Mercedes Power: more than just a split turbo.

With time, more of the secrets giving Mercedes AMG their undeniable advantage are gleamed.

   

When the split turbo strategy first came to light, some "in the business" we discussed the subject with were not convinced it alone was enough to explain the performance gap.  The big advantage for the Mercs, they argued, is in their energy store charging strategy which allows them to not have to coast at the end of the straights to recover energy, like Renaults for example  ("please match he beeps"  remember that radio message to Daniel Ricciardo?).  If that's not enough, the Mercedes unit also has an advantage in drivability and power.

These two characteristics would seem to be incompatible: If Merc is not coasting, they must get a lot of their charge from the MGU-H,  so a big turbo.  But a big turbo means turbo lag and more energy spent trying to spin it when it is being driven.    And it is here that it's thought Andy Cowell and the team in Brackley came up with another brilliant engineering detail.

According to ex Ferrari engineer Claudio Lombardi in an interview on SkySportsF1 Italy, Mercedes have in place a system which can momentarily de-couple the turbine side from the compressor side.  This allows the compressor to be free of the resistance of the turbine when it is being driven by electric power, making it more responsive when delivering power on corner exit.    

The advantages of a small turbo while using a big turbo to produce more power and energy.

Brilliant.

Salt Fever

Petrolicious is just tops, always finding great cars and the great stories that go with them.  Wonderful.

Throwback Thursday: "Oversteer will come just before impact"

One of the best segments ever on Drive with Chris Harris playing straight man to David Coulthard hilariously dry humor.

Driving the world's most valuable car, the Mercedes 300 SLR Coupe

Rudolf Uhlenhaut with the 300 SRL Coupe

If you have a fabulous collection of classic cars but you need to find that one car that is just impossible to find, something that might make your friends GTO look plain, chance are you might ring Simon Kidston.

Why? Because he's the kind of person so connected in the "priceless rolling sculpture" trade that the Mercedes Museum calls up and offers a drive in what is most likely the world's most valuable car. I say most likely because Mercedes is certainly never going to sell this one, one of just two in existence.

This race car was never raced, it was supposed to compete in the 1956 season but Mercedes withdrew from competition ofter the Le Mans disaster of 1955. The last time Mercedes ever allowed anyone outside of the company to drive the 300 SLR Coupe was in 1954 when they allowed a Swiss car magazine to drive it at 4 am on the autobahn. At the time the magazine, Automobil Revue recorded a top speed of just over 176 mph.

The Mercedes 300 SLR "Uhlenhaut" Coupe after designer Rudolf Uhlenhaut is the closed version of the famous SLR driven by Moss at the 1955 Mille Miglia. It is a front mid engined, three liter desmodromic valve straight eight, magnesium alloy bodied coupe based on the W196 Formula 1 car. Weighing just under 2000 lbs it is rated at just over 300 hp. After Mercedes abandoned racing, this car became the designer's company car, he suffered from hearing loss later in life.  Priceless and amazingly loud, I wonder where the other one is?

Mercedes SLS AMG Black goes up in flames at the Nürburgring

Chasing after Ferrari does have inherent risks...

The thing about testing is that if you are going to find limits, you will go off and unless you are at a track like Paul Ricard, you will likely hit something and if you hit something, you might have the car go up in smoke....even if it's not a Ferrari.

Like this Mercedes SLS Black prototype who recently had had a close encounter with a Nürburgring guard rail.

Mercedes SLS AMG Black blackened by fire at the Nürburgring

Those AMG cars are quite tricky it seems...here is an A45 AMG.  Either than or MB needs to hire some new testers.  (Pictures: Auto Motor und Sport)

Macedonian Car Wash.

I'm guessing either a murder or the transport of farm animals was involved, possibly both. Probably the fate of many of Europe's stolen cars.

I think our friend Phil from Detailer's Domain just passed out after watching this.

Safety Car

We have not seen the Safety Car so far in 2011 but in Monaco there is a good chance the awesome sounds of the big Merc mid engine coupe will bounce off the buildings of the principality. Always amazing to realize that while the F1 drivers complain about going at a snail's pace behind the safety car, Maylander is pushing that 575HP SLS hard!

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Nico vs Keke

A conspicuously less "Britney" Nico Rosberg out on a frozen lake having some fun with dad Keke, who for some reason ends up seeming slightly "Bad Santa".

But aside from a Nico's new look, the surprise is that, when a Mercedes driver needs a fun car to drift around a lake with, he climbs into....a BMW?
(via Mike Frison).

Memo to Hermann Tilke...

... next time, add jumps!

(photo via David Traver Adolphus)
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Dusty, Bumpy Korea

Looks to me like Valencia...minus the city. Weird.

