Mercedez Benz News Mercedes bringing A-Class to US; heads further down market

[A Horse With No Name]

  On 6/27/2017 at 3:43 PM, smk4565 said:

The Metris is pretty sweet.  You can get power heated seats, blind spot monitoring, active lane keep assist, radar cruise control, rain sense wipers, Sat-Nav turbo, 7-speed, alloy wheels for like $33k.

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That will buy me a used Hemi Challenger,  a passable used 911, a clean used Cayman, a CPO BMW Z4, a Mustang GT brand new, a Miata with 5 or ten grand in the bank, a Jeep grand Cherokee, a Used CTS-V,  a killer vintage Mustang.....lots of things I would rather own as an enthusiast....

  On 6/27/2017 at 4:02 PM, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

Pacifica doesn't have the 3 pointed star, though.. that alone is worth an extra 10 grand, in terms of operating costs?   (j/k)

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Fixed that for ya...

  On 6/27/2017 at 3:24 PM, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

Metris seems pretty reasonable...get the cargo van version for under 30k, add shag carpeting and a sofa bed, custom paint....

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Somehow it lacks the early 70's vibe of the van on Scoby Doo though...

[Robert Hall]

  On 6/27/2017 at 4:31 PM, A Horse With No Name said:

 

Somehow it lacks the early 70's vibe of the van on Scoby Doo though...

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Or that late '70s Dodge Street Van look... doesn't work.  Thought those were cool as a kid.

Edited June 27, 2017 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[A Horse With No Name]

  On 6/27/2017 at 4:47 PM, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

Or that late '70s Dodge Street Van look... doesn't work. 

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Agreed....and late 70's dodge had the little red wagon truck and the Dodge power wagon and several other cars for someone who was an enthusiast on a budget...something that Benz does not have.

[G. David Felt]

  On 6/27/2017 at 3:43 PM, smk4565 said:

The Metris is pretty sweet.  You can get power heated seats, blind spot monitoring, active lane keep assist, radar cruise control, rain sense wipers, Sat-Nav turbo, 7-speed, alloy wheels for like $33k.

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Seems to be in direct conflict with MB being the Luxury auto company of the world. Guess they better either turn it into another $100K van with luxury or kill it.

[G. David Felt]

  On 6/27/2017 at 3:24 PM, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

Metris seems pretty reasonable...get the cargo van version for under 30k, add shag carpeting and a sofa bed, custom paint....

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So many better Vans out of our past compared to this 3 pointed Turd of a Van!

Gotta love the 70's and 80's custom van scene. We really need to get people back to building cool auto's!  

[A Horse With No Name]

  On 6/27/2017 at 5:10 PM, dfelt said:

Seems to be in direct conflict with MB being the Luxury auto company of the world. Guess they better either turn it into another $100K van with luxury or kill it.

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Doesn't matter because Mercedes sells more S class than any other premier luxury car...

Ohhh...and love the Mystery machine!

[A Horse With No Name]

When i am talking fun....I love this commercial...

 

Mercedes doesn't build anything fun....they build stuff that is fast....but nothing I am drawn to...

[A Horse With No Name]

 

 

Mercedes van with Patina maybe....something like this VW....?

 

 

Looks much better on proper American iron...

Although i guess if you were desperate enough you could ahve fun with a Smart car...

Would honestly rather ahve something fun and unique like this vintage Studebaker than an S class...

And since Dodge and patina were both brought up earlier...

[A Horse With No Name]

 

And if you want to look at shiny new stuff, here is the ZL1 Camaro running 7:16 on the Nuremberg ring...

[A Horse With No Name]

And for reference, it is not a Benz that has the fastest production time at the ring, look at this...McLaren hits 202 where the Camaro was at 168..

 

[A Horse With No Name]

 

Vintage Mustangs can provide a bit of excitement also...

[smk4565]

  On 6/27/2017 at 3:52 PM, Drew Dowdell said:

Yeah, pretty sweet. You get a Pacifica Touring L without an interior and with a 7-speed instead of a 9-speed. 

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The Pacifica doesn't have rear wheel drive for racing pedigree.

[smk4565]

  On 6/27/2017 at 8:35 PM, A Horse With No Name said:

And for reference, it is not a Benz that has the fastest production time at the ring, look at this...McLaren hits 202 where the Camaro was at 168..

 

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The fastest Benz time at the Nurburgring is 7:10 for the AMG GT R.  But I suspect the Project One car will beat the P1, and even the P1 LM which they only made 6 of. 

[balthazar]

  On 6/27/2017 at 3:24 PM, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

Metris seems pretty reasonable...get the cargo van version for under 30k, add shag carpeting and a sofa bed, custom paint....

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It's a minivan.

Need I say anything more?

[Robert Hall]

  On 6/27/2017 at 9:55 PM, balthazar said:

It's a minivan.

Need I say anything more?

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It's the Mercedes of minivans, though. 

[balthazar]

it could be the Rolls of minivans; that's still superseded by 'minivan'.

[A Horse With No Name]

  On 6/27/2017 at 9:46 PM, smk4565 said:

The Pacifica doesn't have rear wheel drive for racing pedigree.

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Just what every Pacifica buyer is looking for...a racing pedigree!

  On 6/27/2017 at 10:28 PM, balthazar said:

it could be the Rolls of minivans; that's still superseded by 'minivan'.

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Absurdity is lost on you, probably because you are a rational person.

  On 6/27/2017 at 10:19 PM, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

It's the Mercedes of minivans, though. 

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That is not always a good thing...the Hyundai crossover products are actually more athletic looking than the Benz crossovers.

