ccap41

Hahaha I could tell you accidently overlooked two letters in their garbage alphanumeric naming scheme.. Speaking of which, the fact that they're naming the SUV and sedan both EQS is awful. They're literally "EQS### Sedan" and "EQS### SUV". WTF Mercedes?!?

Rooflines are probably almost identical. It's EVERYTHING in front of the damn windshield that's awful on the EQS### and what transforms the whole vehicle into a used bar of soap as opposed to just the roofline.

While I would prefer a frunk, they did mention how large the trunk was so I guess it really isn't a big deal. But, I would still prefer one. I'd like a quick place to drop bags into a plastic tub and not worry about a potential mess. I can almost guarantee I'd use it more than the trunk itself. He said S580, not EQS580. The S Class doesn't look like a worn bar of soap, right? Way to show that fanboy card here. That is a whole other level of denial to act like its shape is anything other than a boring looking piece of worn bar soap. Like I said to @oldshurst442, smk said S580, not EQS580. He was comparing the not-bar-of-soap S Class's slipperiness to the EQS's bar-of-soap sliperiness.

Exactly, they've done a phenomenal job of engineering the body on the S Class. I understand doing something different to differentiate the two but I think they...shouldn't have... The S Class has always looked great. There's no need to change the formula as much as they did.

Yeah, I think the GM platform will do great. I guess maybe I have this feeling because there hasn't been anything that I've read about this yet. It's all just been a few images with dates and they haven't done anything revolutionary in...ever... I'm curious when this is supposed to actually go on sale and how that compares to when the next gen Lightning is supposedly supposed to go into production, Aug 2025.

I believe this is a global product so it doesn't necessarily have to kill it here to still be a success. Price will certainly be an issue for buyers. EVs just cost way too much.

