For those who want the performance and handling characteristics of a mid-size coupe with the body of a crossover (mostly), Mercedes has a sporty new vehicle for you: the 2017 GLC43 Coupe.
Think of it as the GLC SUV with a shorter roof. No, scratch that. Don't think of it that way, because that's exactly what it is.
Underneath the hood is a 362-horsepower twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6 engine that has been tweaked by Mercedes' in-house performance arm AMG. And that AMG-tuned engine is mated to an also-AMG-tuned 9G-tronic automatic transmission. From there, power is routed to all four wheels through — you guessed it — an AMG-enhanced 4MATIC all-wheel drive system.
Notably, the 4MATIC system has a rear bias. That means it sends more of the torque to the rear wheels, which further emphasizes the vehicle's sport-y driving dynamics.
IMAGE: MERCEDES-BENZ
As a result of all its AMG-ness, the GLC43 Coupe can do a 0 to 60 mph sprint in 4.8 seconds on the way to its electronically limited 130-mph top speed.
Along with a shorter, swooping roof, the GLC43 Coupe includes a sport-tuned version of Mercedes' AIR BODY CONTROL air suspension system (I'm not yelling, that's Mercedes name for it).
Also sport-tuned is the interior, which features black and red contrast stitching, a flat-bottom steering wheel and a dashboard caked in both carbon fiber and longitudinal-grain aluminum trim. And, let us not forget the optional tablet-like 8.4-inch COMAND infotainment color display mounted on the center of that dash.
IMAGE: MERCEDES-BENZ
When cars like this — the crossover with a coupe roofline — first hit the market a few years ago, I wondered if folks in the future would look back on these designs and wonder just what the heck we were thinking.
Having now driven some, including the GLC43 Coupe's bigger brother, the GLE63 Coupe, I finally see the appeal — at least from a driving stand point. I still think they look like frogs, but now I see the attraction to a car that both drives like a sports car and can also haul three kids and a labrador.
The GLC43 Coupe will be unveiled in the flesh on Sept. 28 at the Paris Motor Show. It will then be heading to U.S. showrooms in the first quarter of 2017. However, Mercedes hasn't decided how much it will cost when it arrives on American soil.
The Department of Transportation declared Columbus, Ohio the winner of the Smart Cities Challenge earlier this year. Now, city leaders plan to spend some of the $50 million reward on an autonomous “truck platoon” capable of driving in urban areas.
Columbus Region Logistics Council backed the project, which will test the autonomous trucks at Ohio State University before bringing them onto public roads, before moving to Alum Creek Drive.
It is one of a number of public-private partnerships that Columbus is embarking on as part of the Smart City challenge.
City leaders will work with the private sector to build a smartphone app connected to the trucks, which lets them commandeer the vehicle and provide the most efficient route. At the start, a driver will be stationed inside the truck, and the vehicles can only drive on certain roads.
Columbus sees multiple routes
From there, Columbus hopes to build fully driverless trucks that are able to drive on multiple routes without trouble. That could reduce the cost for the logistics industry, while also improving productivity, since self-driving systems don’t need to sleep.
It is one of the first public-private autonomous partnerships, in San Francisco and Michigan almost all self-driving tests are conducted by automotive or tech firms spending their own income.
Most of the talk on self-driving fails to mention the trucking industry, but manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz, its parent Daimler, and startup Otto are already building fully driverless big rigs that may hit the market before consumer vehicles.
Mercedez-Benz has been putting QR codes on the the B-pillars and inside the fuel door of new cars since November 2013, and those have provided a way for first responders and emergency personnel to quickly get detailed model info about any Mercedes-Benz vehicle involved in an accident using the Rescue Assist mobile app. Now, an update brings 3D imagery, as well as augmented reality, to the existing app, letting people involved in rescue operation get an even better overall picture of the situation when an accident happens.
Through the new AR features, emergency personnel can see color-coded representations of internal components, including key areas to be wary of when doing things like cutting through vehicles to free trapped passengers. The app will provide insight into where things like fuel lines, batteries and other electrical components are located, in order to help reduce the risk of further damage or injury that arises when a car needs to be unconventionally dismantled in order to save lives.
The Rescue Assist app will also still provide resources including rescue cards, which provide an overview of relevant safety info specific to each particular model (which includes not only Mercedes-Benz consumer cars and vans, but also some Fuso-branded commercial vehicles.
