SPY PICS: 2011 M-Class faces fuel issues in Oz
It's lighter and leaner, but how will the Euro 5-compliant Benz SUV cope with Aussie fuel?The sulphur content of Australian fuel remains a thorn in the side of importers planning to introduce new, cleaner-running engines in upcoming models. Mercedes-Benz is the latest left in the lurch.
Spy pics here, courtesy of Carparazzi, show the next generation M-Class all burqa-ed up. While it looks smaller -- black is so slimming -- it's reported that the new vehicle is built on a modified version of the existing platform. According to a source within Mercedes-Benz, that leaves the new M-Class at an advantage over the next Jeep Grand Cherokee. From 2011, the Jeep will sit on an M-Class platform, but one that is a combination of the current platform and the new vehicle's.
Our source says of the next M-Class platform: "It's a development of the current ML platform, but a lot of it is new... a substantial part of it is new."
The spy photographers note that the new model looks a few inches shorter than the current car and any difference in length will be chopped out of the front and rear overhangs.
"There's not much in it," says the Benz insider, who also advises that the new ML will adopt a more aggressive version of the new-look Benz grille, but it doesn't translate as well for an SUV.
Carparazzi believes the international launch for the new M-Class will occur sometime during the first half of 2011. Production of the new M-Class is yet to be scheduled for Australia, but our insider reckons it will reach us sometime during the second half of next year.
According to information provided by the spy photographers, the ML will definitely be lighter than the current vehicle and will be powered by at least two petrol engines (a 3.5-litre V6 and a 6.2-litre V8), plus 3.0-litre and 4.0-litre diesels. It's also rumoured that the new ML will offer conventional hybrid and/or plug-in hybrid drivetrains.
Our insider at Benz says that a key factor in weight reduction for the new ML will be the modern range of aluminium engines fitted. The spy pics have surfaced at the same time that Benz has announced new, leaner-running modular V6 and V8 petrol engines.
Displacing 3.5-litres, the V6 is a naturally-aspirated unit with a narrower bank angle than the current engine -- down from 90 to 60 degrees. A new intake system with a variable-resonance manifold and a revised exhaust system contribute to the new V6's output gains, up from 200 to 225kW and 350 to 370Nm. Benz reports that the new V6 is 24 per cent more economical than the previous V6, using 7.6L/100km in an S-Class over the combined-cycle test. It also produces fewer than 200g/km of CO2; 177g/km to be precise.
The new V8, which may not make it to Australia in the ML, is a 4.6-litre unit featuring a low-boost turbo for each bank of cylinders. According to Benz it delivers power equivalent to a 7.0-litre naturally-aspirated V8, but with substantial savings in fuel consumption. That works out at 320kW of power (12 per cent more than the current 5.5-litre V8) and 9.5L/100km -- 22 per cent less fuel.
"Fuel consumption is going to be significantly better..." says our source in regards to the new ML, "[but] to get the absolute maximum out of these new engines requires Euro 5 fuel."
The problem for Benz is the durability requirement to comply with the new emissions standard. Any engine, to meet Euro 5, has to be as clean at the end of 100,000km as from new. We're told that Aussie fuel will burn out catalytic converters at around 70,000km, so cars can't be certified Euro 5-compliant on the local fuel. These new engines are designed to consume fuel with a sulphur content of 10ppm (parts per million), but the fuel sold locally contains up to 50ppm, although there are plans being developed to improve local fuel quality.
Our source advises that the ML will come here with the new engines, since Benz plans to phase out the existing power units. But they won't be fully Euro 5 certified, it will be something closer to 'Euro 4½'.
-- with Carparazzi
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