Mercedes and AMG Blog, Performance, Tuning, Motorsport, and Modification News

Ok, that price puts this out of the range of just about everybody here. We have to seriously wonder about the mentality of a person spending almost $700k on an E-class coupe. Yes, the body kit is nice and the M275 V12 swap is practically OEM in quality but so what? We would rather do what BenzBoost member V12godspeed did and have a US shop do it for a fraction of the price. The funny (or sad) thing is, Brabus will sell every single one they make. ...

I went to go visit Weistec today at their facility located in Orange County, specifically off Edinger on the 55 freeway. There has been a lot of interest regarding Weistec and rightfully so with them having developed the first supercharger package for M156/M159 motors. I conducted a 30 minute interview with the guys there asking many of the questions BenzBoost forum members wanted answered and also got an opportunity to sample a supercharged CLK63 Black Series which, suffice it to say, blew me away. ...

Porsche Design does this same sort of thing to great success. Will the formula work for AMG? Mercedes revealed official AMG branded accessories such as luggage, shirts, die-cast car models, and jackets. These accessories are made by manufacturers such as Kyosho and and AutoArt for Mercedes. Maybe some AMG luggage is the perfect thing to pair with your new SLS AMG? ...

Well, finally we get to see what this car looks like and we like what we see. We know the car has the M156 V8 which confirms what we reported over a month ago and a month ahead of every other site. Weight reduction is the goal in the car but we do not have the official (rumors are 44 pounds lighter) weight specs yet. The car has the MCT transmission and not the dual clutch out of the SLS which is a bit of a disappointment. More details to come, but enjoy the pictures for now. ...

We aren't sure what to say as this has become a repeat pattern now with Singh. They are claiming they are the first tuner to tune the CL63 AMG in North America. Yet, the dyno provided is not a North American dyno. Somebody make sense of that. Also, Singh claims to have tuned a CL550 yet they are waiting for the car to adapt before putting it on the dyno. Huh? So no custom dyno tune? This all just does not make much sense and we would like to see some real proof. ...

Worldcarfans recently spotted the X204 GLK facelift model testing. Exterior changes to be made are to the front and rear bumpers as well as the lights. As is the style now by almost every manufacturer, LED lights will be added as well. The engine will receive the updated 305 horsepower 3.5 liter direct injected unit paired to a 7 speed automatic. Expect the car next year. ...

Bruno Spengler took the pole for this race and made good use of it. Martin Tomczyk was ahead of him in the standings goings into the race but Spengler has now retaken the top position in the driver standings. Mercedes also now increases its lead in manufacturer and team standings. Full race breakdown below, Audi finished 3-4-5. ...

This is the second straight qualifying pole position for the Canadian Bruno Spegler. Unfortunately, the pole position in the previous race didn't transfer into a victory with him finishing in 3rd place. Audi finishing 1-2 in the previous race has tightened things up with Audi's Tomczyk taking over first in the drivers standings from Spengler. Mercedes is still in first in the team standings, barely. ...

It has a taken a while but Mercedes M275 V12 turbo modification is picking up steam and getting to the level we had hoped we would see. Speedriven will offer Garret GT28, GT30, and GT35R upgrade packages with custom stainless steel manifolds. Even 91 pump may be good for close to the 800 whp range. Transmission upgrades for the big boy turbos will be a must. Great to see a company finally giving the V12 the turbos it deserves but we want to see dynos and 1/4 mile runs to back up the claims. ...

There really isn't too much out there for the new CL Class. So, even though this is just a carbon spoiler nice to see the CL getting attention from tuners. This carbon spoiler will fit and 2007 and up CL but doesn't come cheap. RENNtech is asking $,1860 for the piece which for a trunk spoiler is just plain expensive. We understand the quality of the carbon fiber process used but that price for a minor body piece is going to be a tough sell. ...

We are a bit jealous of the other side of the world for this one. Earlier this year a competition was held for owners of the Gran Turismo 5 signature edition. In this competition, people from all over the world (except North America it seems) would compete in their region to see who could set the fastest laptimes in the virtual SLS AMG. The finalists have been picked and now they all are going to the Red Bull Ring in Austria to try their hands at the real thing. Judges will pick the winner who goes home with a real SLS, awesome. ...

Here is our take on the new ML63 AMG. We know it is coming as we have posted reports of it testing. No surprises really as the new ML63 AMG will have the M157 twin turbo direct injected V8 from the E63 AMG. This means 518 horsepower in standard trim 550 horsepower with the optional performance package. Curb weight should be just under 5000 pounds. Expect a possible official reveal at the Frankfurt Auto Show later this year. ...

Vettel was back on form this race, leading from start to finish, ahead of Alonso and Webber. Alonso won his battle against Webber to claim second, but in the end was unable to match Vettel's pace. Hamilton had a rough afternoon trying to manage his high tyre wear, but was able to hold off Massa in the end for forth place. Button suffering from KERS failure claimed 6th. Vettel is now 77 points ahead of his competition, Button and Webber, They are tied, but Button is second since he holds a victory this season. Rosberg managed 7th place claiming that was the best the team could achieve saying this: ...

Vettel nabs pole again for the seventh time this season, squashing reports that the ban on engine maps would end Red Bulls dominance during qualifying. Vettel claimed the pole position with a time of 1:36.975. Meanwhile Mercedes GP wih fill the fourth row at the start with Rosberg edging Schumacher by 0.009sec for spot 7. ...

12.1@121 is the fastest time we have seen so far for a Performance Package M157 twin turbo V8. You might recall that Insideline tested the S63 AMG with the performance package and hit 12.3@116 in the much heavier S class. The lighter (4256 pound) CLS63 puts up some very impressive numbers with 0-60 under 5 seconds and a low 12 second time. We have no doubt this means the lighter E63 AMG will hit 11's stock and about 124 mph in the 1/4 with the Performance Package. ...

The BMW X6 has been a runaway success. What does this mean? It means Audi and Mercedes are upset they didn't think of it first. Mercedes announced their intention to compete with the X6 with the GLS. The GLS will simply be a sportier version of the ML platform sharing components and motors just like the X6 does with the X5. A Mecedes spokesperson stated, “After closely monitoring sales trends, we’ve concluded there is potential for an additional off-road model with a more sporting emphasis than the new M-class.” ...

Not your average drag race, eh? This matte white Maybach is running a Renntech tune. How much power is it putting out? Based on dyno tuned Maybachs we have seen at least 100 horsepower over stock with a lot more torque. The Panamera Turbo is running a Mansory tuning package and we are not sure what is done to the engine although power is claimed to be 650 hp. The drag race is in the heat at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway so the times are fairly slow for the power claimed although the Panamera dusts the Maybach. ...

Over the past few weeks we have posted some very, very oddly modified cars. From the hideous triple headlight SL to the WTF Cayenne, people do some strange things with their cars. This vehicles isn't as bad as the aforementioned and is more of a take it or leave it design. We got an opportunity to park and speak to the owner (who was very nice) asking her about the car. She stated it was her design. She does various fashion work and wanted to do something different. We can respect that and the car certainly does stand out in a crowd. ...

We reported last week that Mercedes was attempting to break the world record for drifting over distance. We are now pleased to tell you, they succeeded. Mercedes driver and instructor Mauro Calo successfully achieved what he promised. The previous record of 394 meters was obliterated with Calo going a total distance of an absolutely astounding 2308 meters or 1.4 miles. Congratulations to Mercedes, AMG, and Mauro Calo. Video and pictures below. ...