This is the kind of AR use case that led a lot of people to think Google Glass had potential as a tool in specific industry verticals, emergency response among the most often cited. Baking it into an existing app for use with the smartphones that rescue personnel are likely to have on them anyway is probably a much better application of the tech, even if it isn’t hands-free.
Autonomy isn't just for cars; Mercedes-Benz has created a self-driving city bus, too.
Mercedes-Benz revealed its latest creation on Monday morning. Called the Future Bus, it's the first city bus that can drive autonomously.
Mercedes did more than just unveil the futuristic vehicle. It also sent it on a 12-mile route through the streets of Amsterdam.
The bus ues Mercedes' latest autonomous driving system called CityPilot. Like HighwayPilot, which allows the company's semi trucks to drive more safely and efficiently down freeways, CityPilot enables buses to drive partially autonomously in specially marked bus lanes up to 43 mph. All of this is achieved with a human driver onboard to monitor for safety.
Mercedes-Benz Future Bus interior.
IMAGE: DAIMLER
Future Bus can do more than just drive in special lanes. It can also arrive at bus stops, pass through tunnels, communicate with traffic signals, and brake for obstacles and pedestrians.
Unlike HighwayPilot, which Mercedes aims to send into production vehicles by 2020, the German automaker doesn't intend to send Future Bus' CityPilot system into production in its complete form. Instead, it will implement portions of the system — like driving to and away from bus stops — into its city buses. Additionally, Mercedes wants to use semi-autonomous tech to improve the efficiency of its zero-emissions powertrains.
IMAGE: DAIMLER
Future Bus does more than demo some production-intended technology; it also shows how Mercedes envisions a more comfortable, tech-heavy public transit of the future.
Specifically, in the "lounge" portion of the bus, riders can wirelessly charge their smartphones through inductive charging pads as well as check information on large displays.
There's no word as to whether future Mercedes trucks will include such distinctive exterior styling to match the underlying tech. But here's to hoping.
Automakers have spent the majority of 2016 announcing their plans for self-driving and the future of automation, but while some just begin to prototype systems, others are soaring ahead of the pack.
Research and advisory firm Lux Research has charted the 12 major automakers on business execution and technical value, and noted if the company has a positive or negative view on the advent of self-driving.
Toyota, Honda, and Mercedes Benz are ahead right now, as you can see in the graph above. Tesla and BMW aren’t far behind, but the report claims that the two companies have a “wait and see” attitude to self-driving, rather than actively pushing for its arrival. The attitude is based on investments, partnerships, and demonstrated capability.
Daimler Trucks and Hyundai are the other two automakers in the top right on technical value and business execution. German automaker Audi has a decent technical value rating, but lacks the investment or business execution its German rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz have achieved.
The two major automakers in the U.S.—General Motors and Ford—have similarly poor outlooks. The two companies are lower than all European rivals on technical value and business execution, apart from Renault-Nissan, which is far behind the group.
Self-driving car R&D market is white hot
General Motors has started spending heavily in the self-driving market, investing $500 million in a partnership with ridesharing app Lyft and purchasing Cruise Automation for $1 billion in March. Ford, on the other hand, may be looking to partner with Google to fix some of its self-driving shortcomings.
The PSA Group and Fiat Chrysler are both not on graph, despite both working on self-driving or partnering with tech companies. PSA Group, which controls Peugeot and Citroen, is currently the only firm allowed to test self-driving cars in France. Fiat Chrysler recently partnered with Google, providing them with 100 vans, and may have plans to create similar partnerships with Uber and Amazon.
While it is worrying to see companies like Renault-Nissan and Audi not invest in self-driving as much as rivals, we are still three years away from any concrete legislation that allows driverless cars on the road. That is enough time for any automaker to change their attitude towards self-driving.
Uber is reportedly in South Korea exploring a potential autonomous vehicle partnership with the country’s largest automaker Hyundai Motor which could lead to huge car orders in the future.
Maeil Business News Korea reports that autonomous car researchers from US ride-sharing service Uber are visiting Hyundai’s Namyang research and development facility in Hwaseong.
The visit will enable the two firms to explore potential collaboration on the development of self-driving ride sharing technology.
Uber previously revealed plans that it intends to launch a driverless taxi service by 2020. To achieve this ambitious date, it has been actively seeking partners with advanced autonomous vehicle technology.
And Hyundai has certainly not been asleep at the wheel, when it comes to self-driving car technology.