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a37917666/2022-mercedes-benz-eqs450-drive/ "After you've driven nearly every car for sale over the last 20 years, it's natural for the cars of the past to enter into your thoughts when driving something new. Humans compare experiences to gain perspective, which explains why we were daydreaming about Rolls-Royces while driving Mercedes-Benz's new electric luxury four-door, the EQS450+. Like a Rolls-Royce Phantom, the EQS is a capsule of luxury and silence that pours itself down the road with unerring grace. Unlike a hard-to-swallow Rolls, the EQS looks like an Advil Liqui-Gel. It's a lozenge of a car with what Mercedes claims is the lowest drag coefficient—0.20—of any car on sale. That slick bod whips through the air, barely disturbing it, and leads to near silence at extra-legal highway speeds. At a more reasonable 70 mph, we recorded just 64 decibels of noise inside the cabin. The 107.8-kWh battery sandwiched in the floor assists in keeping road noise to a minimum. That big battery also allows the EQS450+ to go an estimated 350 miles between charges, according to the EPA. Yet we were able to cover 400 miles on our 75-mph highway test, putting this Benz just behind our current long-range EV champ, the Lucid Air Grand Touring. Find a Level 3 DC hookup and the EQS can go from 10 percent charge to 80 percent in a claimed 31 minutes. On a typical Level 2 setup, the EQS takes just over 11 hours to go from 10 percent to 100 percent. ... ... Yet what really reminds us of the Spirit of Ecstasy is the suppleness and silence of the suspension as it glides over the tarmac. Not much of the outside permeates the EQS's cocoon. The long 126.4-inch wheelbase certainly helps attenuate bumps, but it's the tuning of the standard air-spring suspension that maintains the serenity despite our test car's 20-inch wheels wrapped in Goodyear summer rubber. ... ... Four-wheel steering turns the rear wheels up to 10 degrees in opposition of the fronts at low speeds, helping to shrink the turning circle to 35.7 feet, making this very big Benz feel like an A-class. There's an ease and luxury to the whole driving experience that is only interrupted by the brakes. Hitting the brakes in the EQS starts with energy regeneration from the motors and then blends in the stopping power of the four massive brake rotors. Stepping into the brake pedal is an initially mushy experience that doesn't slow the car much. Keep pushing and you reach a hard point where the pedal resists being moved farther. Press harder and the deceleration finally hits, but it takes a lot of pedal pressure to get meaningful braking, and by then you're sailing toward that burgundy Corolla at an alarming rate. Give yourself considerably more space than the 167 feet it takes to stop from 70 mph and 351 feet from 100 mph. Using those unnatural-feeling brakes can be largely avoided by pulling twice on the right paddle behind the steering wheel. Do so and you get the maximum regeneration (what Mercedes terms Recuperation) that largely eliminates the need to touch the brake pedal and allows one to speed up and slow down in traffic by using only the accelerator. That max regen mode won't bring the car to a complete stop though. The system slows the car to about 5 mph, but the Benz then continues to creep ahead. There is an additional regen mode called Intelligent Recuperation that requires you to hold the right paddle. It utilizes the adaptive cruise-control radar and camera systems to optimize regeneration based on the surrounding traffic, the topography, and the twistiness of the road. When engaged, it'll bring the car to a stop provided the car in front of you has stopped. It certainly works, but it's not smart enough to bring the car to a halt at a stop sign or red light and will only react to whatever the vehicle ahead is doing. Aside from this being Mercedes's first car built on its new EV platform, the other big news is the so-called Hyperscreen. The EQS450+'s optional Hyperscreen (it's standard on the EQS580) consists of three screens that are covered in a massive glass panel that spans the width of the dashboard. The three touchscreens control nearly every function in the car, from setting an interior temperature to a game of Tetris. As a new system, it takes a bit of getting used to, but after a few hours of experimentation we became comfortable with scrolling through radio stations, looking up the outside air quality, setting a destination on the native navigation system, and pairing a phone to the system. Once paired, we largely skipped Benz's system for Apple CarPlay. There is also the option of talking to the EQS. Saying "Hey, Mercedes" wakes the EQS's virtual assistant that can help with a number of controls, from setting the temperature to making a phone call. It works surprisingly well, but talking to your car always seems a little silly. The Hyperscreen certainly looks like the future, but the instrument display in front of the driver is set high. That elevated cowl is the exact opposite of the low and simple dashboard of a Tesla Model 3 or even a Model S. The brain adjusts to it, but without an engine ahead of you, why does the cowl need to be so high? We also questioned the lack of a frunk. A cabin air filter and some other ancillaries live under the fixed hood, but the EQS makes up for that deficiency with an absolutely massive amount of cargo space under the rear hatch (22 cubic feet, or enough to swallow eight carry-on suitcases). And, if that's not enough, the rear seats fold away. There's also a lot of space in the rear seat—leg-crossing, stretch-out space. Sitting in the rear seat you realize that this car is a reimagining of the S-class. In addition to the S-class appointments, performance, technology, and space inside, the EQS comes with an S-class-like price. The least expensive EQS450+ starts at $105,450, with our test car reaching $118,395 with a host of options. Pricing for the more powerful EQS580 opens at $126,945 and escalates from there. Aside from the acceleration, the smaller-motor EQS450+ is the same luxurious experience as the more powerful sibling. If you never floor it for more than a couple of seconds, you'll never feel like you should have gone with the quicker car. The EQS450+ is just as quiet, just as refined, and just and lovely as the more expensive EQS580. So, for those who don't think every car that's next to you at a red light is competition, you'll be just fine." I hate that they've made, what seems like a pretty awesome vehicle, but then decided to wrap it in what is possibly the most boring body they could have went with. The highway range is extremely impressive. I believe there are only a few EVs that actually get more highway range than their stated combined range.

Why do I expect an EV from Stellantis to just be garbage? I know Ram doesn't make anything that's truly bad but this just feels like it will be like 5 years behind what Chevy's EV Silverado will be and where the Lightning is or will be when the all-new one rolls out in 2025.

Congrats, @Drew Dowdell!

Oh definitely. What I "asked" for was just a pipedream. I do not expect anything like that to ever come out. I was just thinking aloud.

Yeah, I'm not picturing a 250-500k car here. I'm picturing something that starts at probably 100k, weighs maybe 300, 400lbs less. It will be a much cleaner body. The aero will be more built in instead of tacked on, like a 911 GT3 or most McLarens.

