Restarting the blog

Hello again to anyone out there.

It has been a long time since I last added to this blog. I'm not the greatest of writers, I prefer to take pictures.  In the next blog I will explain what I have been up to, but for now the images can do the talking.

The images can be seen on below. The first one is taken in West Kirby,  Wirral. Then cows in the shed. The water is the flooding on the somerset levels.  The last shot was taken from the slipway at meols.

Mercedes Benz Vehicles Sl's to Citan

Mercedes Benz

Been reviewing

some more Mercedes Benz Vehicles. Bit of a mixture this time, from a Citan van to a SL 63 AMG with an Electric smart in between.

The weather has not been good as we all know, just made the part I really like, taking images very difficult. Hopefully things will get better now.

Anyway first up was the Citan. This is Mercedes small van collaboration with Renault. Though this is not the kangoo . It build quality is excellent and with a wide range of body shapes from standard wheel base to extra-long, it has a lot going for it.

Engine sizes range from the 1.5-litre diesel which comes in varying outputs of 75PS, 90PS and 110PS. There is also a 1.2-litre turbocharged petrol engine with 114PS. The most economical model is the 109 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY which averages a claimed 65.7mpg with CO2 of 112g/km. The two lower powered diesel models have five-speed manual gearboxes while the larger diesel and the petrol engine both come with a six-speed.

Having driven vans for many years, I was impressed with the quality and for loading it is a dream. The long and Extra Long come with two sliding side doors which makes access a dream, and it has for such a small panel van a vast loading area.

Cost from new range from £13,095- £16,775 for the various versions of the panel van.

More images from the Citan Van 

Now I go to the last I car I have tested. This is the SL 63 AMG.  

I am in love. This car is awesome. This car is not for motorways but for wonderful twisty country lanes and you don’t even need to break the speed limit to enjoy it. Just find a national speed limit country road and you are away.

You may only end up doing 50 at times, but somehow it is amazing and the handling is out of this world. It is the perfect size for making you feel confident through the bends it size to weight ratio is perfect and it never feels tail happy. It just is built for the perfect drive.

Performance wise the I drove with the AMG performance pack 0-62 is 4.2 sec with a top speed of 186 MPH. The car is fitted with a V8 32 Valve 5.461 l petrol engine with a Biturbo fitted. It is married to the AMG MCT7- speed Automatic gear box

Economy wise as you would expect is fairly low. Urban is 20.3 mpg and extra urban is 37.2 mpg. But that is the price you pay for real fun.

Cost wise. This model comes in at ………….............................................    £110,760.00

For the car I drove with Carbon Fibre package and magic roof, as well as the nappa leather upholstery The price is  £139,715.00 .

 The Ceramic discs fitted to this car

More models to follow in the next week or so so check back

Mercedes Benz Fleet Vehicles

A 220 CDI Blue Efficiency AMG Sport

I have always been a fan of the C Class, as I felt the balance was perfect and somehow Mercedes have managed to transfer this to the New A class. This model has perfect balance and handles well into the corners and hugs the road.

I have only driven the AMG models but would assume the technology is based on the design of the car.

With regards engine size, performance and fuel consumption. The engine is 4 cylinders in line, 2,143 cc diesel with & 7G- DCT 7 speed automatic gear box, delivering a top speed of 137 MPH and 0-62 in 8.2 seconds.

With all that fuel consumption is very good with manufacturer figures of urban 52.3 and combined of 64.2. The CO2 is a very respectable 115.

 Comprehensive centre dash board with cup holder
and central display

I hope to write a more detailed report on the A class at a later date.

Reasonable size  boot for a  car in it's class

CLS 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY AMG SPORT SHOOTING BRAKE

This is a very up market car with a price tag of just under 53,000. The car I was driving came in with all the extras at around 60,000 GBP. But this is a lot of car for the money.

Handling was very good. It is a large car and a load lugger. The Boot is huge and happily swallows up a lot of bags. Equipment is good, with DAB radio and allows connection and control of portable media devices (e.g. MP3 player, USB storage media). Cables included for aux-in, USB or iPod® connectivity.

Front seats also have electric adjustment. Plus all the

 usual features.

Performance wise Top speed is 146 MPH, 0-62 MPH 7.8sec and fuel consumption combined is 53.3 mpg. . Co2 is 143 g/Km.

Rear passenger space is good and certainly not cramped

The CLS Boot is huge and will easily hold an average families luggage. Try it out for yourself

Now for something completely different.

Smart fortwo coupe passion mhd (71bhp)

This was a very interesting experience. After having driven automatics all morning and I am use to driving a manual, I was confronted with what appeared to be a semi-automatic. I had been told it was an auto but for some reason this never engaged, so I was confronted with changing up and changing down, though changing down did appear to work automatically. The gear change works by a gear shit, that you moved up to change up and down to change down, which after a few minutes was enjoyable to drive.

This is very much a town car and would make an ideal second car for a family, for nipping to the shops or going to the station.

That said this car does come fully loaded with air conditioning, electric windows and ESP with Hill start assistance. It also has Bluetooth hands free system.

Price wise they are 10,250 GBP and the equipment I have spoken of is standard equipment.

Performance wise. Engine is a 1litre 3 cylinder petrol engine producing 71 bhp It has a top speed of 90 mph with an urban fuel consumption of 61.4 and a combined of 65.7. It also has a free tax disc as the co2 comes in below 100 at 98 g/km.

For such a small car the boot space is good with a full drop down back

Interior is light and spacious 

C 220 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY AMG SPORT PLUS SALOON

This C class comes with a 7 speed auto gear box and an AMG body kit. Interior wise it has electric windows and a host of storage space consisting of front cup holder and glasses holder plus storage under front seats, as well as Two zone automatic climate control.