Automobile industry watchers say that Hyundai has incorporated advanced autonomous innovation into its new line of Genesis sedans. Specifically autonomous car technology such as highway driving assist and the autonomous emerging braking system were incorporated into the design of the last year’s EQ900 as well as the G80, which is slated for release this month.
Hyundai was the first Korean company to get the green light from government to trial its self-driving Genesis sedans on public roads this March.
Uber interested in a 2019 Hyundai model
Speculation has emerged that Uber is interested in a future G80 model that Hyundai has scheduled to launch in 2019, which will be equipped with fully autonomous driving capability.
Uber is currently operating in 300 cities in 58 global cities. Should Hyundai be picked for a partnership, it could translate into huge sales orders of self-driving cars to feed the appetite of the rapidly expanding ride-sharing company.
But Hyundai isn’t the only carmaker that Uber is cozying up to. ReadWrite previously reported that Uber is rumored to be planning to purchase – or may have already placed an order for – thousands of Mercedes-Benz self-driving vehicles. One report said that Uber placed a huge order to buy 100,000 of the carmaker’s S-Class, with a total price tag of nearly $12 billion.
This follows another report that Fiat was in talks to provide self-driving cars to both Uber and to Amazon.
If you believe there is an apocalypse a-brewin', you're going to want Mercedes' G550 4x4² as your chariot of choice. Trust me on this.
Mercedes-Benz announced Thursday that it will be bringing the now-legendary G550 4x4² — the four-wheel version of its terrain-squashing G63 AMG 6x6 — to the U.S. market in 2017.
The 4x4² is distinguished from the standard G-Wagen by its stance. In fact, it boasts 17 inches of ground clearance. To put that into perspective, the average city curb is 4 to 8 inches high.
This, as you might imagine, makes it one accomplished off-roader — or at least an ideal truck for chronically terrible parallel parkers.
Mercedes-Benz G 500 4x4² Showcar
IMAGE: DAIMLER AG
The Teutonic box, which, yes, will come in more than just neon green, is powered by the same twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 engine found between the frame rails of the AMG GT S. Under the well-chiseled hood of the G550 4x4², however, it produces 416 horsepower.
It's down on power compared to the Mercedes sports coupe because, for the 4x4², it has been tuned for torque. Accordingly, it churns out an impressive 450 pound-feet — enough to toss a metric meter of river rock over 100 yards into the air (I assume).
It's also fitted with dual springs and suspension dampers as well as portal axles. Suffice it to say that these allow the truck to travel down the most perilous of roads and easily catch air without worry of damage.
Mercedes-Benz G 500 4x4² Showcar
IMAGE: DAIMLER AG
Of course, Mercedes has not yet said how much the G550 4x4² will cost in U.S. showrooms. Likely, it'll be well north of $120,000. That means, only the most well-heeled apocalypse preparers will be able to afford it.
That's OK, though, because even after the fall of civilization, people will still need overproduced hip-hop and trashy action movies... I'm looking at you, Kanye and Nicholas Cage.
Mercedes-Benz touts the 2017 C300 Coupe as a style car.
Admittedly, the German carmaker is right. With a bedazzled grille, sharp sidelines and a butt that would make a Kardashian envious, it's great to look at.
What Mercedes is really admitting by calling it stylish, though, is that the C300 Coupe exists solely because of its design. Moreover, people will choose it not for what it does but for what it represents. It's a car that tells the world you've got an eye for design.
At first blush, for me, simply making a style statement wasn't at all worth the $43,000 base price. An unrelated weekend shopping trip changed my mind, though. I finally get the compact two-door Benz.
What it's not
Just minutes into my first time behind the wheel of the C300 Coupe, I slammed the throttle into the carpet and played audience to the tone of the car's 241-horsepower four-cylinder engine.
If you'd asked me to intuit what the C300's engine might sound like before actually having heard it, based upon its classy exterior, I would have wagered a note somewhere between Miles Davis and a panther. You know, urbane but also animalistic.
Instead, the thing was decidedly buzzy but with a sporty twinge, like a hive of very brawny bees. Admittedly, it's not exactly the enlivening or sophisticated tone I had hoped for.
Although the athletic apian engine can propel the car to 60 mph from a standstill in 5.9 seconds, the note immediately informed me this was not a car aimed at driving enthusiasts. Granted, the steering is quick and heavy and the suspension soft but taut. However, those seemed to reinforce the car's highly evolved nature, rather than push it into the realm of sport. You'll want the newly created C43 for that.
