Mercedes Talk

If you own both a car and a motorcycle you may wonder if you can get bike insurance and auto insurance on one policy? Usually the answer is no you will need to get a separate policy for your bike. The reason for this is that there are some pretty important differences in the way that bikes and cars are insured. It isn’t really practical to insure them both on one policy.

The reason that you can’t normally get bike insurance and auto insurance in one policy is that there are some pretty important difference in what is covered from one to the other. The biggest difference involves personal injury coverage. Generally speaking when a car accident occurs the people in the car are covered for any injuries they suffer. This isn’t true for motorcycles, riders need to purchase separate personal injury insurance. They also need to purchase it for their rider.

There are also differences in liability coverage from a bike to a car, this time to the benefit of the motorcyclist. The reason that you are required by law to have insurance is for the liability coverage, it is to protect other people in the event you cause an accident. According to the Carole Nash Insurance Consultants, the amount of damage you can do to somebody else on a motorcycle is fairly limited, the rider is far more likely to get hurt. That means that the premiums on a bike are much lower than they would be for a car. If you were to put them on the same policy you would end up paying much higher premiums than would otherwise be necessary since they would be based on the damage the car could do.

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The Beijing Auto Show staged the debut of the E-Class L. Designed specifically for the Chinese Market, the car was locally built by Beijing Benz automotive Co. Ltd. (BBAC). While the car’s release produced a lot of local raves, global consumers noticed that the E-Class L was nothing but a stretched version of the previous E-Class model—not that it’s a bad thing.

To be more specific, the overall length of the luxury car (taking into account the roomier rear legroom and the wheelbase) increased by 5.5 inches or 14 cm. Consumers also noted that the front seats can be controlled from the rear.

Again, reviewers aren’t sure if this is such a good thing. One thing’s for sure though—it’s not a good idea to have pranksters and naughty little kids into the secret.

The ground clearance of the car has also increased significantly for this model, thanks to Mercedes’ Agility Control suspension system. A Mercedes car wouldn’t be a Mercedes car without safety features, and the ones included in this model are the sleep alert system and the PRE-SAFE technology.

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The SLK Roadster of Mercedes-Benz has served the brand well since its launch in 2004. Like other cool cars, the design lines somehow get old even after a face lift during its mid-cycle. Mercedes-Benz is currently working on a new SLK. We had some spy shots before but the new ones that have been circulating around the net reveals a sleek front end and a shapely rear.

The SLK roadster is scheduled to be released on the first half of 2011 after getting additional cargo space, shedding of some weight, and most likely getting a new engine.

The next SLK drops about 200 pounds in weight and increases its trunk capacity to 11.2 cubic feet. These new features will be well received for owners who frequent the golf course or those who needs some additional space when they go on a road trip. Basing on the SLK seen on the road though, auto spies have reported a shorter and lower SLK seen on the roads of Germany.

The new SLK may get a new engine after its official debut since a V6 3.0L that is capable of giving out 300 to 350 horsepower is still in the works. The car manufacturer will stick with the old engine until they get the revolutionary replacement.

The new spy shots of the new SLK, although still under heavy camouflage, reveal that the nose of the car does not have that Formula 1 look. The side mirrors also moved down the sides of the door instead of being adjusted on the A pillar. It looks like that it is giving some cues of becoming a big SL from behind.

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Mercedes-Benz pulled the wraps off the world’s first diesel-electric hybrid in the form of the E300 Bluetec at the motor show in Geneva. The carmaker announced that the car should be available in Europe, at least, by next year. The E300 Bluetec is on the phase of making daily test runs prior to the launch.

The car will be using the Bluetec diesel system with a technology for hybrid systems that they developed with BMW. The one on display in Geneva has a diesel four 2.2L with twin turbochargers. This powerplant can output an excellent 204 horsepower.

The same engine is featured at the 2011 E250 Bluetec that took spotlight at the 2009 New York Auto Show. The fuel mileage of the powerplant is estimated to be 39 mpg while cruising on the highway and 29 mpg while on the city streets.

The electric motor and lithium ion battery installed on the E300 hybrid are similar to the configuration used by the 2010 S400 Hybrid that kicked off sales last year.

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Last month, there was news over the internet that General Motors is pushing hard to develop their line of diesel hybrid engines. The American carmaker is still a bit far from reaching this goal and they may still need about five years to bring their diesel-hybrid vehicle to the market.

There is no need to worry though if you are hoping for more green cars in the market. There are several European car producers that are on the race to come up with the technology as early as 2011. French carmaker Citroen promised to use a diesel-hybrid engine with their new baby the DS5 but this will have to wait until 2011.

