Mercedes-Benz has put together a fashion-shoot-and-video session with Dutch supermodel Lara Stone and the 2013 SL for Fashion Week, and the result is a vid that only those attending Fashion Week could understand. Which is, probably, half the point.

Powered by Mercedes’ 4.6-liter twin-turbo V8, the SL550 delivers 429 horsepower at 5,250 rpm and a whopping 516 pound-feet of torque from 1,800 rpm. As before, that power is routed through a seven-speed auto to the rear wheels. Apart from its lightweight aluminum construction and downsized engine, Mercedes has made a few other concessions to greener motoring including standard stop/start. Despite this, the 32-percent swell in torque and 12-percent bump in horsepower means that 60 miles per hour hits in just 4.5 seconds – the old car required 5.2 seconds. Top speed is limited to 130 mph, and judging from the engine, it sounds like you’ll be able to say hello to the governor rather quickly.

Click here to see the amazing photo gallery of the 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL

At launch, the SL550 will come equipped with the twin-turbocharged and direct-injected 4.6-liter V8, outputting 429 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque – a significant boost over the old model’s 384 hp and 391 lb-ft. The dash to 60 is claimed to come in around 4.5 seconds, with fuel economy improved by up to 10 percent thanks to a modified seven-speed automatic gearbox and start/stop tech.

Source: Mercedes-Benz

It’s getting darn near impossible for automakers to keep their latest wares hidden from view until they are good and ready to show them. Such is the case with Mercedes-Benz, who’s latest SL has leaked to the internet courtesy of the crew at Autoblog.nl.

We know that the 2013 SL will be a few hundred pounds lighter than its predecessor, but we don’t yet know what range of engines will be in the “S-Class of Roadsters.” We’d guess a few V8 options with the vestigial V12 hanging around for at least one more generation.

Source: Autoblog.nl

Neither the SLK 55 AMG nor the Streetfighter 848 boast any performance modifications, which is just fine, since both vehicles offer plenty of giddyup right out of the box. The Benz is the most powerful SLK manufactured to date, with 422 horsepower from a naturally-aspirated 5.5-liter V8. The Streetfighter 848, meanwhile, is a 132-horsepower machine that weighs less than 500 pounds. Hit the jump to check out the full press release.

Source: Mercedes-Benz

There are a few marquee straights in the racing world, and Laguna Seca has one of the very best. The C63 Black Series’ 6.2-liter naturally aspirated V8 is an already legendary mill, and in this guise, it’s damned close to perfection. All along the slight left-bending straight with its blind crest (just prior to dive-bombing into Turn Two on hammered brake discs), this large-of-lung naturally aspirated V8 belted out its soundtrack like opera. Its 510 horsepower peaking at 6,800 rpm and 457 pound-feet of torque maxing out at 5,200 rpm felt uncommonly flexible and at the ready. At a curb weight of 3,770 pounds, The Black Series isn’t a featherweight, but it feels solid and mostly better for it.

But is this Black Series (or any AMG, or Audi RS, or BMW M, or Cadillac V…) simply a poseur mobile, a trophy wife for well-heeled men gathering dust? Barring the ten hours needed to debate this, just ask: Does the C63 Black Series really nail things dynamically to the point where its red meat attitude scares away the wannabes?

Our heaping dose of the Black – fully optioned, mind you – convinced us that this coupe has been done right. The requisite superficial bonehead percentage of buyers for this type of car should be kept to a minimum. We hope this is borne out, because this is a terrifically balanced car that ticks all the right boxes in the way it handles at the hairy limits on a great track. Like a Mitsubishi Evolution in its class, or a Porsche Cayman R in its habitat, this six-figure Merc deserves the best, most capable owners possible.

Source: AutoBlog

Few engines emit the kind of throaty, raspy burble that a V8 crafted by AMG does. The Mercedes-Benz performance division just makes some of the best sounding engines around. But you don’t have to take our word for it: follow the jump to watch – and more importantly hear – the new C63 AMG Coupe sliding around a wet track – without any background music, voiceover, or even much color to distract from the sweet, sweet sound – of the 6.2-liter, 450-horsepower V8 revving in all its glory.

Much in the vein of Audi’s Sportback models or BMW’s slow-to-expand Gran Turismo range, Mercedes-Benz thinks it’s time to get excited about various sizes of its “sports tourer” subgroup. Nearly all of the aforementioned are still trying to find proper footing in their bid to be first choice for the world’s practical-minded customers, but the B-Class has had more success than most. Since the launch of the first generation in 2005, around 700,000 of these little boxes have been sold – despite the U.S. being conspicuously left off the list while both Canada and Mexico got theirs. The car’s number one market by far has been the car’s fatherland, Germany. Number two? China, where sales of the car rose 46 percent in 2010.

Starting up the new 1.6-liter transverse-mounted M270 four-cylinder turbo with the latest direct injection (as seen on Benz’s V6 and V8 BlueDirect engines introduced last year), the sound is good and quiet. The previous B200 Turbo received a 2.0-liter four-cylinder good for 193 hp and 207 pound-feet of torque, so despite being 12 percent more efficient, this 1.6-liter turbo is actually down by 39 hp and 23 lb-ft. While the previous range-topper hit 60 mph in under in 7.5 seconds, this 1.6 takes about a tick longer. Fear not – a more advanced 2.0-liter turbo will be ready for when the B-Class goes on sale in the U.S. in early-mid 2014, in sync with the car’s planned midlife facelift.

While pushing this B200 on hilly two-lanes and overtaking brisk Autobahn traffic, the 1.6-liter sounds like a very hard working little four-cylinder, which, of course, she is. It’s a shame that noise-vibration-harshness concerns could not have been addressed even more so. Not that the noise is extraordinary, but we can’t help but feel that it could be tuned more pleasantly for a Mercedes-Benz compact.

Source: AutoBlog

Instead of doing what every other Mercedes owner would do and busting out the Armor All, this guy asked the detailers to take the power washer to the interior of his brand-new Mercedes-Benz. Mystified and horrified, the wash attendants refused. That’s when the owner took things into his own hands and, well, the results are in the video.

The Black Series sits lower than the standard C63 AMG and gets nicely widened tracks – an additional 1.6 inches in front, 3.1 inches rear – due primarily to the special 9.0-by-19-inch front and 9.5-by-19-inch rear AMG forged wheels. Shift mapping with the AMG Speedshift MCT sport auto seven-speed has been modified, meaning gear changes in Sport+ and Manual modes take just one tenth of a second. The steering rate has also been tightened up versus than the stock C-Class AMG cars.

Source: Mercedes-Benz