Posts tagged Mercedes
New Merc A Class Love
Jul 11th
Mercedes have taken an (almost) entirely new direction with the new A Class. In a stark departure from the twin-floor, high roof layout of its W168 and W169 predecesssors, which fit the cabin space of an E-Class into the floor space of a Ford Ka, the new car is going for more mainstream appeal.
Designated the W176, the new A-Class is pitched squarely at the VW Golf segment, taking on not just the Golf, but the A3, 1-Series and other premium family hatches. Aimed at 30-40 year old professionals, some have said, that it looks a lot like an Opel Corsa. In fairness it is quite a good looking car. Fans of the old A-Class may prefer the new W246 B-Class which has the twin floor high-box design, although.
I think Mercedes Benz are running a real risk in changing the type of car that the name refers to, although I’m sure a Golf-sized product makes perfect sense in their range, and it may be that, at least in part, this decision came about as a result of the well publicised difficulties they had in securing partners for the A-Class project.
To introduce the W176, Mercedes have released this interesting ad, featuring Jessica Stam, who, I am told, is no relation to Jaap, the Dutch centre-half. Apparently she is Canadian, in fact. She appears to have become lost in an industrial estate on a Sunday, but fortunately she is able to scoot under a garage door and hug an A-Class for warmth.
Car Magazine currently has more information than appears on the MB site, whereas Autocar whets our appetite for a 2013 debut of the AMG version of the new A Class, featuring four wheel drive and 320bhp of fun.
A New Era in F1
Feb 15th
The 2010 Formula 1 season will be very different to the last, there are a few new teams, a few new faces but there is also a new set of rules to consider.
I might be getting ahead of myself as the new season doesn’t start for another month but the Formula 1 buzz has already begun with the release of all the 2010 car specs, liveries, teams etc.
There are 4 new teams joining F1, here’s the lowdown on my favourite two:
Virgin Racing
Virgin Racing’s car for 2010, the VR01, is said to be a new breed of racecar as it’s the first F1 car to be exclusively designed by CFD (computational fluid dynamics) computer technology. Virgin have got two very promising young drivers, and old rivals in GP2, Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi. If you want a chance to name Timo or Lucas’ cars, go the website by clicking here.
Lotus F1 Racing
There has been a lot of hype about the return of Lotus to F1, well there’s one main difference… they’re run by a partnership of the Malaysian Government and a consortium of Malaysian Entrepreneurs called 1Malaysia F1 Team. Other than that great racing pedigree, Lotus have another thing going for them and that’s their drivers. They’ve got the great experience of Italian Juano Trulli and the very talented ex-McLaren man Heikki Kovalainen.
Mercedes GP Petronas
Now technically this isn’t a new F1 team, Mercedes took over Brawn GP and this is the result. Although this is obviously a very exciting prospect for 2010, what with Brawn GP winning last years drivers and constructors championships and of course the fact that one of the best Formula 1 drivers of all time has come out of retirement to race. With Schumy being backed up by Nico Rosberg and should still have a great car, they could be realistic title contenders.
Rules
There are going to be quite a few rule changes for 2010, all found here.
The main one I’m going to focus on is the new points system. Now that there will be 26 cars instead of 24, 25 points will be awarded for 1st place, 18 for 2nd, 15 for 3rd and then 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and then 1 for 10th place.
I’m excited already!