2014 Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG S Model First Drive

Your browser, , is out of date and not supported by www.motortrend.com. It may not display all features of our site properly and could have potential security flaws. Please update your browser to the most upated version. Update Now The moment I crested 200 kilometers per hour, I realized how ridiculous the new S63 AMG is. (That's about 125 of our superior miles per hour.) I was on a rain-slicked section of unrestricted autobahn near Munich, though for all the car cared I may as well have been parked at the beach. Minutes earlier I'd set my seat massage to program number 2 (I believe that one's called either Hot and Dirty, or Quick and Shameful). While the hot stone massage is a very welcome luxury, I am totally averse to heat in all forms. So I turned on my seat AC to cancel out the sizzling stones. Yes, you can run hot and cold at the same time -- like a mixed water tap. The S63's cabin perfumer was emitting some sort of citrus scent, and just for giggles I'd activated the cabin air ionizer. Next on my agenda was selecting the perfect ambient interior lighting. The blue was too "Fast and Furious" for Bavaria, while the pink was too Virgin America for me. Tangerine -- why yes of course, tangerine. Not only do I like that color, but it matched the cabin perfume. But here's the real reason why the S63 turned ridiculous: Above 200 km/h the DTR+ Steering stops working. DTR+ Steering is Mercedes-ese for the semiautonomous driving mode that uses built-in stereo cameras to keep the big limousine centered between the lines. Suddenly, as the cruise control took us beyond the metric double-ton, I had to start paying attention to the actual act of driving. Ridiculous, right? 2014 Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG S Model Front-engine, AWD, 4-door, 4-5-pass sedan 5.5L/577-hp/664-lb-ft twin-turbo DOHC V-8

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2014 Mercedes-Benz E250 Bluetec First Drive

Your browser, , is out of date and not supported by www.motortrend.com. It may not display all features of our site properly and could have potential security flaws. Please update your browser to the most upated version. Update Now Shortly after Mercedes-Benz launched the new four-cylinder 2014 E250 Bluetec twin-turbodiesel in Portland, I borrowed one for a longer jaunt to better assess whether this four-banging oil-burner was up to the task of lugging three adults and their abundant luggage up and over mountains, and to test the veracity of that newly announced 28/45-mpg EPA fuel economy claim. Actually those EPA figures drop to 27/42 mpg for my AWD 4Matic model. We left Portland airport with a full tank and headed straight up to Astoria and the mouth of the ferocious Columbia River, steering clear of the faster I-5 route in favor of the two-lane byway hugging the river's left bank. Peak speeds in the 60-mph range are good for economy, but climbing additional hills and slowing for towns and scenic overlooks is not. The engine's lusty 369 lb-ft of torque make effortless work of maintaining set cruise-control speeds without constantly pestering the seven-speed automatic for ratio changes, but the 195 horses don't exactly make quick work of passing semis. This car is great at illustrating the difference between torque and horsepower -- that big torque number means there's plenty of brute force to get any job done, but the modest horsepower figure means you can't hurry those jobs along much. Our indicated average at the end of day one: 37.9 mpg over 115 miles. 2014 Mercedes-Benz E250 Bluetec Front-engine, RWD/AWD, 5-pass, 4-door sedan 2.1L/195-hp/369-lb-ft twin-turbo DOHC 16-valve I-4 28/45 mpg (RWD); 26/42 mpg (AWD) 137/85 kW-hrs/100 miles; 147/91 kW-hrs/100 miles

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2013 Mercedes-Benz GL350 BlueTEC 4MATIC Arrival

Your browser, , is out of date and not supported by www.motortrend.com. It may not display all features of our site properly and could have potential security flaws. Please update your browser to the most upated version. Update Now Long Term: By Michael Febbo | Photos By Motor Trend Staff | From the September 2013 issue of Motor Trend  |   My last long-term vehicle was the Volkswagen Passat TDI, Motor Trend's 2012 Car of the Year. To continue the best of the best theme, I begrudgingly pried myself out of the frugal and efficient Passat and stepped up, figuratively and literally, into our new gigantic and luxurious Sport/Utility of the Year, the 2013 Mercedes-Benz GL350. Let's go ahead and address the elephant in the room. Our diesel-powered GL bases at $63,305, but was delivered carrying an as tested price of $88,615. Before you light the torches and sharpen your pitchforks, you might want to consider that's only $1000 more than a Cadillac Escalade Hybrid Platinum. It's also 2 grand cheaper than a fully loaded Lexus LX. It's hard to call a nearly $90,000 SUV a value, but if you're getting a better-equipped, superior vehicle and you save a few bucks, why not? View the original article here

Go nuts with the 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class configurator

Mercedes-Benz has activated the configurator for the all-new 2014 S-Class, and not surprisingly, there are a lot of goodies for this new luxo-barge. The options packages are quite extensive, although the S550 isn't big on standalone options.

The color palette for the S550, which starts at $92,900, also leaves something to be desired. It's your usual array of blacks, grays, silvers, whites, white-grays, black-grays, silver-whites and white-blacks that typify German executive sedans. As for the more exciting options of the Designo catalog, that menu hasn't quite been updated for the new S-Class, although we doubt it'll be long before the personalization service offers a more vibrant version of the stoic limo.

We managed to crank an S550 up to $139,995, which feels like an odd bargain for some reason. But for the car you see here, we couldn't live without that stylish Ruby Black paint, the Sport Package Plus One, Porcelain/Black Nappa leather seats, most of the interior packages, the Burmeister audio system, Magic Body Control, Surround View and the Driver Assistance package. All told, the Autoblog S-Class is just a shade over $130,000. Click on over and play away.

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2013 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT Ignition Video

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