automaker changed the name in the process) you first saw in a set of leaked pictures earlier today and in much more detail now. 

So what exactly is the CLS Shooting Brake? Well, if you ask the brand with the star, it will tell you that it's "quite clearly a coupé, but with five doors and a roof which continues through to the rear." 

If you're having a problem comprehending Mercedes' description of the Shooting Brake, you're probably not alone. 

To put it simply, it's an estate version of the CLS with a heavily arched roof that digs into the load area reducing space but at the same time, makes the car look far more elegant and sporty than let's say, the E-Class Wagon. 

While it does look sleek, the Shooting Brake is a large vehicle that measures 4,956mm (195.2 inches) long, 1,881mm (74.1 inches) wide and 1,413 mm (55.6 inches) tall. This means it has the same width with the CLS sedan but it is 16mm longer and surprisingly, 3mm lower than the saloon it is based upon. 

Another surprise comes from the load area as with 590 liters of space with the rear seats in their position, the CLS Shooting Brake beats the Jaguar XF Sportbreak (550 liters), Audi A6 Avant (565 liters) and BMW 5-Series Touring (560 liters) losing only to its E-Class Wagon stablemate (695 liters). 

With the rear seats folded, however, the Shooting Brake with 1,550 liters of space falls behind all four cars (Jaguar: 1,675 liters, Audi: 1,680 liters, BMW: 1,670 liters and Mercedes E-Class Wagon: 1,950 liters). 

The Shooting Brake is equipped as standard with a self-leveling air suspension at the rear while another special feature worth mentioning is the available 'designo' wooden luggage compartment floor that Mercedes says "serves to underscore the hand-finished nature of the interior". 

In addition, unlike the CLS sedan that gets a strict-two seat layout at the back, the Shooting Brake features three seats, the backrests of which can be folded down from the luggage compartment as standard. 

Customers will be able to choose from five interior colors, five trim designs and also three qualities of leather.

The initial engine range for Europe will include a total of four powertrains, all coupled to a 7-speed 7G-TRONIC PLUS automatic transmission with an ECO start/stop function. 

These include two diesels, the CLS 250 CDI with a 2.1-liter four-cylinder turbo rated at 201hp (204PS) and the CLS 350 CDI powered by a 3.0-liter V6 delivering 261hp (265PS), and two petrol models, the CLS 350 with a 302hp (306PS) 3.5-liter V6 and the CLS 500 sporting a 4.7-liter V8 turbo producing 402hp (408PS). 

The CLS 350 CDI and the CLS 500 will also be offered with Mercedes' 4MATIC all-wheel drive system.

In the UK, Mercedes will only offer the two rear-wheel drive diesel models. 

In 2013, the Shooting Brake's range will be enhanced with the flagship CLS 63 AMG version series, likely powered by a 5.5-liter bi-turbocharged V8 rated at 530bhp (537PS) in standard trim. 

Mercedes-Benz has said that it has no current plans to bring the Shooting Brake to North America.

If you scroll down, you'll find all the technical data for the European-spec model along with Mercedes-Benz's account on the origins of the Shooting Brake/Break moniker, plus 80 high-resolution photos and a video.

[From Mercedes-Benz] It's all in a name: the origins of the name "Shooting Break"
"Break, or the homonym Brake, was the name once given to carriages used to "break" in wild horses and also to restrict (or "brake") their urge to move, so that they could be put to use as work horses. Since the carts could easily be broken as part of this process, people tended not to use ones which they may have urgently needed for other purposes.

Where necessary, "Brakes" were often fitted out with variable bodies, which were only really used to carry along anything that may have been necessary for the hunt, for example. Any such vehicle which was used when going out shooting was called a Shooting Brake or Shooting Break. Motorised Shooting Brakes were popular in England in the 60s and 70s – exclusive two-door sports cars, which combined the luxury and style of a coupé with a larger load compartment and large tailgate."

View the original article here

Read More

Tesla Model S officially rated at 89 MPGe with 265-mile range

The numbers are in, and they are prosperous. in keeping with the EPA, the Tesla Model S gets a far per gallon equivalent (MPGe) rating of eighty nine (combined), eighty eight (city) and ninety (highway). MPGe is outlined because the distance a vehicle would travel on the energy contained in one gallon of gasoline, though after all the mould S runs on electrons not gas.

To compare, alternative pure electrical cars on the market embody the Honda match at 118 conjoined MPGe, the Mitsubishi i with 112 MPGe the Ford Focus electrical with one zero five MPGe and also the Nissan Leaf with "just" ninety nine MPGe. Even at rock bottom of this specific list, these are spectacular numbers for the Model S, that means it makes economical use of the energy offered in its battery.

Tesla says the vary has been declared to be 265 miles using the EPA's five-cycle testing procedure that makes it the long range mileage champ of the assembly electrical automotive world. Using the EPA's older two-cycle testing Fist letter the Model S would score quite three hundred miles per charge – considerably larger than the 244 miles managed by the older Tesla Roadster. Still, that vary figure solely applies to the top-of-the-line version with the 85-kWh battery that starts at $69,900.There will be Model S sedans offered with significantly less vary and a smaller worth tag, furthermore as a Performance model beginning at $84,900.

We're on the lookout for additional info from Tesla, and that we expect it will return before the primary deliveries happen this Friday at the company's Fremont factory in California.

source

Read More

Hyundai pondering new large crossover

According to a report in Ward s Auto the pale fortunes of the soon-to-depart Hyundai Veracruz are not stopping Hyundai from considering another dedicated seven-seat crossover. though the new Santa Fe can usher in a very long-wheelbased sibling that may seat seven, Hyundai Motor America CEO John Krafcik advises Ward's to "stay tuned for future details on a possible premium crossover" that would be a fanatical – read: Veracruz replacing – CUV for seven.

The question is, what will "premium" mean? The word was applied to the Veracruz however customers did not specifically obtain it, cross-shopping the Veracruz with mass-market competitors. Ward's uses a barn-sized brush to get out the competitive set for this future CUV, from the $18,995 Dodge Journey(!) to the $46,250 Audi Q7. that is a boggling vary, the prime takeaway being that no matter it's are clearly a lot of "premium" than the Veracruz. in keeping with Ward's, "Hyundai has expressed a need to use the rear-wheel drive platform underpinning its premium Genesis and Equus sedans for different models, probably CUVs."

Just as necessary for the instant is that Hyundai believes there is a fight it will still win within the arena of huge crossovers.

source

Read More