The cars and bikes thread!

[geoffbot]

It's just a silly concept designed to keep investors from pulling out. They won't release it for 2 years yet and it'll look 100% different.

[tribe125]

It's just a silly concept designed to keep investors from pulling out. They won't release it for 2 years yet and it'll look 100% different.

I would say so. Is that bluff front end even legal?

[geoffbot]

I would say so. Is that bluff front end even legal?

Probably not

[mlcor]

This one's for @Samantor. New Mercedes AMG "Sir Class" tribute to Lewis Hamilton (who, to my knowledge, has not been knighted) edition. A mere 1048hp, a top speed of 186.

[Raza]

This one's for @Samantor. New Mercedes AMG "Sir Class" tribute to Lewis Hamilton (who, to my knowledge, has not been knighted) edition. A mere 1048hp, a top speed of 186.

Yikes. That front end.

And it’s insane to think that a truck is being named after one of the greatest drivers of all time, and with more than three times the power my old Boxster S had, it barely manages 15 extra MPH on the top end. Aerodynamics are king.

[mlcor]

Yikes. That front end.

And it’s insane to think that a truck is being named after one of the greatest drivers of all time, and with more than three times the power my old Boxster S had, it barely manages 15 extra MPH on the top end. Aerodynamics are king.

The idea of driving that shoebox on wheels at 180+ mph would probably even give Lewis the willies.

[Samanator]

This one's for @Samantor. New Mercedes AMG "Sir Class" tribute to Lewis Hamilton (who, to my knowledge, has not been knighted) edition. A mere 1048hp, a top speed of 186.

Mrs Samanator is the G-Wagon fan. I personally think its very ugly. Dare I call this thing stupid, but not for the reasons Raza sites. This is the only real vehicle that MB/AMG make that has off-road chops. Why would you lower it and put on low profile street tires on big wheels that will bend when contacting a rock. It should be going the other way with 18" wheels and 37 inch tall tires (Or more), increases in approach and departure angles, and double or triple super large tube remote reservoir shocks. Suspension travel should be something over 16" and lights and cameras in places to aid off-road/desert blasting and maneuvering around boulders. Also the steering wheel is not what you want going back and forth lock to lock. If the steering is that fast to use that wheel then off-road you'll kill yourself or break an arm. This should be a billygoat not something that needs to raise up the front end to clear a curb.

In stock form the AMG engine makes close to 700 HP. That should still put in in the high 4 second range with all the changes I mentioned above. Ford and Ram trucks can do this with the same hp in a larger heavier vehicle reliably. At over 1000 hp I think this places things on the edge of reliability which is what you don't want to do in the dirt and sand (more extreme environment). This should have been done to a GLS series SUV to rival the Cadillac Escalade V not a Wrangler 393, Bronco Raptor R or Range Rover Defender 130 (not as on the edge as the other two).

[Raza]

Mrs Samanator is the G-Wagon fan. I personally think its very ugly. Dare I call this thing stupid, but not for the reasons Raza sites. This is the only real vehicle that MB/AMG make that has off-road chops. Why would you lower it and put on low profile street tires on big wheels that will bend when contacting a rock. It should be going the other way with 18" wheels and 37 inch tall tires (Or more), increases in approach and departure angles, and double or triple super large tube remote reservoir shocks. Suspension travel should be something over 16" and lights and cameras in places to aid off-road/desert blasting and maneuvering around boulders. Also the steering wheel is not what you want going back and forth lock to lock. If the steering is that fast to use that wheel then off-road you'll kill yourself or break an arm. This should be a billygoat not something that needs to raise up the front end to clear a curb.

In stock form the AMG engine makes close to 700 HP. That should still put in in the high 4 second range with all the changes I mentioned above. Ford and Ram trucks can do this with the same hp in a larger heavier vehicle reliably. At over 1000 hp I think this places things on the edge of reliability which is what you don't want to do in the dirt and sand (more extreme environment). This should have been done to a GLS series SUV to rival the Cadillac Escalade V not a Wrangler 393, Bronco Raptor R or Range Rover Defender 130 (not as on the edge as the other two).

I would think the argument here is that you don’t get an AMG for off-road prowess. A car like that would never see much harder terrain than a country club parking lot anyway, it’s overkill for the road or off it no matter how you slice it. But, I don’t think it makes sense for Mercedes to market an ultimate off-roader under the AMG nameplate any more than it makes sense for BMW to make the X5M and X6M into off-road cars (though the existence of those cars, the X6 in any form, really, still baffles me). If they wanted to do an off-road edition, I would imagine they’d do it under a different trim name and definitely not name it after Lewis Hamilton. It would be like steakhouse naming its cowboy ribeye after Gandhi. He very famously didn’t eat much of anything there for a while, and meat never, as far I know, anyway.

As for the G class, I loved the older models, even after they brought them over and made the half-hearted attempt to gussy them up for upscale customers. They looked rugged and defiant, tough while standing still, but not in a way that shouted about it. These attempts at modernizing a decidedly not modern shape have completely ruined the look and this edition takes that ruination even further.

[geoffbot]

G wagons are sick. I did an off road course in one - very capable vehicles.

Don't mind them for road use - all vehicles are way, overspecced for the road.

[tribe125]

Talking about this car as though it was intended to be a rational everyday choice is surely missing the point.