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February 04 News |
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A-class
over the million
"A million vehicles, that's a major achievement for the A-class
and a milestone for the plant in Rastatt," proclaimed Professor
Jürgen Hubbert of DaimlerChrysler. The A-Class has firmly established
itself as a major element in Mercedes' line-up and in the marketplace
for compact vehicles. The most important market is Germany, with
the core European markets Italy, Great Britain and France following.
Female customers account for around 40 percent of A-class sales.
For the standard model, Mercedes currently offers A 140, A 160,
A 190 and A 210 petrol engines. In addition to the A 170 CDI turbo-diesel,
which is the most popular engine option, the short wheelbase version
also can be fitted with the economical A 160 CDI. In spring 2001,
the model line-up was expanded to include a long-wheelbase version
with a body 170 millimeters longer than the standard version. Since
then, more than 40 percent of customers have bought the longer version.
The most popular colour for the A-class as a whole is polar silver.
Currently, a special edition 'Picadilly' A-class is available in
Classic, Elegance and Avantgarde versions, with a range of optional
equipment and in exclusive colours of Alpine blue and tropical black.
During the Frankfurt motor show, three fuel-cell-powered A-Class
cars were used for the press shuttle service. The successor series
of the Mercedes-Benz A-class will be manufactured at the Rastatt
plant as well. DaimlerChrysler is currently investing about €900
million in the expansion of the plant. Rastatt, the newest plant
in Germany's Mercedes-Benz passenger car production network, celebrated
its 10th anniversary last year. |
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Safety
success
Remember when PRE-SAFE, the predictive occupant protection system,
was launched a year ago? It can already be found in around 75,000
models worldwide. The innovative technology, part of the standard
equipment in the S-Class, is designed to detect potential accidents
and trigger preventive measures to prepare occupants and vehicle
for impact. The system tautens the seat belts in fractions of a
second before a potential collision, holding the driver and front
passenger in the best possible seating position to ensure optimum
protection from the airbags on impact. If necessary, PRE-SAFE also
changes the settings of the front passenger seat and the electrically
adjustable individual seats in the rear and automatically closes
the sun-roof if the vehicle starts to skid. The system is the result
of six years of intensive development work by Mercedes engineers. |
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SLR
award
The new Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren has been voted Germany's best
sports car. In a competition, to which over 81,000 readers of two
magazines contributed, the SLR McLaren was given the highest number
of votes in the 'Sports cars' category by a clear margin. The 'swing-wing'
model with its supercharged, 460-kW/626-hp V8 engine is one of the
most powerful production sports cars currently on the market and
transposes the latest in motor sport technology from race track
to road. Its bodywork is made of carbon-fibre-reinforced plastics
(CRP), which also helps to ensure very high levels of safety in
Formula 1. The brake discs on the SLR McLaren are made of fibre-reinforced
ceramic material which has also proved its mettle on the racetrack
and which is characterised by its resistance to fading and long
life. |
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Tickled
pink
Whoever buys the latest crowd stopper from Mercedes-Benz of Ipswich
is likely to be tickled-pink with their purchase thanks to local
graphics specialists, Zchev Speed. The shocking pink SLK stunner,
originally black, was transformed using self-adhesive vinyl in order
to feature in Zchev Speed's new manual, The Art of Speed. It explains
in step-by-step detail how to design, produce and apply all kinds
of eye catching car graphics. Surprisingly, there's no hi-tech wizardry
involved, any do-it-yourselfer can perform a dramatic transformation
using simple tools. The SLK230 Kompressor took around 40 hours to
cover from bonnet to boot leaving an almost seamless finish that
will last for up to 10 years. The vinyl can be removed to restore
the car to its original factory finish within a couple of hours.
The Art of Speed is published by Page Manuals as a CD-Rom priced
£14.99 or a workshop manual priced £35.00. www.theartofspeed.co.uk |
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Safety
door lock
The developments of Mercedes in the field of active and passive
occupant protection are frequently documented. A typical example
of this is the wedge-pin door lock for which a patent application
was filed in 1958. In this design, a completely new technical feature,
two safety catches, prevents the doors from bursting open or jamming
in the event of an accident. From August 1959, the new door lock
was phased into passenger car production as a standard feature. |
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Million
dollar roadster
The McLaren Mercedes SLR should get a run for its money from a 198mph
supercar also wearing the three-pointed star. The open-top V12 is
available from HWA, which runs Mercedes¹ German Touring Car Championship
campaign. The left-hand-drive roadster ditches the CLK GTR's roof
for two buttresses behind the cabin. Integrated into the carbonfibre
monocoque, they incorporate roll-over bars and cooling ducts for
the mid-mounted V12. The coupé's 6.9-litre V12 pumps out
612bhp and 571lb ft of torque. Drive is channelled to the rear wheels
through a clutchless six-speed manual gearbox, complete with shift
paddles mounted behind the wheel. The roadster is said to hit 62mph
in 3.8 seconds and costs a cool $1m. |
Digital
TV
Mercedes customers can now receive digital TV channels whilst on
the move. A digital receiver capable of retrofitting to E, CL, S
and SL-Class models is available from Mercedes-Benz sales and service
outlets and sales partners. Installation of the equipment requires
that vehicles are equipped with the COMAND control and display system
as well as the analogue TV tuner currently available. The new digital
receiver is connected to the analogue tuner so that passengers can
switch between analogue and digital TV reception as demanded by
local transmission circumstances. For safety reasons, TV reception
on board is only possible at speeds up to 5mph. In excess of this,
COMAND automatically fades out the TV picture in order that the
driver is not distracted. A special screen is available for rear-seat
passengers in the E and S-Class so that they can enjoy digital television
programmes at all times. |
Ice
Pack
The new Ice Pack Entertainment System has been introduced under
the C-KO brand as part of the product range exclusive to Automotive
Styling Ltd. Eddie Collins, MD of Automotive Styling explains that
the system was designed in conjunction with one of the UK¹s major
vehicle suppliers, but is now available to the after-market. "Its
development came about because the numerous 'portable' and 'bag'
systems available on the market all require some kind of assembly
prior to use, and may require additional screens for more than one
person to view." The Ice-Pack is designed to sit between back
seat passengers and is held in place by the centre seat belt. The
unit opens up and the 5.6" screen situated in the extended Œarm¹
will automatically come on once the 12-volt cigarette lighter power
supply is activated. No other fitting or mounting is required. Although
the component parts are taken from the C-KO range of Mobile Multi-Media
systems, many of which come from the Far East, the Ice-Pack itself
is designed and manufactured in the UK. |
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