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With the new marketing tool „BRABUS Car Configurator“ every automotive enthusiast is now able to configure their own dream car on the company website of BRABUS. For its launch, the virtual tuning factory is available for the current CLS-Class as well as the SLS. The user can customize the exterior with BRABUS aerodynamic components and wheels, then give the vehicle its individual note in the following steps. This is made with design elements as well as technical components. Furthermore, BRABUS engine tuning and bespoke BRABUS Fine Leather interior conversions can be selected additionally, of course.
Apart from different viewpoints of the desired vehicle, the menu offers a model-specific overview of the available customization components. The final configuration can then be sent directly to BRABUS or to the nearest BRABUS dealer, where a competent contact person will be further advising the prospective customer.
The configurator is available 24 hours per day, 365 days per year at www.brabus.com/configurator. Shortly this tool will also include the product portfolios for the current M-Class and the SL.~ Official photos and details courtesy of BRABUS GmbH ~Copyright © 2012, mercedesgla. All rights reserved.
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The Mercedes-Benz SL has secured a first place for itself by picking up the EuroCarBody Award 2012. This highest of vehicle body awards is presented each year by Automotive Circle International in recognition of outstanding developments in the body construction industry.Once again this year more than 500 experts from the automotive industry cast their votes to reward the best implemented body design. Out of all of the new vehicles which were put to the vote, the Mercedes-Benz SL emerged victorious at the 14th Global Car Body Benchmarking Conference held in Bad Nauheim. In carrying out their assessment, the experts took into account such criteria as development and design concepts, material development and application, production efficiency, customer value and engineering focus.
The traditional sports car from Stuttgart impressed the experts with its intelligent lightweight design. With the newly developed full-aluminium bodyshell of the SL - which is around 110 kg lighter than a comparable steel bodyshell - Mercedes-Benz is setting standards, according to the experts.
Made almost entirely from aluminium, the bodyshell makes a significant contribution to ensuring that overall the SL is up to 140 kg lighter than the preceding model. It provides the basis for sharp, agile, sporty handling, coupled with exemplary roll characteristics and ride comfort – benefits which are noticeable and can be experienced to the full by SL customers.Credits: Daimler AGCopyright © 2012, mercedesgla. All rights reserved.
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The ultra-modern Yas Marina circuit hosts round 18 of the 2012 world championship. The track is located on a man-made island on the eastern side of Abu Dhabi and it’s one of five anti-clockwise venues on this year’s calendar. It has several unique features: the pit garages are air-conditioned, the pitlane exits through a tunnel under the track and it has the largest permanent lighting system in the world.The 5.6 km track weaves its way around a man-made marina and has three distinct sectors, each putting different demands on the car. Two high-speed corners start the lap; there are then two very long straights in the middle section and the last sector is tight and twisty. Such variety makes car set-up a compromise between high-speed balance, straight-line speed, good traction and braking stability.
The track surface is made from granite imported from the United Kingdom, and it’s relatively high-grip and hard wearing. Pirelli will take their Soft and Medium tyre compounds to the race and they expect to see a mix of one and two-stop strategies.
Lewis won last year’s race, while Jenson has finished on the podium in every grand prix staged at Yas Marina. After their fourth and fifth places in India last weekend, they’re hoping for a return to the podium on Sunday.
Race distance - 55 laps (189.747 miles/305.355km)
Start time - 17:00 (local)/1300 GMT
Circuit length - 3.451 miles/5.554km
2011 winner - Lewis Hamilton (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) 55 laps in 1hr37m11.886s (188.494km/h)
2011 pole - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing) 1m38.481s (203.027km/h)
Lap record - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB5) 1m40.279s (199.387km/h)
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
- Wins: 1 (2011)
- Poles: 1 (2009)
- Fastest Laps: 1 (2010)
Car 3: Jenson Button
- Age: 32 (January 19 1980)
- GPs: 225
- Wins: 14
- Poles: 8
- FLs: 8
- 2012 points: 141 (6th)
- Abu Dhabi record: 2011 Q3 R3; 2010 Q4 R3; 2009 Q5 R3
“I’m really looking forward to this race weekend. I’ve always gone well around this track – I had a great battle with Mark Webber in 2009, and finished third, and Lewis and I have been on the podium together at the last two races.
