2012 Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG

This car should not exist. With all of the environmental regulations that are strangling the performance car industry, and the large economic crisis at had, the last thing that you would expect out of a car company is a super SUV. Why would Mercedes be so risky? What do they have to prove? Here is what I think: the boys at AMG and Mercedes have been hard at work making their cars greener and more economical. All of this put fast cars on the back shelf and the designers were so fed up with all of this diesel this and hybrid that, that they decided to have a field day. And this is the result.
The idea of a super SUV was first taken into the modern age with the BMW X5M, which is very ugly. The principle was very simple: take a big car that is ment for taking the kids to school, and put a massive engine in it, no matter what the cost. Fortunately, I have had the honor of seeing one on the road recently, which means that BMW met its sales goal of 1. Mercedes must have some large cajones to be putting out a brand new super SUV when performance car sales are at all time lows. However, AMG feels that there is a large enough market of rich fathers who, for some reason would rather have this car than a regular ML as well as a Porche Boxter for the same price. So what is the reason for buying this car? For its cool factor. Let me explain- in our day and age and in America, we like other people knowing that we are rich without telling them that you are. The best way to do this is to be very vulgar with your choice of car, and this one does the job perfectly. Obviously, an onlooker will see that you own an utterly preposterous car, but then think, "wow, that person has not thought about fuel economy, saving the planet, value for money, comfort, or practicality. They must be doing well." If you own this car, the Joneses do not stand a chance.
Now lets get to the specs. With the ML, you get a twin-turbo V8 that produces 518 bhp and is sent to all four wheels via a 7-speed automatic transmission with a manual shifting mode. This power will get you to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds and on to a limited top speed of 155 mph. These kinds of figures are in the sports car range, but they should be, for the kind of money that one must shell out for one of these things. Well, its not going to get any better, so here it goes... it costs 100 grand. With that price, this car is stupid. If you are going to spend that much money on a car, just buy a BMW M5, I promise that you will be much happier.
This is a car that not many people will buy. But that is not the point of it, the point of this car is to show us that AMG is still a crazy, half mad tuning company that is ready to make a stupid car that we all love, but never want.

Pagani Huayra

This is the most-anticipated super car of 2012, and the best part is... ITS COMING TO THE USA!!!!! I have always love Pagani and I adore the Zonda. It was the perfect blend of power, lightness,  crazy styling, gorgeous interior, and exclusivity. The Zonda, however, is now dead. In its place, however, comes the new Huayra is almost here. The name is pronounced why-ra and there is no doubting that it looks absolutely fantastic. Its something you cannot describe, but i found myself spending hours just looking at the damn thing. Even the purely functional bits are beautiful; the side mirrors, for instance, are shaped like a teardrop and are made from carbon fiber. The interior is equally astonishing, swathed in sumptuous leather with amazing carbon fiber and aluminium accents. Im not sure there has ever been a better interior, except for the last Zonda F Roadster. Like the new Ford Mustang, you have the ability to choose the color of the instruments from many different shades. Even the key is interesting: it is a scale model of the car that cracks in half to reveal the key. The driver then puts the key into the slot on the dashboard. It rather looks like someone's small Huayra has smashed into your dashboard.
This is the first Pagani with an airbag mounted in the steering column, which is an indication of the company's new goal: to sell cars in the USA. This will be the first time that a Pagani will be on sale in the US and I think that it will work out very well for them. George Clooney will probably buy one. To get the car to the Uninted States, the car has to pass many safty tests and complete someting like 300,000 miles in one car to make sure that it can withstand the terrors of everyday driving.
The best thing about this car is that it will be built utterly without compromise. For example, the speedometer plate will not not just be a stamed pieces of metal but one that is handmade. Not even Rolls-Royce do that. The new Huayra will use a massive twin-turbo 5.98 litre Mercedes-Benz V-12 engine.  As you can hera in the video that goes along with this post, the Huayra's engine makes a very unique and tremendous sound. However, i think that it sounds absolutely awful. It might just be the quality of the video, but it sounds like someone sneezing for a very long time. In addition to the sound, i would think that the turbo lag would get a little bit annoying for those who have driven the naturally-aspirated Zondas. Im not sure, however, that the person who buys a car like this will be as interested in the sound as in the raw power. The Huayra develops-get this- 700 bhp! thats 10 more than a Lamborghini Aventador, 90 more than a Ferarri 599, and 60 more than a Fararri FF. In addition, as you can see in the video, the "active aerodynamics are very fun to watch. the air brake seems to be very high tech and means that it will stop, in the words of Jeremy Clarkson, "only faster if you hit a tree!"
There are, however, somethings that im not too sure about. First, I dont like the name. The title Zonda was something that was almost as expressive as the car but Huayra just sounds odd. Secondly, i wished that they had kept up their tradition in the Zonda and fitted it with a manual. The old Zonda racing gearboxes were great and I just wish that they could have done the same thing with the Huayra. Lastly, im not sold on the engine. I know that it is immensely powerful and loud, but in my mind Paganis have always been about natural aspiration and split second acceleration. Im also not sure about the price. It it going to cost about $1.4 million, and for a car that is not much faster than a half-of-a-million dollar Lamborghini Aventador, that does seem like a lot.

But i am nit-picking. None of these small details take much away from the Huayra. It is absolutely fantastic and I am told that they already have orders for 51 of them. Horacio Pagani better get started, because this one is going to be a classic.

2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK55

In the past, the only reason that you would buy this car is if you cannot afford a SL, or you absolutely hate the Porsche Boxer S. That was the simple truth. Over the past few years, Mercedes has tries to make the SLK a serious competitor with the Boxer, but has never really succeeded. Now, however, things seem to be a little difference. This new SLK has been based on the SLS, and I have to say that they have done a very good job. It looks just like a shrunken down SLS or SL. They have even given it a 415 bhp V-8, which should be interesting.

            Overall, the previous SLK was a reasonably average car. It was not as sharp as the Boxter, but it did look good. It was fast, but it did not feel like a quality product compared to the Porsche. This model seems to carry on the tradition. It certainly looks better than the current Boxter, but it still lacks the precision that has made the Porsche so popular. On the plus side, the new SLK feels like a proper Mercedes. The last model was wracked with electrical problems, but this new one seems to be better made. It also looks better than the last one, inside and out. It wipes the floor aesthetics-wise with the Boxter. Even though this new look is a large improvement, I still think that the BMW Z4 is prettier. Like the Z4, the SLK comes with a trendy folding metal convertible roof.  

            The SLK has always been a car for people who could not afford the SL or did not have enough space for it in their garage. Now, nothing has changed. The quality is very good and I am sure that it is an epic GT car, but the Boxter still wipes the floor with it dynamically. In my opinion, the Boxter is a better car for the short blasts. Overall, however, the BMW Z4 is a better everyday car, because it is cheaper. I have no doubt that AMG will make some faster versions but I still think that the Boxter or the Z4 is the better bet.