Thursday, January 1, 2004 10:51 PM

A good rant usually requires research on both sides. In this case, I feel that I know enough about Mercedes - the company in general and their cars. To set the stage, I first want to say that I'm not a fan of Mercedes. I've never been and will never be. I'm a BMW fan all the way. In this rant, I'll mention a few points on why I don't like Mercedes and I'll try my best to get my point across. If you don't agree with me, and want to voice your own opinion, well, thats what email is for. Send me your opinions on this topic, and if I feel that its a worthy response, I'll put it on this site.

Anyway, lets begin. Personally, when I first look at a car, its the performance that really matters to me. Sure, an impressive 0-60 mph time or a 1/4 mile time is worth noting. But if the car's strength is only on a straight line, it might as well be stripped and used as a dragster. Of course, you may say that some cars aren't meant to be raced with, and that in some cases, its all about comfort. That, I respect, but that doesn't mean that the car should handle like a brick on wheels. If I'm looking to purchase a luxury vehicle, I also want it to handle well, and I still want it to give me the thrill when I take it to the extreme on a wild night.

Handling is most important for me when I look at a car. Nothing is more embarassing than when an underpowered car in the same class can post a faster track time than a substantially higher-powered car. It doesn't matter how good your engine is, if your car can't make the turns on a track, you haven't succeeded in making a well balanced car. Track times are what I consider most important. High engine specs mean nothing if your car doesn't have the ability to harness that power when on the track. With all that said, let me introduce my first point on my rant about Mercedes:

Performance - Whenever you look at any high performance Mercedes vehicle, the specs will most probably blow you away. You'll realise that these guys have built some high-powered torquey engines. Another thing you will notice is that almost every performance car in the Mercedes lineup has the word "supercharger" in their specs. Mercedes is known for slapping on superchargers onto their already huge engines. When it comes to building a performance car, weight is most important. This is also Mercedes' biggest weakness. I really don't think the word "weight" has any bearing in the minds of the technicians at Mercedes. The less weight you have, the less power is needed to propel a stationary object forward - thats basic physics. The Mercedes approach, however, is very different. Instead of minimizing the weight of the car which is already a problem (what do you expect if you have a huge 4 litre engine), they try to increase the power of the engine. So in this approach, if we look at our physics model, you don't cut down the weight of the object, but you produce a force of a higher magnitude to push the object. Sure, its one way to make a car go faster, but its not the ideal way.

But this approach is not what annoys me, its the route that the engineers take to produce more power. Slapping on a supercharger has got to be the lamest way to increase performance, especially from an engineer's standpoint. Why not spend more time on optimizing your huge 4 litre powerhouse engine? After all, you have all the engine's blueprints, unlike other 3rd party companies whose only option is to slap on a supercharger. Another very important spec when looking at cars is their power to litre ratio - how much power can the engine produce per litre. If your engine can produce around 80 bhp per litre - you haven't optimized it enough. Consider the original Honda S2000 - its engine pushes out 120 bhp per litre, and thats from a naturally aspirated engine, NO SUPERCHARGER! Another example is the BMW M3 e46 - 105.7 bhp per litre. These engines are what I consider legendary. Take for example the Mercedes SL 55 AMG, the cream of the crop from Mercedes - from a 5.4 litre V8 Supercharged engine, it pushes out a mere 476 bhp. Thats 87.53 bhp per litre! and from a Supercharged V8! Embarassing? I think so. The Mercedes SL 55 AMG does 0-60 mph in 4.6 seconds. The standard BMW M3 e46, which is around 130 bhp less and a non-V8 and non-supercharged engine can do 0-60 mph in 4.7 seconds! And its a 4-seater coupe! The name of the game when it comes to making a successful sports car is making more from less. Another reason why the Mercedes approach falters, is the fact that they put heavy engines in their high performance cars. Sure, a 5.4 litre engine sounds impressive - but a higher spec doesnt mean its better. A 5.4 litre engine is significantly heavier than a 3.2 litre engine. When you put a heavy engine into a car, you need to create a much more stronger frame that can house the engine - which ultimately, adds to the total weight of the car. Either way, a heavy engine is the biggest factor when it comes to the weight of your car. The weight problem that probably all Mercedes performance cars have makes posting a decent track time a lost cause. Weight is a huge factor when it comes to handling a car especially when making the turns on the track. You can't expect to have a high cornering speed when you're driving a car that feels like a huge brick. What can I say, Mercedes, big engines and superchargers can't save you.

Design - Alright, when it comes to design, everybody has their own taste. In this rant, I'll be posting my own impressions of a few cars that were rolled out from the Mercedes factory. Firstly, the cars from the early 90s - too boxy. Although unique in their own way, Mercedes stuck to that design for many years. Even for their performance vehicles, they just added a few cosmetic changes here and there. When it comes to performance vehicles, at least give the car a more significant look than your typical luxury sedan. Now in the 21st century, a few models still look pretty much the same as their older predecessors. Before everybody starts complaining, the new BMWs designed by Chris Bangle are a huge step in the evolution of BMW designs. Sure, some of the designs don't look all that great, and honestly, I think Chris Bangle should be fired. But the one thing he's brought to BMW that Mercedes lacks, is evolution. There has to come a time when you let go of the old designs, and find a new one. Speaking of evolution, let me talk about Mercedes' new supercar - the SLR. Jointly developed by Mercedes and Mclaren, I gotta say, in the design department, this car is ugly. The front and rear of the car seem like they've been ripped off from two very different cars and stuck together. The elongated nose, or what I call the "beak" just spoils the whole face of the car. The 'gills' on the side of the car are just over aggressive - it gives the impression that the designers were trying too hard. Although this is the wrong category to talk about the performance - recent reviews have shown that its not all that great when compared to other supercars in its class - it was a bumpy ride and it alienated the driver from the car itself. Although this is a very good car, it certainly isn't up there with the Mclaren and BMW collaboration of the Mclaren F1. I guess we'll have to wait for another manufacturer to successfully blend luxury with performance. Maybe the BMW's new M2? Anyway, to finish off my impressions of the SLR, I'll leave you with a quote from Top Gear when they did a review on the car - "I just wish it was a bit more Mclaren and a bit less Mercedes"

Interior - When it comes to luxury, Mercedes has got it pegged. I'll admit that Mercedes is one of the front-runners in the race for luxury. The quality of the interior of a Mercedes is definitely worth mentioning. But in the eyes of a sports car enthusiast, luxury is but a small part of the equation.

For now, this is pretty much all I have to say about Mercedes. If you find any details that I've mentioned above to be erroneous, please let me know so I can make the changes. Apart from that, I hope that I've managed to get my views across to you. Agree with them or not, this is just a rant - as long as you acknowledge my right to put up my own views, I'm satisfied.