Paris Auto Show 2008: Mercedes-Benz ConceptFASCINATION, Previews New E-Class

Although the 2008 Paris Motor Show doesn’t kick off until October 4th, Mercedes has released details and concept sketches of a new design study they’re calling the Mercedes-Benz ConceptFASCINATION. Built to provide a “high level of practical usability” and a coupé that “appeals to the heart with fast, thrilling lines,” the Mercedes designers decided to make use of the “shooting brake” body style, and combine “sporty and elegant design with stylish practicality.”

This fancy looking two door wagon is a wild way of previewing the lines of the 2010 W212 Mercedes-Benz E-Class and teasing hatch fans everywhere. Powered by the same small diesel mill found in the Mercedes C250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY Prime, the concept features everything you’d come to expect from a Mercedes.

Full Pictures and the official press release after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Lexus Nuaero Concept – Batman: The Dark Knight’s Failed Prototype Batmobile

First off, let me apologize to Batman for ever inferring that he would drive such a vehicle. We all know the Dark Knight drives only the best, most badass cars on the planet. Sorry Toyota, but this ain’t it. From the mind of Jon Rådbrink, the Lexus Nuaero Concept car does look incredibly fast and futuristic; but then again a Toyota that doesn’t have room for a fake front air intake on the hood or exhaust cans in the back just isn’t right.

But to be fair, this Nuaero Concept isn’t a complete wash. As mandatory for any cool car, it does look good in black, it also is lightweight, and is loaded with technology, too.

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VIDEO: BMW GINA Light Visionary Concept Model Revealed

The BMW GINA Light Visionary Model is a futuristic design study shows how BMW designers are thinking “outside of the box” when it comes to the materials that make up a car and also how the car relates to the driver. Just like all spiffy ideas, GINA is actually just an acronym. GINA stands for “Geometry and Functions in ‘N’ Adaptations”, which basically means that designers from both BMW and BMW Group DesignworksUSA were allowed to throw out the rulebook.

In this case, the result when the rulebook was thrown out is GINA’s Light Visionary Model’s outer skin, which is made entirely out of textile fabric that’s pulled taut around a frame of metal and carbon fiber wires. The skeleton of the car is controlled by electro-hydraulic devices and can actually move and change shape beneath the fabric skin.

For instance, the headlights of the concept car can be open or closed by the car’s skin just like blinking eyes, and the hood opens from the center as the fabric parts to expose the engine. This “skin” idea extends to the interior of the car as well, where BMW designers have made visible only those instruments that are required at a certain time, while the rest of the time the same fabric interior “blinks” them out of view.

The car itself looks like a next gen Z4 Roadster covered in a tight fitting dress, though after viewing the gallery of high-res images below, you’ll be amazed how much the outer skin can look a lot like normal sheetmetal. Until, that is, you see how the doors open. They lift up in a semi-scissor fashion and since there are no exposed hinges, the fabric artfully binds up as the door swings open.
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Frankfurt Auto Show 2007 – Mercedes Benz F700 Concept

The 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show was witness to legendary car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz as they take off the wraps of their brand new F700 concept vehicle featuring a DiesOtto engine and PRE-SCAN Suspension. Mercedes-Benz points the way toward future designs of its flagship S-Class luxury sedan—and showed off a completely new kind of internal combustion engine—with a concept it calls the F700.

The ultra-low, wavy and sleek body of the F700 concept falls in behind an enormous horizontal grille reminiscent of the one on Mercedes’s Ocean Drive concept, but the rest of the body is a completely new, 21st-Century rendering of the S-Class, called Aqua Dynamic. It’s shorter in overall length than the current S-Class, but it has a much longer wheelbase and a roomier interior because the seats are so different. The headlamps are comprised of three rows of white LEDs, and the rear doors are rear-hinged (a.k.a suicide doors)

The DIESOTTO engine is a combination HCCI/spark ignition design with an added turbocharger to the mix to provide a a 1.8L 4-cylinder engine that yields performance in this large sedan that’s comparable to the 3.5L V-6 in the current S-Class with average fuel economy of 44.3 mpg. On top of that, the carbon dioxide emissions of the F700 are only 127 g/km which would put it nicely below the next round of proposed EU limit of 130 g/km.