Striking driving-enthusiast mobile off the list, I turned to the tech.
At the top of the wood-encrusted center console is Mercedes' COMAND infotainment system, displayed from a tablet-like screen attached to the dash. It's a polarizing design, for sure. Whether you like the looks or not, you have to give the designers kudos for trying something different.
IMAGE: MERCEDES-BENZ
What you can't nod in approval over is the COMAND system itself. Users interface with it through either a touchpad or a scroll wheel mounted just beneath it. It's a quick system with lots of functionality, but none of it is intuitive or easy. It's the antithesis of user friendly.
What's more, the C300 Coupe doesn't offer Apple CarPlay or Android Auto (it might get those in 18 months or so, Mercedes informed me) nor does it have Wi-Fi. Both features are common not only in the segment but in inexpensive economy cars these days.
Granted, the C300 does offer tons of semi-autonomous safety tech called DISTRONIC PLUS with Steering Assist. I first tested this system on the C300's bigger, faster brother, the C63 Sedan, last year. It's great as an adaptive cruise control system. However, it lacks the robust steering assist of Tesla's Autopilot.
Those things said, I decided the C300 Coupe wasn't a car pushing the boundaries of automotive technology either. So tech car, too, was removed from the record.
Adding further confusion to my uncertainty of what exactly the C300 Coupe was trying to be, most of the cars we drove at the drive event in Maine were loaded up with all the bells and whistles. In fact, most were priced around the $60,000 mark. This, as you might understand, is a lot of money for a compact coupe that won't drive itself or tear holes in your clothes with its straight-line speed.
Even days after attending the Maine event, I was still at a loss at how to encapsulate the C300 Coupe.
"What's the point of this car?" I murmured to myself, as I hemmed and hawed through countless drafts of the my first drive with it.
Then, this weekend, it all fell into place. I finally got it.
Superstar adjacent
Window shopping in Beverly Hills with a buddy of mine this weekend, we popped into a chic men's clothing boutique. Aimlessly thumbing through the racks, I stumbled across a dark ox-blood red cafe-racer leather jacket. It had asymmetrical lines and quilted shoulders — classic but modern. It looked like something Steve McQueen would wear, if he were still alive today.
As a guy who grew up in the decidedly un-flashy and animal rights-friendly Pacific Northwest, I am not one for leather jackets. So, it's not something I'd normally be drawn to. Despite that, it grabbed me. I pulled it off the rack and popped it on.
To my surprise, it fit me like a glove. I looked at the price tag and I nearly fainted. In face of the price, I felt virtually hypnotized by the thing, how it looked, how it made me feel. In it, I felt like I could pass as a member of Ryan Reynolds' entourage.
Feeling an undeniable draw to buy it, I texted pictures to a slew of my friends, all of whom had different tastes and opinions. To my chagrin, all responded in the affirmative, encouraging me to get it. So I did.
It was then, walking out of that boutique with a very expensive leather jacket under my arm that I understood the draw of the C300 Coupe.
Like the jacket, the C300 Coupe isn't the sportiest or most cutting-edge. However, both turned heads. And there's something to be said for that. Normally, a $40,000-something car doesn't attract crowds but the C300 Coupe did. In the coupe, again like in the jacket, I felt not like a superstar, but rather superstar adjacent.
Moreover, the C300 Coupe represents a certain point in your life. It's the kind of car when you reach a level in your career or age where you can say, "Yeah, I need this not just because I need a car to get to work, but because I want something that makes me feel good and turns some heads from time to time."
So, really, the 2017 Mercedes-Benz C300 Coupe is essentially the "treat yo'self" car.
Mercedes-Benz touts the 2017 C300 Coupe as a style car.
Admittedly, the German carmaker is right. With a bedazzled grille, sharp sidelines and a butt that would make a Kardashian envious, it's great to look at.
What Mercedes is really admitting by calling it stylish, though, is that the C300 Coupe exists solely because of its design. Moreover, people will choose it not for what it does but for what it represents. It's a car that tells the world you've got an eye for design.
At first blush, for me, simply making a style statement wasn't at all worth the $43,000 base price. An unrelated weekend shopping trip changed my mind, though. I finally get the compact two-door Benz.
What it's not
Just minutes into my first time behind the wheel of the C300 Coupe, I slammed the throttle into the carpet and played audience to the tone of the car's 241-horsepower four-cylinder engine.