The only thing I may do with the Corvette that would be "above" the current one is make one that doesn't accommodate golf clubs in the rear. They could probably utilize 95% of the current vehicle but make it a tad smaller, better proportions, and it would be lighter. I think that little adjustment may make it a tad more dialed in because it definitely wouldn't be considered a GT car, it would ONLY be a sports car. I'm not trying to take anything away from the current car because it's one bad-a car but I think this would allow them to turn the wick up to 11 on every driving aspect of the car. Just a random idea...

Yeah, it was far from even "good". I just think they should probably have something in this category, considering they are only an SUV/truck company now. Yeah, our drop was pretty similar. I think Thursday night/Friday morning the lows were about -10. It was a pretty brutal 48 hours of cold and this week it'll mostly be in the 50's after today. Insane weather.

I actually just watched this on my way to work today. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Ugh, ice is terrible. I love me some snow but I do not like ice at all. Stay safe!

Who else is getting blasted by this winter storm? It's currently -1 degrees F with a 20+mph winds, "feels like" -24 degrees F. Yesterday was the big initial hit. I woke up and it was 35 degrees F and it dropped to about 5 degrees F by noon. We only got about 3 inches of snow but the cold and wind are brutal. I believe today's high is 6 degrees F but winds in the 20-30mph range for the next day or so.

Oh yeah, I forgot that was a thing. Yeah, only one needs to be around and I guess the slightly larger one should stay.

The Encore is surprising to me. I always thought that sold really well. Ford shouldn't axe the EcoSport. They need an all-new one but I think they should have something in that small CUV category.

Oh, well then, Happy Birthday @surreal1272!

I've always viewed the SL as a car that people buy who want a Mustang or Corvette convertible but have too much money to spend so they get a slower and lazier SL. Nice car and all, but it has always seemed to sit in a weird position, IMO.

For as much as I've been a fan of Mercedes for awhile now, their interiors are making me dislike Mercedes as a whole. They just need to go back to simplifying the user controls and GET RID OF the capacitive "buttons" crap. I don't think I could serious consider a modern Merc just based on how the driver controls ANYTHING on the inside.

