New Merc Looks Like A Winner

Sydney Morning Herald

Thursday April 1, 1993

PETER MAcKAY

MERCEDES-BENZ may have lost more sales than it cares to think about by persisting with a range of automatic transmissions that sluggishly started in second, rather than first, gear. The lack of responsiveness when accelerating from a standstill has been a recurring aggravation for many drivers and, I believe, something of a safety issue.

For folk unfamiliar with the three-pointed star, an initial test drive must have often been a disappointment because of this lack of immediate response.

Many potential buyers would not accept the initial sluggishness, which Benz long defended on the grounds of better traction in slippery conditions and improved fuel efficiency.

Even the bigger-engined Benzes in the range have been reluctant to zip off the line, while the less-powered models have been even harder to get moving -unless, of course, you selected low gear manually which some Merc owners find tiresome.

Now, of course, things are changing. There has been a recognition that Australia is not exactly a land of sweeping ice and snowfields .

Sound the trumpets, kick-start the town crier. Many of the smaller-engined models in the line-up have been re-engineered so that they bounce off the mark in first gear. The difference is quite astonishing and I'm sure consumers will endorse the move.

One new model to benefit from the change is the 220E, a cheaper four-cylinder variant of the popular mid-sized 300 series.

The 220E is, I believe, destined to win plenty of friends and revive interest in the mid-sized car line-up.

The Mercedes-Benz Australia marketing people think about 600 should be sold during 1993, making it the most popular model in the mid-sized sector. Priced at $81,000, it's close to $30,000 below the cheapest of the six-cylinder 300-series and $56,000 under the price of the new 3.2-litre 320E.

At a glance there's not a lot of difference for the 56 grand more, although closer scrutiny brings confirmation that Benz has deleted a few creature comforts to bring the newcomer to market at such a hot price.

It misses out on the CD player, cruise control and the leather trim of the more expensive models. But all the renowned Mercedes-Benz safety features are retained, including the offset frontal collision technology and airbag.

The engine in the 220E is an all-new, twin-cam, 16-valve, four-cylinder putting out 110kW of power and 210Nm of torque.

It's a lovely engine which seems to enjoy a rev should the driver decide to use the shifter on the auto transmission to kick the needle to the red line through the gears. It really goes quite hard for a 1,400 kg car with such a smallcapacity engine.

A further revelation came with the fuel consumption. I know multi-valve engines are particularly fuel-efficient, but the 220E certainly sprang a pleasant surprise, getting commendably near the Government's officially measured city cycle number of 10 litres/100 km. The highway figure is just 7.0 litres/100 km.

But in this vehicle the real pleasure comes in the driving. And the 220E provided me with about the best fun I've had in a Benz for ages. I thank Stuttgart for bringing back the first gear.

BIRTHDAY BASH

HOLDEN Special Vehicles is celebrating its fifth anniversary with special editions of sedan, wagon and utility Commodores which began production this week.

The Fifth Anniversary Special Edition cars include the five regular HSV models - the Club Sport, Senator series, Statesman 5000i, Sport Wagon and Maloo ute. All come in a special Galaxy Blue colour with toning of Panorama Silver.

A total of 8,000 vehicles have been produced at HSV's Notting Hill workshops in Melbourne since job one, a VL Group A Commodore built for Holden, rolled off the line on March 1, 1988.

LEATHER BARGAIN

SUBARU is selling a limited number of leather-equipped Liberty sedans for up to $1,500 beneath the regular retail price.

Available in either front-wheel-drive or constant four-wheel-drive, the Libertys feature leather seats, steering wheel, handbrake lever and gear knob

Normally the leather pack is a $3,000 extra but dealers are charging just$1,500.

PORSCHE FLOTILLA

THE largest collection of Porsches assembled under one roof in Sydney will be on display on Good Friday at Darling Harbour's Exhibition Hall No 2.

The Porsche clubs of Australia are holding their annual nationals in Sydney over Easter, hence this display of the rare, the swift and the cherished.

Racing Porsches are there in an abundance, including the latest 968 CS in Bathurst livery. The road car array starts with early 386 models but covers the spectrum including the modern 911, 968 and 928 range, courtesy of Scuderia Veloce and York Motors.

All profits - tickets are only $5 per adult or $12 for a family - go to the Handicapped Children's Association of NSW.

PERKINS UPDATES

LARRY PERKINS rolls out his new Castrol VP Commodore for this Sunday's third round of the Australian touring car series at Phillip Island, but it doesn't have an imported Chevrolet engine.

Perkins says that while he has six imported Chev V-8s being prepared in his workshop, he's in no rush to cast aside the proven Holden.

"You can be assured I'll switch to Chevrolet only when I'm convinced it will perform better than the Holden," said Perkins, conceding that the Detroit V-8 would ultimately be a more powerful package.

He is encouraged by the hot testing times the new car produced last week at Phillip Island when his VP model was clocked two seconds faster than the old VL Commodore it replaces.

