Tuesday, 31 March 2020

The Driver's Seat: 10 Car Options Nobody Needs

That's a half-second quicker than the basic rear-wheel-drive E63 sedan that's still offered in Europe. Mercedes quotes a 3.6-second blast from 0 to 62 mph for the S-Model sedan and 3.7 seconds for the "starter" E63. The Revel’s Mercedes 4×4 Sprinter base sports almost 8 inches of ground clearance from the factory, but Winnebago adds Method Race Wheels and terrain-eating BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 sneakers, which not only add a bit of ground clearance but give the profile a serious off-road look. What's a good price for a New 2019 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Van? So great is the particular Sprinter that its choices expand further than the perform web site to Motorhome transformation vans, urgent situation services cars and trucks perhaps even electricity trucks. Even when a jolt occurs, it's stifled virtually instantly, transmitting minimal annoyance to the interior. The interior is much less imposing for 2013 compared to the button-heavy 2012 model, but again, part of the Range Rover's charm may have been lost in the process of modernization.


However, sharp-eyed readers may have already caught the rest of the name: 4Matic. The rear-wheel-drive E63 is now history in America, as the new AMG sedans and special-order-only wagons will send 67 percent of their power to rear wheels and 33 percent up front. Dr. Joachim Schmidt, Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing, Mercedes-Benz Cars: “With record sales in November, we have sold more cars than in the same months of last year for over two years in a row. Within North America, Mercedes-Benz posted record sales in Canada, where 16,400 units were handed over to customers during the first seven months of the year, an increase of 18 percent compared to the same period in 2009. Mercedes-Benz thus remains market leader in Canada. The E63 AMG S 4Matic, the only wagon for America, turns the 0-to-60 trick in 3.7 seconds. Driven as intended by God and Affalterbach - the handcrafting German home of AMG -- the E63 will be moving too swiftly to read the lettering.


The 2013 Land Rover Range Rover is an attractive SUV that will never be mistaken for anything else - it just doesn't bludgeon its 'I'm better than you' ethos into our retinas quite like the last Range Rover did. A ladder takes a lot of space inside the van, but will not be a problem when placed atop the vehicle. There’s 68.6 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rearmost row of seating in the standard-roof, 144-inch wheelbase 5-passenger Passenger trim, while the 170-inch wheelbase Crew version with the high roof offers 367.5 cubic feet. This marketplace position, however laudable and desirable it may be, presents a unique problem: How do you redesign a legendary SUV to be better, faster and stronger while maintaining its posh image? Much of the Range Rover's legendary status comes from that fact that it has proven time and time again to be the most extraordinarily capable production SUV in the world, and for 2013, it's more functional than ever before. Ergonomically, the new Range Rover is much easier to use than the last one, with a large eight-inch touchscreen interface dominating the center of the dash that controls such items as the audio and navigation systems, which includes settings for on-road and off-road driving.


Signature elements like the clamshell hood, broad roof held up by thin pillars (well, they at least look thin, since they are blacked out to hide them from view) and fastback rear glass join with the more-recent vertical vents behind the front wheels and intricately detailed grille insert to make this latest Rover immediately recognizable. It's incredible how many buttons, dials and switches Land Rover was able to delete in this latest Range Rover remake. One area where making it better caused a recognizable change or two to the latest Range Rover is its external appearance. When push comes to shove, we prefer the less ornamental and more purposeful look of the last-generation Range Rover to the more streamlined appearance of the 2013 model, but we're probably being picky. The new 2013 model is more of the same, for the most part. More than ever, the E63 seems the sturdy pillar of the AMG lineup. That permanent AWD makes the AMG feel buttoned-down and virtually eliminates wheelspin, but it was the hairy-chested, tail-wagging nature of the rear-wheel-drive E63 that helped make it so much more exciting and rebellious than the tamped-down BMW M5. Unique gauges, brushed stainless steel pedals, and sundry AMG-lettered bits - the headrests, the doorsills with white LEDs - remind you and passengers how much dough you spent.


At the same time, changes to the recipe like a much more steeply raked windshield and jewel-like head- and taillamp clusters bring the 'ute kicking and screaming into modern times. Here are two that tend to be both overused and misused perhaps more than any other: legendary and iconic. The climate control switchgear is kept separate in a bundle tidily located between the two front occupants, and we appreciate how easy it is to make quick adjustments without resorting to the touchscreen interface above. In 1979, Mercedes-Benz presented the new S-Class (W 126 series) with two revised eight-cylinder engines. The only thing I find wrong with this is that you could buy a used 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS550 with $60K, so why spend it on something that is already decadent enough? We're not going to sell you reproductions or aftermarket Mercedes-Benz parts, we're here to help you buy quality used parts that were made to fit your Mercedes.