https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/2022-mercedes-amg-sl63-vs-2022-porsche-911-turbo-s-cabriolet-comparison-test-review "Time was when the Mercedes-Benz SL-Class was the segment's benchmark. Its beautiful design, competent handling, and punchy V-8 made it a favorite among a certain group of buyers, a recognizable symbol that told the world they'd made it to the top. Although the previous generation was a departure from its traditional style, the 2022 Mercedes-AMG SL63 retains the SL line's powerful V-8 ethos and a striking design while adding two vestigial rear seats for more perceived practicality. It may not "look" like an old SL, but we applaud Mercedes for giving the famous nameplate another run in an era when SUVs and electric cars make the market's biggest waves. Meanwhile, a certain Porsche 911 claims some of the category's deepest roots. The 2022 Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet is markedly different from the SL—it has two fewer cylinders, more power, and its famous rear-engine architecture, plus it's shorter and lighter than the Mercedes-AMG. But as one of the most popular sports cars on the planet—and with the new SL on hand as part of our Performance Vehicle of the Year evaluations—we snatched the opportunity to find out how these two German-engineered machines match up. We evaluated each car's ride and handling on city streets, freeways, and on Angeles Crest Highway, one of the country's best driving roads. ACH's sweeping curves, tight corners, and light traffic were perfect for getting a feel for these convertibles, and although there was a clear difference between their road manners, both were quite compelling. We preferred the Porsche's overall behavior on ACH, but we enjoyed the Mercedes for its strong engine and transmission combo. With 577 hp and 590 lb-ft of torque, its 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 delivers a fun experience regardless of how hard you push it, and the nine-speed automatic transmission shifts up or down swiftly and on time. "It has good power, monster torque, great sound, a good gearbox, good throttle response," executive editor Mac Morrison said after his first few runs on the Crest. As punchy and lively as the Mercedes was, the Porsche felt superior. The 911's 3.7-liter flat-six engine delivers 640 hp and the same torque as the SL63, and it easily performed stronger off the line than the AMG, because it weighs 424 pounds less and packs 63 more horsepower. As an overall GT car, "You can't ask for much better as far as responsiveness and directness," Morrison said. As we've often praised in other Porsches, the steering's response and precision is hard to match. Driving the 911 and the SL back to back also demonstrated the Turbo's superior suspension setup. On bumpy sections where the SL felt soft and out of place, the 911 delivered a unique connected experience. Its chassis felt dynamic and happy on the twisty road, with little need for steering corrections; the Mercedes' doesn't offer the same kind of feedback or feel. Away from ACH's challenges, the SL shined on city streets and highways with long sweeps. Somewhat oddly in Comfort mode on less than smooth roads, the car feels stiffer than you likely expect. Its heavy nose, where 54 percent of its weight sits, also notably impacted the way it performed on ACH. It handles well through quick and medium-speed corners, but it's easy to tip the chassis balance into understeer for hairpin turns. However, you won't typically notice that when cruising on city streets and highways. The Porsche, on the other hand, is capable of obliterating any type of road. "It's a rocket ship of grand-touring style, with outrageous performance," Morrison said. "There are lighter and better-handling 911s, but you really only know that if you've driven those other versions. If this Turbo S Cab was your only experience of the lineup, you'd walk away saying it has no weaknesses as a road car." Indeed, whether you cruise with the top up or down, this Porsche feels like as much car as you've ever wanted. As our test numbers show (see chart below), it's on a different performance plane compared to the 2022 Mercedes-AMG SL63. Just like their exterior designs, the Mercedes' and Porsche's cabin are drastically different, especially when it comes to the number of hard buttons. Mercedes designers opted to place all virtual buttons—including HVAC controls—at the bottom of the main screen, causing the driver to take their view off the road to adjust fan speed or temperature. The appearance is clean and contemporary, but we found it frustrating. Similarly, the steering wheel's capacitive buttons are easy to activate by mistake when moving your thumbs or hands, and having to swipe a "button" even for things like adjusting stereo volume is an imprecise exercise. "I guess I'm 100 years old now," said Morrison, who's actually in his 40s. "But I never wished for a car to become one giant digital tablet. Instead of getting used to this stuff as the miles rolled by, I instead found it more irritating." The 2022 Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet is far from perfect, but we didn't complain as much about its ergonomics and interior features. Its lack of cubbies to place your belongings or drinks is its main cause of user frustration, along with the fact the shifter partially blocks the HVAC controls. We were happy to find there are still radio tuning and volume knobs, and you don't have to go through the screen to change the cabin temperature. Opening and closing the AMG SL63's roof is another frustration. What should be an extraordinarily easy task is made aggravating by the action of digging through the infotainment screen's menus and, once you find it, swiping and holding yet another virtual button on the display until the top is secured completely. Even though we're based in Southern California, we imagined a scene when it starts raining and you try desperately to put the top up. We massively prefer the two physical buttons located on the Porsche's center console for lowering and raising the roof. These annoyances aside, the SL63's cabin is a nice place to sit. The classic rounded air vents with fancy speakers and tons of carbon-fiber finishes make for a plush and modern vibe. The 11.9-inch touchscreen along with the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster boost the car's technology game, and the quality of the materials is top notch. The 911 isn't far behind, but between the two cabin's we prefer the SL63's. Although the Turbo S Cabriolet also features premium materials, it lacks the fancy screens and clean look. But neither cabin comes off entirely at a level you expect when playing in the $200,000 range. As for driving with the soft tops in place, neither car was particularly quiet, though the 911 was a tad better at minimizing wind noise coming from the side mirrors. On the other hand, the Mercedes-AMG's trunk is more spacious than the 911's frunk. And similar to the 911, its new rear seats aren't comfortable for adults or even children for very long, but they're a good place to put a suitcase or even a bag of golf clubs. Value Can Still Sorta Apply It's always difficult to talk about value with cars nearing or exceeding $200,000, but it's a big part of MotorTrend comparisons and a huge consideration for buyers. The Mercedes-AMG SL63 we drove carried a base price of $182,250, and our test car added almost every option available, increasing its price to $208,085. The Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet, on the other hand, had a starting price of $231,350 and included more than $20,000 in extras to push its as-tested price to $252,940. Is the Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet $44,855 better than the 2022 Mercedes-AMG SL63? After driving them back to back, we lean toward yes. The price difference is large enough for buyers to think about choosing one over the other, but the gap is unlikely to sway many people willing to spend more than $200,000 on a two-door convertible. And when they sit behind the wheel and head to a twisty road (or even drive briskly to the golf course), they will appreciate the dynamic experience and connected feel the Porsche has over the Mercedes. The 911 is simply faster, more fun, and easier to operate than the Mercedes. Despite the SL63's flashier, more tech-forward interior, it's easy to realize Porsche invested most of its resources on developing the chassis and its handling. That's where the $44,855 difference becomes apparent—it's not in places you can touch or see, but rather where you can feel and enjoy it all behind the wheel. The Final Decision The 911 in general is known for being fun and dynamic on challenging roads while also being comfortable as a daily commuter. Our experience in the 2022 Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet continued that tradition—it excelled no matter where we drove it. It's a car that draws smiles whether you're cornering hard on Angeles Crest or cruising on Pacific Coast Highway with the top down. The 2022 Mercedes-AMG SL63 is a stylish and capable grand tourer that will please a lot of buyers, but its dynamic performance isn't as sharp. It's reasonably comfortable for day-to-day activities and is a little more practical than the Porsche given its longer wheelbase and somewhat bigger back seat. But its heavier weight and longer wheelbase reduce its performance and handling. Both cars are competent and approach the segment in different ways, but the 911 Turbo S Cabriolet is the clear winner. Its direct feel, handsome design, and wild cornering abilities pushed it to the top. The AMG SL63 brings back the old SL charm, but its driving limits held it back in this comparison. The Porsche feels more special in that regard, and when you're spending this kind of money on a niche car, well, you deserve to feel special."

