Mercedes-Benz SL55 News

Fuel prices and economic uncertainty have not stopped Mercedes-Benz from rolling out a new set of sports stars at the top of its line-up. It has just tweaked the droptop SLK and SL, as well as the four-door CLS coupe, as it applies showroom pressure on BMW, Audi and Lexus rivals.The changes are mainly minor, although the latest SL looks far more aggressive in the nose (and is also $4000 to $8000 more expensive) but Benz is looking closely at the potential for turbodiesel power in the trio.According to president and CEO, Wolfgang Schrempp, the company has shown off such engines in Europe and these are now being evaluated for Australia. The company already delivers more than 20 per cent of its Australian vehicles with turbodiesels.In 2005 it unveiled an SLK 320 CDI tri-turbo concept at the Geneva Motor Show with 213kW and 630Nm and economy of 7.5 litres per 100km. At the same show it displayed a twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 diesel SL that could charge to 100km/h in 5.8 seconds.In Europe, Mercedes also sells a CLS 320 CDI with a 165kW/540Nm V6 turbodiesel that delivers 7.6 to 8.1 litres per 100km.The newcomers arrive at a time when the luxury car business is tightening, but Mercedes-Benz Australia managing director Horst vonSanden remains bullish. He hopes the Federal Government will give some ground on the planned hike in the luxury car tax but admits it isn't easy.“There's no denying it's giving us some grief,” he says. But von Sanden, like Schrempp, is looking to turbodiesels to give Benz an edge.“We're very happy with our turbodiesel line-up, from the BClass upwards,” he says.Later this year it will introduce a 2.0-litre turbodiesel A180CDI that uses as little as 5.0 litres per 100km. The engine is already fitted to the BClass. For the time being though, the company is focused on the new petrol-engined trio.The three-model SLK range kicks off at $86,780 for the 1.8-litre SLK200 Kompressor, $112,380 for the 3.5-litre V6 SLK 350 and $164,900 for the 5.5-litre V8 SLK 55 AMG.A new six-speed manual transmission is now available in the SLK200K and Mercedes expects the take-up to be about 25per cent with the SLK 350 being the volume seller.Visually, the SLK gains a modest nip and tuck, with four different frontal treatments, tail-lights and improved interior trim.Five distinct SL models are now available. They start at $223,000 for the 232kW/360Nm V6SL 350, which rises to $468,000 for the 450kW/1000Nm V12 SL65 AMG.The three-model CLS range starts at $143,900 for the 200kW/350Nm V6 CLS 350, $182,400 for the 285kW/530Nm V8 CLS 500 and $257,800 for the 378kW/630NmV8 CLS 63 AMG.The three updates are planned to give a worthwhile sales improvement, as last year Mercedes-Benz Australia sold 570 SLKs, 501 CLSs and 104 SLs. 

The new SL roadster which arrives in July features a muscular bonnet with twin power domes.With the AMG 63 and 65 roadsters, these power domes really are packed with the goods.They feature an AMG-tuned 6.3-litre V8 engine developing 386kW of power and 630Nm of torque and a V12 6-litre bi-turbo developing 450kW and 1000Nm.The SL 63 AMG accelerates from 0-100km/h in 4.6sec, while the SL 65 AMG does it in 4.2.Mercedes-Benz Australia corporate communications manager Peter Fadeyev said all the SL models, AMG included, would be in Australian showrooms in July.Outside, the most obvious changes to the new SL range are the headlights which are now a single unit, rather than conjoined twin lights and the gill-style air outlets behind the front wheels.The AMG models add a special bonnet and spoiler lip.The SL 63 AMG comes with the new AMG Speedshift MCT 7-speed sports transmission with wet start-up clutch replacing the conventional torque converter.It has a direct connection to the powertrain, double-declutching, Race Start functions and four drive modes (comfort, sport, sport plus and manual).Power in the SL 65 AMG is transferred by the AMG Speedshift five-speed automatic transmission with three drive modes and a multi-disc limited-slip differential with a lock factor of up to 30 per cent for better traction.Both models also get the AMG suspension and brake treatment with options up to barbecue-plate-sized 390mm discs.They both sit on 19-inch alloys with wide 255/35 R 19 (front) and 285/30 R 19 rubber.No prices are available yet, but the two new models will replace the current SL 55 AMG ($376,000) and SL 65 AMG ($457,900). 

That means people in the market for a new GPS can now get up-to-date maps.The previous version contained data 18 months out of date.Whereis 13 was released by Sensis in March and Voxson was the first to convert the data, test it, and release products with the data integrated into the Voxtrack 500 and Voxtrack 800.With more than 1000 vehicles sold with GPS systems each month and an explosion in aftermarket sat nav, many drivers are becoming frustrated with outdated mapping software.Every year, thousands of new streets are constructed around Australia, quickly making software outdated.On a recent national launch of the Mercedes-Benz S Class, the sat nav equipment showed the vehicle driving through a green field when we were actually on the new Hume Highway bypass.Voxson CEO Andrew Longginou said that with more than 1.3 million Australians having GPS on their shopping list, in-car navigation was their biggest growth area.Voxson, which began manufacturing car radios and audio systems 35 years ago, can also upgrade current customers to the latest Whereis software.Product design engineer David Hendriks said there would be a new version of the maps in 12-18 months.Upgrade maps will cost about $200 and come on an SD card."The user simply purchases the new map card and swaps it into their unit," Hendriks said.International maps can also be bought in this form.The Voxtrack 800 includes voice and visual prompts, plus a video player, MP3 player and jpeg picture viewer for $799.It quickly attaches to a mounting bracket that has a strong suction cup connector that will not only stick to shiny surfaces but also some hard vinyl surfaces.Some of the handy functions are audible alerts for fixed speed camera zones, red-light cameras and a predetermined speed limit; flashing light prompts for turns; and an illuminated anti-glare touch screen which worked well in all lighting conditions.I'm not sure why anyone would want a picture viewer function, but it's simple to operate and download pictures from a laptop via the provided USB cable.Similarly, videos and MP3 files can be downloaded. The unit comes with 256Mb map cards.The software and map data take up about 100Mb leaving enough space for about 50 songs or a short movie."We advise customers to use their own SD cards (the unit will accept up to 2Gb cards) for copying their music or movie files so as to limit the chances of corrupting or accidentally erasing the map data," Hendricks said."When copying movie files users generally use what's known as transcoders to convert the file to the correct format and screen size."As the screen resolution is quite low compared to that of a DVD, the video file can be significantly compressed with the transcoder and the final file size is quite reasonable."Voxson cannot supply transcoder applications with the unit due to licensing restrictions.However they are readily available online and anyone making movie files is often already using them.There is an audio output for headphones or connection to your car stereo if it has a headphone or auxiliary input jack.The Voxtrack 500 also has voice and visual prompts bracket system, illuminated anti-glare touch screen and costs $699.Visit: www.voxson.com.au; whereis.com.au