Free Practice 2 results:

Pos  Driver         Team                     Time              Laps
 1.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault        1:37.942            23
 2.  Alonso         Ferrari                 1:38.132  + 0.190   30
 3.  Hamilton       McLaren-Mercedes        1:38.279  + 0.337   29
 4.  Kubica         Renault                 1:38.718  + 0.776   29
 5.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes        1:38.726  + 0.784   19
 6.  Massa          Ferrari                 1:38.820  + 0.878   32
 7.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault        1:39.204  + 1.262   22
 8.  Petrov         Renault                 1:39.267  + 1.325   28
 9.  Rosberg        Mercedes                1:39.268  + 1.326   29
10.  Kobayashi      Sauber-Ferrari          1:39.564  + 1.622   26
11.  Heidfeld       Sauber-Ferrari          1:39.588  + 1.646   25
12.  Schumacher     Mercedes                1:39.598  + 1.656   26
13.  Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth       1:39.812  + 1.870   35
14.  Liuzzi         Force India-Mercedes    1:39.881  + 1.939   27
15.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes    1:39.971  + 2.029   22
16.  Hulkenberg     Williams-Cosworth       1:40.478  + 2.536   30
17.  Alguersuari    Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1:40.578  + 2.636   29
18.  Buemi          Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1:40.896  + 2.954   32
19.  Kovalainen     Lotus-Cosworth          1:42.773  + 4.831   29
20.  Trulli         Lotus-Cosworth          1:42.801  + 4.859   19
21.  Glock          Virgin-Cosworth         1:43.115  + 5.173   26
22.  di Grassi      Virgin-Cosworth         1:44.039  + 6.097   29
23.  Yamamoto       HRT-Cosworth            1:45.166  + 7.224   19
24.  Senna          HRT-Cosworth            1:46.649  + 8.707    3

All Timing Unofficial

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Sabine: She Cooks, She Saves!

I'm sure Sabine Schmitz can cook faster than you, probably makes water boil faster too. In this clip the famously fast fraülein of the Eiffel whips up some grub for team fabulous Frikadelli team before the most recent VLN race.

The rest of the video is 9 minutes of onboard from the team's Porsche 997 GT3 R including the race start and the incident when on the first lap of its first race, the Mercedes SLS AMG gets into a very avoidable accident. Got to love the fist pump as driver Nic Kentenich just squeezes between the Merc and the 'vette!




But of course Sabine is best know as cab driver. Here she is hacking in a 997 GT3 RS MkII during a Gentlemen Driver Club track day. All is well up to about 8:15 minutes in when she gets to Pflanzgarten.

Now, if you've driven at the 'ring, you know exactly how scary that section of the track is so you can imagine what losing the rear of any car, never mind a "junk on the trunk" 911, at that speed must feel like. I'm sure the video does not do that feeling justice, you have to at least have driven that particular roller coaster section.

"Check the tires" she says...I say check the passenger seat before the next client.



(let me put in a plug for Pistonspy.com, if you are into N-ring spy pix and videos it needs to be on your list!)
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Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 race debut video

The Gullwing GT3 SLS literally thundered through the Eiffel forest in its race debut in a VLN race, The Barbarossa Cup, this past Saturday.

The big AMG driven by Berndt Schneider ran in an "Experimental" class separate from the GT3 Porsches, BMW z4 and Audi R8. The best lap time was 8:32 (including the GP track) compared to the 8:21 of the 911 GT3 R of Lucas Luhr and Richard Westbrook or even the 8:24 of the Dörr Motorsport Z4. But VLN is not FIA GT so comparisons are not totally accurate.

For further reference, a 996 GT3 Cup Chris Harris was co-driving had a best lap of 8:53 and Sabine Schmitz lapped some unspecified GT3 in 8:27.

Wagnerian soundtrack aside, the car retired with 3 laps to go. But damn, that sound... turn it up!



More after the jump

Who knew, Mercedes has a sense of humor.

Black humor at that. Brilliant!


(M-B)

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Exclusive: 2010 Mercedes MGP W01 revealed!

As you know, Mercedes Benz only presented their Formula1 team livery on Monday, painted onto a 2009 Brawn. Their 2010 contender, in the mean time, was getting its finishing touches in a new secret silver arrows facility in Albania.

Mercedes have bucked the trend and made extensive use of marble for extra durability and to establish a better connection to their road cars. Note the innovative, wing mounted headlights sure to be a decisive advantage in night races . Michael Schumacher could not immediately be reached for comment.





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Schumacher testing in a GP2.

Schumacher got some cobwebs out today at Jerez in a Team Supernova GP2 car. Looks like he's keeping the red helmet?



(Photos:Latphoto/infofoto)



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Mercedes Benz 300 SLS by essichgurgn



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Axis of Limos.

Did you notice the final lap time? Seriously, Porsche needs to go back to the drawing board with the Turbo if it can only run .2 faster on a wet track than a 5000 pound, long wheel base, rear wheel drive executive limousine!







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Drop Anchors: Mercedes Braking Bag

In their continuing quest for for more lightweight and simple automobiles, Mercedes Benz has announced it has been experimenting with a system which would shoot a chunk of steel into the pavement between the front wheels if sensors determine an impending collision.

The system, dubbed Braking Bag would use essentially an airbag to push a steel plate onto the road with the resulting friction decreasing braking distances. "It's still in the experimental phase" according to Rodolfo Schöneburg, MB's Head of Passenger Car Safety Development "but I'm confident that by 2015 it could be a reality". Presumably by then they will have figured out how not to lift the front wheels and lose all directional control...
(via Corriere Della Sera)

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And here is the rest of it.