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Tags: Mercedes F700, DiesOtto engine, Pre-Scan suspension

Tag Links: Mercedes F700, DiesOtto engine, Pre-Scan suspension

Mercedes F700 concept Car review
By Andrew Noakes

First drive

16 June 2008 17:16

Advanced engineering wrapped in ‘aquatic’ styling made the Mercedes F700 concept car one of the stars of the Frankfurt motor show in September 2007, and CAR has been itching to put its technologies to the test ever since.

Flip-over, cork-faced seats and a navigation system run by a virtual assistant called Gloria are novel enough, but we’re really here to find out about the revolutionary DiesOtto engine and Pre-Scan suspension.

What’s so clever about the Mercedes F700’s engine, then?

Mercedes calls it DiesOtto because it combines elements of diesel and petrol (Otto cycle) engines. Centrepiece of the DiesOtto concept is a new combustion system called Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI), which several manufacturers are now developing. It uses carefully controlled in-cylinder temperature and pressure conditions to ignite the air/fuel mixture without a spark.

The result is very clean, efficient combustion, but the drawback is that HCCI struggles to work over a wide range of engine speed and load. So for cold starts and full-throttle acceleration, DiesOtto switches back to spark-ignition mode.

So is the F700 a green special, or does it fly too?

With twin sequential turbochargers and a capacity of just 1.8 litres, the F700 DiesOtto generates 238hp. An electric motor adds another 20hp and boosts total torque to 295lb ft. As a result, the S-class-sized F700 has S350 performance.

Thanks to the efficiency of the engine, plus an urban start/stop function and regenerative braking, it returns up to 53mpg. Highly impressive for a big limo like this. Read Article



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Peyton18Peyton18 - 8/10/2008 9:16:50 AM
-1 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
best looking backend I may have ever seen!

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CLK63BlackSeriesCLK63BlackSeries - 8/10/2008 5:03:41 PMView My AgentSpace
+7 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
No. That would be Jessica Biel's back-end.


TurboSpyderTurboSpyder - 8/10/2008 7:51:44 PMView My AgentSpace
+4 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
I'm going to have to agree with CLK63 on this one.


sectorsector - 8/10/2008 12:06:42 PM
-6 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
Is this the new flagship from SsangYong? code named the "squid"?

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StarStar - 8/10/2008 3:04:48 PM
+8 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
No, this is the worst nightmare for the mediocre Japanese car engineers, the mighty Mercedes.


StarStar - 8/10/2008 3:02:51 PM
+11 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
...only in reality people prefer Mercedes over the tin cans made by LexusToy

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NARunnerNARunner - 8/10/2008 1:48:09 PMView My AgentSpace
+4 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
Questionable design...sweet engine.

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TurboSpyderTurboSpyder - 8/10/2008 7:59:30 PMView My AgentSpace
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From page two of the article:

--

And Pre-Scan, what’s that about?

Pulsed laser sensors scan the road surface up to 7m in front of the car, detecting bumps and feeding the information back to the F700’s Active Body Control suspension. As a bump approaches, ABC uses its hydraulics to raise the body slightly, then releases the hydraulic pressure to allow free wheel movement. In effect, it lengthens and softens the springs as a bump approaches, to provide what Mercedes likes to call a ‘flying carpet’ ride.

Does it really ride like a flying carpet?

Mostly, yes. Roll and pitch are all but eliminated, transverse ridges in the road surface are magically erased, and minor ripples are smoothed for a calmer, quieter ride. Speed bumps are more heard than felt: Mercedes says production versions of the system will need ‘environment detection’ so the car will know when it’s in an urban area, and won’t let you race over speed bumps…


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xj13xj13 - 8/11/2008 12:50:50 AM
+5 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
love this car,well done benz.

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WazzWazz - 8/11/2008 6:55:51 AM
+2 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
Something about the rear end seems Bently-ish to me.

But maybe thats just me!

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WazzWazz - 8/11/2008 6:57:48 AM
+1 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
Sorry, Bentley...typo!


2ndbimmer2ndbimmer - 8/11/2008 10:39:50 AM
+2 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
at first glance, eh... but the more i look at it, it is growing on me. very executive like, especially at 53 MPG's!

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w209w114w209w114 - 8/11/2008 1:06:44 PMView My AgentSpace
+1 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
Its such a different design it takes some time to get used to. Everything has grown on to me ex cept the side profile.

Overall the car is a technological marvel and its what you cant see that really makes this car incredible.

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