Communication and entertainment wise it has Bluetooth, plus Radio with CD drive which is MP3 Compatible. It also has USB port and aux-in socket located in centre console.

Handling is good as I have reported before with the 
C Class.

 Performance wise 0-62 takes 8.1 secs and top speed is 143 mph.

The dash board with the usual cupholder

Dashboard shot from rear of the vehicle. 

Rear seating. With the seat set up for my driving position Leg room for tall passengers is a bit tight

In all these shots of the boot, I have used my rucksack to give an idea of space and it is good in the C Class

Below is Images of the Actros 6x2 Giga space. This is just the tractor unit, So enjoy the images.

Mercedes Benz world Driving day- The Kids event

Mercedes Benz world Driving day- The Kids event

A new year and a new Media Driving day. This time it is back at Mercedes Benz world and along with the media, their Children are also invited. This is very much their day.

As well as the usual array of cars to drive including the new A class and SL the children are also invited to drive on the learner track and the 4x4 course in an ML.

My son Charlie is very much up for this and within minutes of arriving we are booking him in to have a go on the 4x4 off road course. Apart from a dodgem car this is the first time he has ever got behind the wheel. But more of that Latter.

I am anxious to get behind the wheel of an A class, with all the hype I wanted to see what it was like for myself.

 A 250 BlueEFFICIENCY ENGINEERED BY AMG, is the version I have picked.  This is a very quick A class with a 0-62 of 6.6 seconds. Unfortunately I don’t have any images of this car as we had very little time in it, due to the fact we had to get back to Mercedes Benz world in time for Charlie’s first driving lessonThe car he will be driving is an ML with a price tag of nearly 50,000 GBP. Scary stuff indeed. Luckily it did have dual controls.

So we made our way down to the front of the building. Within a few minutes the instructor arrived in the  car, and we were driven to the course.

Now it was Charlie’s turn and amazingly he just fell into driving, apart from his love of speed, which probably isn’t a good idea considering we are about to go through deep water and rough muddy roads. To be fair as with most Mercedes is it automatic so he doesn’t have to worry about the gears, but for some one that has never driven before and is only 12 years old he does amazingly well.

After about 30 minutes of driving, we are on our way out again and the ML is in one piece and there is a giant smile on Charlie’s face.

This scheme was launched just over 3 years ago and I was the photographer asked to shoot the original PR pictures for this concept, so it was very nice to shoot my own son driving the course.

The SL500

This is an incredible sports car. Perfect for all conditions hard top for this time of the year yet open top car when the sun comes out. With its 4.7 Litre V8 32 valve engine this car moves, in fact when I floored the accelerator pedal my son jumped in his seat, this is a quick car mind you we started from 30 and only went up to the speed limit, but it was quite a jolt. Handling wise it's  great, and the  looks we got from other cars drivers made us both smile.

If you don’t unlike me have to carry around a lot of stuff, it's worth a look. I love this car, mind you it is a toss up between the SLK,

Time was tight as Charlie was getting hungry, but I want to drive another car and so we did.This time it was the

C 250 BlueEFFICIENCY AMG SPORT PLUS COUPÉ

7G-TRONIC PLUS SEVEN-SPEED AUTOMATIC

Personally I am a big fan of the C Class, I have driven this car many times and every time they put a smile on my face. Never before have I driven the coupe but true to form it performed perfectly. Power wise it was good. It has a turbo charged 1.8l Diesel engine with a 31 MPG urban and 49.6 extra urban, it’s 0-62 is 7.9 seconds, which may explain why I feel the fuel consumption is high for a car, but I suppose that is the price you pay.

I did enjoy driving it and look forward to doing more in depth reports.

The ML’s on the track

This was an a agility test.First up was the ML 63 AMG 4MATIC. This is a car I have driven before but then it was on the road. As I have mentioned in the past I am not a fan of 4x4’s unless you live in the countryside though with the weather we have at the moment I can see their uses. However on the track the AMG performed amazingly and with it’s speed sensitive air springs enables the 4x4 to remain upright through tight corners.

The next ML was the ML 350 BlueTEC 4MATIC SPORT. This is a more economical version than the AMG a V6 instead of a V8. It also doesn’t sport the speed sensitive air springs which means there is more roll round and corners and after driving the AMG you notice the lack of performance, though it is no slouch.

An interesting drive with a very good instructor sat in the passenger seat.

Back to Charlie’s drive. This time it was a B class on the Brooklands bends. These are the original curves from the days of the track, though their surface is seriously showing it’s age though I hear is about to be resurfaced, which for the young learners is probably a good idea, as it turns all cars into bone shakers

Anyway back to Charlie’s driving and yet again his steering is A* but then I would say that, wouldn’t I. During the drive he did manage to take a cone out, but the cone lived, so no damage, otherwise he did very well negotiating the roundabout and also the parking challenge which is no mean feat. All in all a good drive.

Back to the the desk to get a new car to drive. I wanted to drive the A class again as I really hadn’t put it through it’s paces, he had other ideas, guess who won.

The SL 350 ROADSTER

As you have already guessed my son won. He likes sports cars, as do I, this car handles much like it’s bigger brother and with a 0-62 of 5.9 secs and a top speed of 155 mph can certainly move. Economy wise it does 28,5 in town.

We had a lot of fun driving this through the country lanes and used the opportunity to test out the fun factor driving around the bends and being able to test the performance on the straights.

Next time weather permitting it will be a fleet day and I have decided to go for less cars but more in depth reports, so will be back in February.