I'm super fortunate that my personal route only consumes about 9% more time than driving, 5 minutes. I think it's funny they mention the St Louis Loop Trolley and that's been a pretty big joke around here because it was suuuuuch a failure. I think the route was really bad, had too long of gaps between trollies, it wasn't super cheap, and there was plenty of places to park publicly(for free) along the route so there just wasn't much of a benefit of that whole system. It looked "cute" to have a trolley in that area but the functionality was piss poor. I believe they're in a battle over the funding now though because there was a huge chunk of government money put into it and it's not running right now. (now that I'm Googling things, I think it may be running now but it was shut down for gobbling money with little to no use.) One of the biggest things that pissed people off about the whole thing was they tore up a lot of road to put this in the middle of the road so there were road closures for a long time for something that just failed. "The answers can be found in the fact that the federal government has threatened to take the money it sank into the project back, a development that would also imperil St. Louis' ability to receive federal grants in the future. As reported by KSDK, the Federal Trade Commission said in December that it would demand that some of the federal grants used for construction of the trolley — a sum totaling $37 million — be repaid if it did not resume operation by this summer. Mayor Jones has reportedly said that getting it running again could cost an additional $22 million." This is why it is back running but on a compressed schedule and, I believe, now run by the local MetroLink system.

The whole United States, in general, is not known to have good public transportation systems. Obviously some cities are better than others but that's also assuming all of these migrants/immigrants are moving to cities. There are plenty of towns/small cities that don't have public transportation at all. I think you're also assuming that everybody that doesn't currently know the English language, isn't trying to learn either. Just because they are driving and don't currently know the language doesn't mean they're not trying to learn it or aren't currently learning. Boy-o-boy do I love dealerships.

I take the bus to work but that's only because it only adds abuot 5 minutes to my commute. It's an "express" route so there are only a dozen total stops but I get off on the first stop in Missouri and the route it takes is exactly what I would be taking with two stops in the middle, not out of the way at all. If I was one of the later stops, there's no way I'd waste an extra 30 minutes each way for the bus. I'm not sure how the attachment will work here but I get on at Highland and off at the first stop across the river in MO. MCT_Route_14X.pdf