This new engine technology is wrapped in a full-sized luxury sedan that takes an evolutionary path from the current S-Class to a whole new level. Short overhangs are combined with a low nose that seamlessly blends in the bumper. The body is supported on an electro-hydraulic active suspension system that uses front mounted lasers to continually scan the road surface and make adjustments pro-actively. The full press release is below.

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[Source: Mercedes-Benz]
Mercedes-Benz F 700: Mercedes-Benz shows the future of the superior touring sedan

Stuttgart – With its F 700 research car, Mercedes-Benz redefines the idea of effortless, superior refinement: this concept for a future luxurious touring sedan shows how outstanding riding quality can be combined with high levels of environmental friendliness, and good performance with exceptionally low fuel consumption. Thus, the 5.17 meter long F 700 with its innovative and very spacious interior design enables an entirely new and exceedingly comfortable mode of travel. The F 700 is the world’s first car that can anticipatively recognize the condition of the road and level out the uneven spots with its active PRE-SCAN suspension, further improving suspension comfort substantially. The forward-pointing DIESOTTO drive system introduced in the F 700, a four-cylinder with a displacement of only 1.8 liters, combines the strong points of the low-emission gasoline engine with the consumption benefits of the diesel drive. Its CO2 emissions of a mere 127 grams per kilometer correspond to consumption of only 5.3 liters of gasoline per 100 kilometers (44.3 mpg), extremely low for a vehicle of this class.
This is made possible by a forward-looking drive concept, the heart of which is the “DIESOTTO” technology – an advancement of the internal combustion engine thought up by Mercedes-Benz. With its novel controlled auto ignition (CAI), direct fuel injection and turbocharging, it combines the high power of the spark-ignition engine with the exemplary torque and great fuel economy of a diesel. The drive system in the F 700, as four-cylinder featuring two-stage charging, attains the performance level of a current S-Class car with a 3.5-liter naturally aspirated V6 gasoline engine or the 3.0-liter V6 turbodiesel.

“Our goal is to make the gasoline-powered car just as economical in consumption as the diesel. The new DIESOTTO concept is a major step in that direction, combining the best properties of the spark-ignition engine and the diesel engine,” says Dr. Thomas Weber, Board member of DaimlerChrysler AG responsible for Group Research & Mercedes Car Group Development.

The F 700 also sets standards in regard to road roar, tire vibration and suspension comfort. With two laser scanners the active PRE-SCAN suspension scans the roadway in front of the car. The hydraulically controlled active suspension proactively compensates for detected hindrances, enabling entirely new comfort characteristics –a “flying carpet” feeling.

Equally innovative is the operating concept “SERVO-HMI”. The display is not only particularly gentle on the eyes; the number of controls also has been appreciably reduced and the menu structure has been made strikingly simple and self-explanatory. The driver can “discuss” more complex inputs, such as a destination for navigation purposes, in dialogue with an avatar, a virtual operating assistant.

The exterior design of the F 700 shows that with this concept an extraordinary amount of space has been created for the passengers. The very silhouette, characterized by the long wheelbase, is a clear indication of this. The design harmoniously joins together inspirations provided by nature with technical innovation. All the futuristic styling devices notwithstanding, the F 700 is perfectly compliant with the brand identity of Mercedes-Benz.

The interior concept interprets comfortable travel and well-being in a completely new way. With its REVERSE seat the F 700 breaks up the firmly established seat arrangement of conventional sedans and offers individual seating positions facing, or with one’s back to, the direction of travel, always affording maximum spaciousness and supreme comfort.

The F 700 provides inspiring ideas for the technological future of Mercedes-Benz once again – like each of the research cars which preceded it.