“I think this will be another closely matched race: India showed us that the gap between the top three teams is extremely close at the moment, so I wouldn’t like to predict the exact pecking order. As in the last few races, I think Red Bull will go into the weekend with a slight advantage, but I’m confident that, with a clear run through practice, we can be right up there too.
“One of the most satisfying aspects of the Indian Grand Prix was that we could battle cleanly at the front – that was fantastic. While it’ll be quite tough to overtake around here – even with DRS – I’m hopeful that we can have another great battle, which would be fantastic for the fans.”
Car 4: Lewis Hamilton
- Age: 27 (January 7 1985)
- GPs: 107
- Wins: 20
- Poles: 24
- FLs: 11
- 2012 points: 165 (5th)
- Abu Dhabi record: 2011 Q2 R1; 2010 Q2 R2; 2009 Q1 R-
“The facilities in Abu Dhabi are absolutely fantastic – probably the best of any circuit in the world. I’ve always enjoyed the Yas Marina circuit – I took pole here in 2009 and led until my retirement, finished second in 2010 and won it last year – that’s a pretty good record.
“It’s a track where you can really push the car, which is what I most enjoy. There are a wide variety of corners – I love the fast sweeps in the first sector – and it’s incredibly satisfying to hook together a good sector through the tricky marina section of the lap. Good mechanical balance makes all the difference here because you’re always changing direction.
“This has also been a place where Red Bull have traditionally gone well, but our race pace was very strong throughout the race in New Delhi. I really enjoyed that race India – fourth place may have been little reward for 60 laps of flat-out effort, but I couldn’t have gone any faster.
“I feel confident that we can pull together a strong race weekend in Abu Dhabi.”
Martin Whitmarsh
Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
“Another race just a week after the last gives us the perfect opportunity to maintain the positive momentum we gathered during Sunday’s grand prix in India. Both Jenson and Lewis drove their hearts out, and, although we weren’t able to match the Red Bulls in qualifying, their pace on Sunday afternoon, particularly during the second half of the race, was impressively strong.
“The Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team has always gone well in Abu Dhabi – Lewis set a stunning pole at the first-ever grand prix in 2009 and led until his retirement; the last time, in fact, that we failed to get two cars home in the points. Additionally, in 2010, both Jenson and Lewis finished on the podium, while Lewis finally delivered on two years’ promise by winning spectacularly last year.
“It’s a circuit that both drivers enjoy, and which plays to our cars’ strengths, so I feel confident that we’ll have a strong race weekend.”
The Yas Marina circuit is an interesting challenge for the teams and drivers. Here’s how Vodafone McLaren Mercedes defined three days in the short history of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
1. November 01 2009
Lewis is in brilliant form. He takes pole position by a massive 0.6s and beats Sebastian Vettel into Turn 1 at the start of the race. But his progress soon begins to falter, due to a rear brake problem on his MP4-24. He keeps Vettel at bay until his first pitstop on lap 17 but retires soon afterwards.
2. November 14 2010
To win the four-way world title showdown, Lewis needs to win and his rivals have to falter. He drags the maximum out of his MP4-25 all weekend: he qualifies second, just 0.031s behind pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel, and he finishes the race second. Vettel is champion. Jenson’s third place secures McLaren’s second position in the Constructors’ Championship.
3. November 13 2011
Lewis lines up second on the grid, but there’s no stopping him in the race. Pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel retires with a puncture on the opening lap and Lewis disappears into the distance. He comes home eight seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso. Jenson is third in the second MP4-26.~ Official photo and details courtesy of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes ~Copyright © 2012, mercedesgla. All rights reserved.
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Round 18 of the 2012 Formula One World Championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on Sunday 4 November. The race is the season’s only twilight event with the lights going out at 17:00hrs at the 5.554 km Yas Marina Circuit.• DRS can be used for 59% of a qualifying lap; the season’s highest value is 63% in Monza and Montreal
• Only one of the three Abu Dhabi Grands Prix has been won from pole; so far in 2012, 10 of 17 races have been
• Mercedes-Benz engines have averaged nearly 40 points per race in Abu Dhabi - including six in the top 10 in 2011
Michael Schumacher
“Abu Dhabi is one of the races I look forward to travelling to. The facilities there are state of the art, very modern and very attractive. The timing of the race makes it even more appealing: it´s something quite special and uniquely fun to race from day into night. Admittedly, ´fun´ is not exactly the right word to describe the race I had on Sunday in India. However, I hope that what we learned about our car across the weekend can be translated into something positive in Abu Dhabi.”