If you'd asked me to intuit what the C300's engine might sound like before actually having heard it, based upon its classy exterior, I would have wagered a note somewhere between Miles Davis and a panther. You know, urbane but also animalistic.
Instead, the thing was decidedly buzzy but with a sporty twinge, like a hive of very brawny bees. Admittedly, it's not exactly the enlivening or sophisticated tone I had hoped for.
Although the athletic apian engine can propel the car to 60 mph from a standstill in 5.9 seconds, the note immediately informed me this was not a car aimed at driving enthusiasts. Granted, the steering is quick and heavy and the suspension soft but taut. However, those seemed to reinforce the car's highly evolved nature, rather than push it into the realm of sport. You'll want the newly created C43 for that.
Striking driving-enthusiast mobile off the list, I turned to the tech.
At the top of the wood-encrusted center console is Mercedes' COMAND infotainment system, displayed from a tablet-like screen attached to the dash. It's a polarizing design, for sure. Whether you like the looks or not, you have to give the designers kudos for trying something different.
IMAGE: MERCEDES-BENZ
What you can't nod in approval over is the COMAND system itself. Users interface with it through either a touchpad or a scroll wheel mounted just beneath it. It's a quick system with lots of functionality, but none of it is intuitive or easy. It's the antithesis of user friendly.
What's more, the C300 Coupe doesn't offer Apple CarPlay or Android Auto (it might get those in 18 months or so, Mercedes informed me) nor does it have Wi-Fi. Both features are common not only in the segment but in inexpensive economy cars these days.
Granted, the C300 does offer tons of semi-autonomous safety tech called DISTRONIC PLUS with Steering Assist. I first tested this system on the C300's bigger, faster brother, the C63 Sedan, last year. It's great as an adaptive cruise control system. However, it lacks the robust steering assist of Tesla's Autopilot.
Those things said, I decided the C300 Coupe wasn't a car pushing the boundaries of automotive technology either. So tech car, too, was removed from the record.
Adding further confusion to my uncertainty of what exactly the C300 Coupe was trying to be, most of the cars we drove at the drive event in Maine were loaded up with all the bells and whistles. In fact, most were priced around the $60,000 mark. This, as you might understand, is a lot of money for a compact coupe that won't drive itself or tear holes in your clothes with its straight-line speed.
Even days after attending the Maine event, I was still at a loss at how to encapsulate the C300 Coupe.
"What's the point of this car?" I murmured to myself, as I hemmed and hawed through countless drafts of the my first drive with it.
Then, this weekend, it all fell into place. I finally got it.
Superstar adjacent
Window shopping in Beverly Hills with a buddy of mine this weekend, we popped into a chic men's clothing boutique. Aimlessly thumbing through the racks, I stumbled across a dark ox-blood red cafe-racer leather jacket. It had asymmetrical lines and quilted shoulders — classic but modern. It looked like something Steve McQueen would wear, if he were still alive today.
As a guy who grew up in the decidedly un-flashy and animal rights-friendly Pacific Northwest, I am not one for leather jackets. So, it's not something I'd normally be drawn to. Despite that, it grabbed me. I pulled it off the rack and popped it on.
To my surprise, it fit me like a glove. I looked at the price tag and I nearly fainted. In face of the price, I felt virtually hypnotized by the thing, how it looked, how it made me feel. In it, I felt like I could pass as a member of Ryan Reynolds' entourage.
Feeling an undeniable draw to buy it, I texted pictures to a slew of my friends, all of whom had different tastes and opinions. To my chagrin, all responded in the affirmative, encouraging me to get it. So I did
It was then, walking out of that boutique with a very expensive leather jacket under my arm that I understood the draw of the C300 Coupe.
Like the jacket, the C300 Coupe isn't the sportiest or most cutting-edge. However, both turned heads. And there's something to be said for that. Normally, a $40,000-something car doesn't attract crowds but the C300 Coupe did. In the coupe, again like in the jacket, I felt not like a superstar, but rather superstar adjacent.
Moreover, the C300 Coupe represents a certain point in your life. It's the kind of car when you reach a level in your career or age where you can say, "Yeah, I need this not just because I need a car to get to work, but because I want something that makes me feel good and turns some heads from time to time."
So, really, the 2017 Mercedes-Benz C300 Coupe is essentially the "treat yo'self" car.
Popular
Tags
Videos