"I don't know what the other teams are doing but I'm pretty confident we'll be near the money this weekend," he said.

For nearly three years Perkins has persisted with a long-superseded VL model. It has always had plenty of straight-line speed but Perkins discovered this season that it lacked the downforce and cornering grip of the groundhugging hybrids - the Chevroletengined Commodores and Mustang-engined Falcons.

Peter Brock trots out a new Mobil Commodore-Chev for the Phillip Island round which will be seen, slightly delayed, on Seven between 4 pm and 6 pm.

BENEVOLENT CAMS

THE generosity of CAMS' handicappers continues to astonish. The confederation's Performance Review Committee has agreed that the 2.5-litre BMW M3s contesting this year's touring car series can remove all of 20 kg of ballast before this weekend's third round.

The M3s are now down to 1030 kg. But the PRC has decided the BMWs should now be fitted with a rev-limiting device which won't allow the engines to spin beyond 9,600rpm.

CAMS has indicated that if there are technical problems associated with the installation of the rev limiter, the BMW should run at the previous 1,050 kg minimum.

Can't let those little foreign BMWs seriously threaten our big Aussie V-8 Holdens and Fords, can we, boys?

SENNA AT HOME

AYRTON SENNA was at his greatest last weekend in the Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo, scoring what was only his second home victory in 10 years of trying. Senna survived a stop-go penalty, pit stops and angry weather to post his first win of the season and McLaren's 100th world championship race success.

The victory, Senna's first using Ford V-8 power, catapults him to the lead in the world championship.

First-round winner Alain Prost, who led early in his Williams Renault, was caught out on slick tyres during a cloudburst, crashing into the stationary car of Christian Fittipaldi on lap 30.

Prost's teammate, Damon Hill, also led for a spell after the race was neutralised by a safety car after the rain squall.

But Senna's fearless driving on a drying track, and Hill's stop for slick tyres, allowed the triple world champion to surge to the front. Hill drove sensibly to take second, while Benetton-Ford's Michael Schumacher edged out the Lotus Ford of Johnny Herbert after a fierce battle for third.

The championship moves to Donington in England over Easter for the European Grand Prix.

REAL TOURING CARS

MERCEDES-BENZ is poised to join the British Touring Car Championship series later this year, taking the number of manufacturers represented to 10.

Toyota, Ford, Nissan, Peugeot, Xedos (Mazda's European luxury brand), BMW, Vauxhall and Renault are there already with Benz and Kia of Korea to come.

The series kicked off last Sunday in typically robust style at Silverstone with the BMW M3s of Steve Soper and Joachim Winkelhock taking the top placings.

Judging by letters and phone calls I get, it's obvious that many Australians hanker for the spice and variety on offer in Europe.

Surely a ready audience, and perhaps some advertising revenue, awaits any television network prepared to put the British series to air here.

SELF-SELLING CAMRY

TOYOTA'S Camry-Vienta marketing campaign has bemused at least one rival car-maker. Mitsubishi Motors boss Mike Quinn wonders why Toyota would put so much effort into pushing the expensive V-6 when this model will account for only 20 per cent of sales of the new range.

"I think Toyota is making the assumption that the Camry four will sell itself, and that could be a big mistake," Quinn said.

WAKE-UP CALL

PANDERING to television requirements, organisers have moved the start time for Easter's James Hardie 12 Hour to a darker, unholier, insane and primitive 4.45 am.

For competitors it'll mean a further 45 minutes of sleep deprivation and more running time in the dark.

I hope high-profile Toyota driver Juan Manuel Fangio II, the big international name in the race, likes early starts. Around 9 am sounds fine for me.

MYSTERY SOLVED

THE mystery surrounding the intended use of that massive new building on Parramatta Road, Granville, is no more. It's Mitsubishi Motors Australia Ltd's$25 million automotive parts centre for Sydney.

MMAL claims the 14,400square metre distribution facility is the most modern in the country with storage potential for 30,000 items.

Mitsubishi's target for the centre is a 95 per cent first fill rate on stock orders.

SHORT BURSTS

* Ken Takagi, a director of Mazda Australia, died of cancer last week in Tokyo. His association with this country dates back to 1967 when he helped establish a Mazda distributorship for Victoria and Tasmania.

* Nigel Mansell's long-awaited oval race debut happens at Phoenix on Sunday.

* President Clinton is likely to retain the luxury tax of 10 per cent applying to cars priced above $30,000. But the levy on other toys - boats, planes, jewellery and so on - is set to go.

* John Bowe, one of the good guys of motor sport, celebrates his 50th touring car championship race this weekend at Phillip Island. His debut came in 1986, driving the unforgettable Volvo 240 Turbo.

* A 55-year-old South African motorist who went for her driving test didn't get away to a great start when she miscued leaving the parking area, crashing her car through a wall at the test centre. Six office workers were hurt and the repair bill for the building damage was more than $50,000.

* The Sydney speedway season concludes tonight at Parramatta Raceway with the Kings of Wings Sprintcar grand final.