Nico Rosberg
“The Abu Dhabi race is one of the highlights on the calendar and every year it seems to become better and better. I really enjoy driving the track, particularly with the unusual twilight conditions, and the setting around Yas Marina is very special. On the track, tyre work will again be crucial this weekend. We are working hard on it and our goals this weekend will be to score some points and to learn for next year.”
Ross Brawn
“The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has very quickly established itself as one of the most spectacular races on the calendar, and the Yas Marina Circuit is certainly one of the most impressive of the new Formula One venues. The weekend will also be the final home race of the season for our team with our shareholder and partner aabar based in Abu Dhabi. Our team has had a challenging time during the season-ending flyaway races so far. However, we are continuing to work hard on improving our performance, while also taking the opportunity to look at developments which will be relevant next season. We would like to end the season on a positive note, and hope to have a stronger result this weekend.”
Norbert Haug
“The final leg of the 2012 season set every team the challenge of racing six times in six countries over eight weekends, split between Asia, the USA and Brazil. The race in Abu Dhabi begins the second half of this cycle. Every team member has been working with total focus during this demanding period and deserves to be rewarded with better results before the season reaches its conclusion. This will be the fourth visit to Abu Dhabi which is, along with Great Britain, Germany and Malaysia, one of our home races and certainly a season highlight. The facilities in Abu Dhabi are exceptional and the spectacle of the day-night race is unique in the Formula One calendar. The Yas Marina Circuit itself is a real contrast to last weekend´s venue in New Delhi: the brakes are worked very hard, with eleven braking events around the lap; 14 of the circuit´s 21 corners are taken at 150 km/h or below; and the cars exceed 290 km/h on four separate occasions around the lap. Overtaking is difficult in spite of the long straights and many braking zones but the DRS zones significantly improved the situation last year. Overall, the level of competition behind the quickest teams has got ever closer throughout the season and a few tenths of a second in lap time can make a difference of many positions in both qualifying and the race.”~ Official photo and details courtesy of MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS ~Copyright © 2012, mercedesgla. All rights reserved.
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The photo you see above was first posted on a Spanish automotive website, then spread quickly across the internet. It has been captured by a fan who was witnessing, from bird's eye view, the pre-launch photo session for the new-generation 2013 model year Mercedes-Benz E 63 AMG high performance luxury saloon. As previously confirmed in our articles, the version "pimped" by the Affalterbach guys will display an entirely new identity.The revised front fascia is characterized by a pair of newly designed, single-piece headlights with LED inner graphics, as well as a gargantuan air vent across the front bumper and a new Star radiator grille with twin-blade styling. This dramatic facelift brings on a striking and aggressive appearance, highly suitable for a sports limousine.
The side profile is now clean, elegant and smoothly flowing, with the criticized Ponton crease now phased out forever. The multi-spoke alloy wheels further enhance the visual package of the E 63 AMG Facelift, while the V8 BITURBO badge warns everybody this machine is not joking about its power. Even though we have not got any photo from the rear end, we speculate that the tail gate and protection bumper have been retouched with new details, whereas the lamps appear to have shrunk in size and receive new inner graphics based on LED technology.
The same business is going for the new E-Class Coupe as well, also spotted during the photo shootout. A sharper look for the 2-door vehicles has been obtained with the introduction of the single-unit headlamps with LED technology, the new single-louvre chrome grille and the muscular front bumper, a special feature for the pictured AMG SPORT version. The rear-wing crease is history and the tail lights get the same treatment as in the case of the sedan E-Class.
Expect further changes for the interior of the new E-Class 2013 lineup, including the consequent AMG variants. But for that, we just have to wait for the official press images, which should be released by mid-December this year, together with a consistent dose of details. Look for the standard E-Class models to be the highlight of the Mercedes-Benz stand at NAIAS Detroit in January; the AMG models could come a bit later, towards Geneva Motor Show..jpg)
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