The E350 coupe is rated to get 17 miles per gallon in the city and 26 on the highway for an average of 20; the E350 sedan does slightly better, at 18 city, 26 highway, 21 average. The E550 coupe and sedan are both rated at 16 city and 24 highway for an average of 18.
Mercedes says the E350 coupe accelerates from zero to 60 in about six seconds (about the same as a BMW 328i), and the E550 in about five seconds (about the same as a BMW 335i). However, we found the E350 a bit slower than its rated time, while the BMWs were faster.
Mercedes-Benz is unveiling its 2011 E-Class Cabriolet there, at the Detroit auto show to show the four-season capability of top-down motoring.
The Cabriolet, previewed online this week by Mercedes-Benz, is equipped with technologies designed to keep its occupants comfortable, dry and wind-protected regardless of what Mother Nature may throw down upon them.
AirCap, an E-Class exclusive, is a windshield-mounted diffuser that can be raised up to six inches, to rechannel the flow of air out of the cockpit. Together with a wind deflector between the rear seats, the system can keep even back seat passengers draft-free. The diffuser can be deployed at any speed up to 100 miles per hour and will stay in place up to the vehicle’s top speed (over 140 m.p.h.).
Airscarf, already available on SL and SLK roadsters, allows the car’s ventilation system to direct its output toward occupants’ necks and shoulders.
The styling is closely based on the previously revealed Coupe. Though Mercedes-Benz pioneered styling of retracting hardtops, this model features a more traditional folding soft top. Mercedes claims the top is nearly an inch thick and keeps the cabin tightly insulated and quiet.
Like the Coupe, the Cabriolet will be available in E350 and E550 models. Engines include a 268-horsepower 3.5-liter V-6 or a 382-horsepower 5.5-liter V-8.
On sale? By spring 2011. Pricing? No official word yet, but expect it to start somewhere north of the base 2009 CLK – the model it replaces – at $56,000. Add about $7,000 to that for an E550.
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The year was 1955. It would turn out to be the best of times and the worst of times for Mercedes-Benz. In April came one of the epic motor racing drives of all time. In winning Italy’s famed Mille Miglia, Stirling Moss drove his Mercedes-Benz 300SLR two-seater along 1,000 miles of spectator-jammed public roads at an average speed of fractionally under 100mph. Beside him sat the imperturbable British journalist Denis Jenkinson, calling out the bends from a roll of paper. It was a spectacular victory, and one that Moss, who turned 80 this year, regards as one of his own and Mercedes’ best.
Two months later, Pierre Levegh was behind the wheel of another 300SLR, this time at Le Mans. A car ahead dived into the pits, causing a slower car to veer into Levegh’s path. He hit it hard, the Mercedes launched skywards, hitting a trackside bank at great speed. The car disintegrated, its engine and component parts scything into the grandstand followed by the flaming car body itself. Levegh and 83 spectators died and 100 more were injured in motor racing’s worst accident. As a mark of respect, Mercedes withdrew Juan Manuel Fangio’s 300SLR, but the race went on.
Mercedes’ racing machines were close relatives of a road version, the 300SL, a car whose “gull-wing” doors gave it the look of a giant bird of prey. These days, 300SLs fetch up to £300,000 at auction.
And now, 55 years after its debut, the car has a successor.
Making pastiche cars has pitfalls. There is the perennial charge that a company has run out of ideas and is trying to prop itself up with its past. Moreover, some pastiche cars patently don’t work. Jaguar’s S-Type rerun of its 1960s saloon was not exactly a sales triumph, and VW’s new Beetle is widely regarded as simply a Golf with attitude.
Still, BMW’s Mini and Fiat’s reborn 500 have proved stunning successes. And the Mercedes, to be known as the SLS AMG when it goes on sale early next year, sits squarely in the latter camp.
The details
On sale in the UK in January 2010
How much
Circa £140,000
How fast
0-62mph 3.8 secs, top speed 197mph (limited)
How thirsty
21.4mpg on EU urban/rural test cycle
How green
308g CO2/km
Also consider
Nothing quite like it