Mercedes-Benz was able to step on the pedal and may hit their goal. Mercedes Benz will be able to deliver a hybrid diesel-electric vehicle and also launch a version of the technology through the E-Class before the end of the year. Deliveries of the hybrid units will start by the first months of 2011.

The E-Class hybrid will be labeled E300 Hybrid and will be depending on a 2.2L 4-cylinder turbo diesel engine paired to a lithium ion electric motor. This engine is also used by the E250 Bluetec running on diesel.

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Luxury car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz reinvents its design concept by going from boxy edgy looking cars to more fluid looking lines for their future range of vehicles. The design chief declared that they want to move things a notch higher and unveiled concept car F800 Style a few weeks ahead of the motor show in Geneva.

Mercedes-Benz’ F800 Style represents what future Mercedes-Benz will look like. The four-door, five-seat coupe blends safety, future driving technology, and comfort with the new design language of the company.

The interior of the concept vehicle is quite roomy and makes use of display concepts and intelligent controls for seating. The concept vehicle has two versions. One version will be purely utilizing an electric drive which runs on fuel cells and has a decent range of 375 miles. Another version is a hybrid plug-in that can run on pure electricity for 18 miles.

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German carmaker Mercedes-Benz is developing an enhanced safety system which will automatically swerve around pedestrians to avoid road mishaps. The head of safety development, Ulrich Mellinghoff, foresees that the technology will be available as soon as 2015.

During the Detroit Auto Show, Mellinghoff explained that around 80% of the accidents on the road involving people entail only 20% of the car’s front hitting the pedestrian. They did the math and studies show that it will only take a Mercedes Benz to swerve by 40 to 50 centimeters to avoid the pedestrian detected by the safety system.

Safety on the road is ultimately the responsibility of the driver so the technology will still encourage that the driver should react first during a potential road mishap. This concept is also applied on other Mercedes safety systems.

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During the Detroit Auto Show back in January, Mercedes-Benz wowed the public with the unveiling of three electric vehicle concepts coined BlueZERO. The EVs have a modular build allowing sharing of technology and architecture. The BlueZero still works the same way but Mercedes-Benz added E-CELL PLUS, a combustion engine to the package.

Some may look at the addition of the 3 cylinder engine as step back as the cars goes from being an EV to being a hybrid but looking at the feasibility angle, that is the best option.

Without the E-CELL PLUS, the BlueZERO vehicles’ range will not be that impressive. That brings anxiety to the consumers who will worry of what they must do if they run out of battery while on the road. Injecting the range extender technology allows the cars to run 100km on pure electricity then an additional 500 km when using the gas-electric engine combo.

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The Mercedes-Benz SLK roadster has been performing well for the company since it was unveiled in 2004. However cool it might be after a mid-cycle facelift, the market still gets tired of how it looks like. Mercedes-Benz though has been baking a new SLK that is due for release by 2011.

The new SLK is 200 pounds lighter and gets a bigger 11.2 cubic feet of trunk space. Car enthusiasts love the additional cargo space which makes the roadster more functional for everyday use or a weekend round of golf.

According to some rumors, the Mercedes-Benz SLK is also getting a new power plant variant that is capable of a 300 to 350hp output. There might also be a V8 version with 3.6L displacement and capable of injecting 470hp for the AMG variant.

Some industry experts are also tipping that the 2011 SLK might adopt the 2.2L diesel engine currently being used by the C250 CDI. This engine has 204hp but some are doubtful that the American market can appreciate the boost that it can give to the car. Diesels engines for the C-Class and the GLK build might be okay but it might not be appreciated for a sporty SLK; however it will do good for fuel economy.

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The global financial crisis has the car industry in a steady downward spin, pushing even those considered as the best and toughest brands in the brink of bankruptcy. In the previous year, even Karmann, famous for the conversion of the Ghia, has been hit by a series of potentials closures and purchase. Today, it’s finally closing doors and while bankruptcy is the next rational step to save their hide, nothing is still certain.

The Mercedes-Benz CLK, which was recently replaced by the new comer E-Class Coupe, is the final automobile that Karmann built. However, the said model finally left the Mercedes-Benz assembly line. A report in Strait Times tackled the issue of whether a new Karmann model will be revealed in the near future with a different partner.

As most sudden closures, a fight erupted as Karmann’s workers’ union, the IG Metall, raised their demands. Unfortunately and ultimately, the slowdown of the industry itself that caused the big reduction in production and sales is the one to blame for the sudden closures of several car companies these days.

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