A popular trend in Europe is to tune diesel engines. This could be due to the popularity and abundance of these types of motors. But what most people do not recognize is that diesel engines by their nature are capable of swallowing endless amounts of boost because they live on detonation. Oh yeah, and they’re great with torque too.
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The Mercedes GL is a big family hauler, but that image can be improved with the help of the Japanese tuner ART.
Dubbed the Mammut, the vehicle becomes a real beast featuring a new front bumper with 6 fog lights, a new aggressive front grill without the Mercedes logo, new side sills, a new roof spoiler with integrated LED brake light strip and a redesigned rear bumper with integrated 4-pipe exhaust system and rear air diffuser. The kit is completed by the widened front and rear fenders and the 22-inch monoART1 light-alloy painted in white. Also, a new suspension kit was installed lowering the vehicle with up to 60 millimetrers.
Press release after the jump.
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When you are a F1 superstar you feel the need to become an ordinary guy at least behind the wheels of your every day car. Lewis Hamilton has chosen his every-day car to be a Mercedes GL320 CDI powered by a 3.0-liter V6 common-rail diesel engine, developing 224hp at 3800 rpm, and 510Nm from 1600 rpm – 2800 rpm.
When buying the car Lewis said: "At the track I always drive on the limit, but on public roads I like to relax, kick back and cruise. The GL’s perfect for that – it’s got plenty of space for all my kit, a brilliant sound system, and the high driving position gives me a clear view of the road ahead. It’s just about the most comfortable road car I’ve driven. My GL looks great – metallic black paint with matching leather, privacy glass, and it’s got awesome 21” AMG wheels. But with standard air suspension, it still rides beautifully."
Perhaps when it comes to more power and performance, the GL 500 SUV of Mercedes wouldn’t necessarily be the first choice. Carlsson instead comes out with an impressive new body kit for the big SUV. With 33 mm lower and a full bodykit the giant GL500 has now a sporty sculpted look. A C-Tronic suspension system guarantees the downforce on the car at speeds above 120km/h, ensuring adequate suspension travel and therefore preserving predictable handling characteristics.
With new performance achieved the big SUV can now reach 100km/h in only 6.1 seconds, while the top speed is limited at 248km/h. Such kind of performance, 388 hp V8 requires a special ‘engine kit’ that tunes the power up by over 12%. A special quad-tip exhaust adds an appropriate soundtrack to the new found power. At the interior, the CK50 is finished with a combination of nappa leather, carbon fiber and wood trim at choice and each car can be customized as the buyer desires.
In October 2006, Mercedes-Benz was the first manufacturer to commence a BlueTEC initiative in the passenger car segment which was timed to coincide with the introduction of low-sulphur fuel in the United States of America. The E 320 BlueTEC proved a great success from the outset, and was voted "World Green Car of the Year 2007". As a next step, Mercedes-Benz is now due to offer the R, ML and GL 320 BlueTEC in the USA, the world’s first three diesel cars which not only meet the particularly demanding criteria of the American Bin 5 standard, but also have the potential to fulfil the stringent EU6 standard due in the future - and which therefore considerably better all the current, worldwide exhaust emission standards for diesel passenger cars.
The muscular V6 diesel engine powering the new BlueTEC models in the GL, M and R-Class shows that a low fuel consumption and very low emissions are also possible for large SUVs. It has an output of 155 kW/211 hp and develops a torque of 540 Nm. Fuel economy is outstanding: the GL 320 BlueTEC, for example, consumes just 9.5 litres of diesel fuel per 100 kilometres (25 mpg). This represents an advantage of around 20 to 40 percent versus a comparable petrol model, and easily makes the Mercedes-Benz GL 320 BlueTEC the most economical full-size SUV in the USA.
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