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Business
New E-class Mercedes
THE LAUNCH of the new E-class Mercedes at the Brussels auto show is a sign of how even the best laid plans of automobile companies can be put paid to by "enterprising" journalists — Mercedes seems to have been forced to launch it nearly two months before its scheduled unveiling at the Geneva show next month because photographs of the car were splashed on the pages of a British magazine, `Autocar', weeks ago.
Be that as it may, the handsome new car is certainly an asset to the Mercedes range. And its looks are only a small part of its appeal — an entirely new "platform" with a stretched wheelbase promises to make it the class leader worldwide. Whether the Indian market will wholeheartedly embrace a Rs. 30 lakh plus car is obviously another matter.
The car's length remains at 4818mm, but a slightly taller body and the 21mm added to the wheelbase makes for a significantly roomier interior. Among features new to the E-Class are the Airmatic semi-active air suspension, Sensotronic brake control (an electro hydraulic braking system) and a "dynamic multicontour seat". When the dynamic function for the new seat is activated, air pressure in the side cushions is adjusted automatically and, when taking a corner at speed, the pressure is increased to add lateral support. What's more, in Mercedes' words, "you can also activate the massage function to give your back the five star treatment it deserves"!
The Sensotronic system is faster and more precise than any conventional braking system. As soon as one hits the brake pedal, the system's computer precisely calculates the necessary braking power and ensures the optimum distribution between the wheels, decisively shortening braking distances. It even dries the brake discs automatically when the road surface is wet.
The new car is initially available with a range of five engines, three petrol and two diesel, with more on the way. In my opinion, the 3.2 litre petrol V6 and the four-cylinder 2.1 litre and five-cylinder 2.7 litre common rail diesels are the pick of the current lot offering a good balance between fuel economy and flexible performance. A supercharged four-cylinder petrol version and six and eight cylinder diesels are on the immediate horizon with direct injection petrol engines following soon thereafter.
The new car makes sure that buying the S-Class for reasons other than pure snobbery is nothing other than foolish. For that matter, if you want to flaunt your wealth by buying a car costing more than Rs. 15 lakhs, put off buying one until you can test drive the new `E'. It should be worth the six-month wait until its Indian launch.
Revisiting CNG
It is indeed strange that lack of time continues to be trotted out as a reason for non-compliance, more than three-and-a-half years after the Supreme Court mandated the use of CNG for Delhi's buses. It is even more ludicrous when compressors for some filling stations are airlifted from Argentina at enormous expense — cheap sea transport would only have taken a few weeks.
It also makes me sad when academics teaching mechanical engineering seem unwilling to "discover" that the diesel derived engines fitted to the Telco and Ashok Leyland CNG bus chassis are not only representative of current worldwide practice, most parts have been completely redesigned for natural gas operation. The only objection that can be raised to their use is that they are slightly heavier than designed-for-the-purpose CNG engines, but against that their use of rugged and reliable diesel components more than compensates in terms of both durability and low cost.
C. Manmohan Reddy
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