  On 6/27/2017 at 9:55 PM, smk4565 said:

The fastest Benz time at the Nurburgring is 7:10 for the AMG GT R.  But I suspect the Project One car will beat the P1, and even the P1 LM which they only made 6 of. 

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And the cost of the AMG GT R is how much more than the Camaro?

[Robert Hall]

  On 6/27/2017 at 10:28 PM, balthazar said:

it could be the Rolls of minivans; that's still superseded by 'minivan'.

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Rolls is doing an SUV, so who knows...it could happen. 

[Cmicasa the Great]

Jeeeezus Christ.. Are U telling me that @smk4565 is boasting a 6 sec advantage on the ring by a car costing almost $100k more than the ZL1? 

[surreal1272]

  On 6/27/2017 at 11:20 PM, Cmicasa the Great said:

Jeeeezus Christ.. Are U telling me that @smk4565 is boasting a 6 sec advantage on the ring by a car costing almost $100k more than the ZL1? 

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Would expect anything less? You have to go that high (or be that high) in price to get a Benz to beat a "lowly" Chevy. 

[A Horse With No Name]

  On 6/27/2017 at 11:29 PM, surreal1272 said:

Would expect anything less? You have to go that high (or be that high) in price to get a Benz to beat a "lowly" Chevy. 

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How many more Chevrolet Camaros and Mazda Miatas are driven in sanctioned competition every weekend than Benz?

  On 6/27/2017 at 11:20 PM, Cmicasa the Great said:

Jeeeezus Christ.. Are U telling me that @smk4565 is boasting a 6 sec advantage on the ring by a car costing almost $100k more than the ZL1? 

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And is less attractive and less reliable...

  On 6/27/2017 at 11:10 PM, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

Rolls is doing an SUV, so who knows...it could happen. 

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And Rolls existence is a problem for Benz...that is the problem in a nutshell...or nut House as it were..

 

[A Horse With No Name]

When I was a twelve year old boy, I bragged to a gas station attendant in Georgia that I was almost a teen...he said I was a taint...taint a child, taint a man....

Mercedes Benz is also a taint....it ain't Lamborghini, Ferrari, Rolls, Bentley, McLaren, Lotus, or the like...a real premium luxury brand...and it ain't a fun funky brand that offers good value for the dollar in something interesting.

It also taint visually interesting like Cadillac or Jaguar. Or Land Rover for that matter...

What it is...a brand very good at existing by manipulation of it's image and manufacturing consent among non car people as to it's perceived value.

[smk4565]

  On 6/27/2017 at 11:20 PM, Cmicasa the Great said:

Jeeeezus Christ.. Are U telling me that @smk4565 is boasting a 6 sec advantage on the ring by a car costing almost $100k more than the ZL1? 

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The ZL1 has a really good time, anything under 7:30 is really fast, under 7 minutes is insane fast.  It was mentioned that Mercedes doesn't have the record, I just said what their fastest time is.   And they are going to beat the P1, it is as good as done.

@A Horse With No Name  good thing Mercedes isn't Ferrari or McLaren or they'd be losing

 

[A Horse With No Name]

  On 6/28/2017 at 12:03 AM, smk4565 said:

The ZL1 has a really good time, anything under 7:30 is really fast, under 7 minutes is insane fast.  It was mentioned that Mercedes doesn't have the record, I just said what their fastest time is.   And they are going to beat the P1, it is as good as done.

@A Horse With No Name  good thing Mercedes isn't Ferrari or McLaren or they'd be losing

 

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I was referring to road going automobiles sold to the general public.

[Drew Dowdell]

  On 6/27/2017 at 9:46 PM, smk4565 said:

The Pacifica doesn't have rear wheel drive for racing pedigree.

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But it probably still has better handling.

[A Horse With No Name]

Also... Ferrari has not won at LeMans since 1965 either...

  On 6/28/2017 at 12:33 AM, Drew Dowdell said:

But it probably still has better handling.

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I need to drive a Pacifica...I hear lots of good things about it.

[Drew Dowdell]

It's a great minivan, but it's still a minivan. Im not making any lofty claims about it's Nurbürgring prowess... Only that it will handle better than a plumber van... RWD or not.

[A Horse With No Name]

  On 6/28/2017 at 12:39 AM, Drew Dowdell said:

It's a great minivan, but it's still a minivan. Im not making any lofty claims about it's Nurbürgring prowess... Only that it will handle better than a plumber van... RWD or not.

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Fair enough!

[Drew Dowdell]

  On 6/27/2017 at 9:46 PM, smk4565 said:

The Pacifica doesn't have rear wheel drive for racing pedigree.

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In other news, Pennsylvania approved the first pot growing and distribution license today. I take it you were waiting in line like it was a new iPhone?

[A Horse With No Name]

  On 6/28/2017 at 12:44 AM, Drew Dowdell said:

In other news, Pennsylvania approved the first pot growing and distribution license today. I take it you were waiting in line like it was a new iPhone?

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The entire world has lost its mind...as a status conscious person SMK has decided to politely follow suit.

[surreal1272]

  On 6/28/2017 at 12:03 AM, smk4565 said:

The ZL1 has a really good time, anything under 7:30 is really fast, under 7 minutes is insane fast.  It was mentioned that Mercedes doesn't have the record, I just said what their fastest time is.   And they are going to beat the P1, it is as good as done.

@A Horse With No Name  good thing Mercedes isn't Ferrari or McLaren or they'd be losing

 

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Yes because all of those are the exact same cars as what's on our roads (please note heavy use of sarcasm).