The Mercedes design will be placed under the sign of inspiration provided by the classic 300 SL Gulwing, the first concept announcing that is Mercedes F800, which announced a younger brother for CLS.In Detroit 2010, in January, we could admire the sculpture Mercedes Car Rising, a unique preview of the new Mercedes CLS, which, in Geneva in 2010, it foreshadowed by a new concept, The F800 Style Concept .
Basically, Style F800 Concept is quite different from the rest of the range models or CLS, is very modern and and is bringing a number of innovations, especially to the interior.
With a length of 4.72 meters and a generous wheelbase, F800 Concept looks compact and sporty, but at the same time, very fluid and elegant. The front and side have a muscular look, but the LED lights are taking a whole new form from the current range Mercedes models. Also unusual (for a sedan) is the solution sliding rear doors, which offers a very easy access inside, the central pillar missing.
Only taillights will give grounds for criticism to Audi fans, having a form very close to the Audi A4, for example. But overall, the language concept Mercedes is coherent, dynamic and very modern. We also noted the rims with a sober design, but with original details, giving the impression that the wheels are in motion even when the car sits.
Now that the exterior has attracted your attention, let's have a look to the interior of F800 Concept, which is a huge step in the future. If the current range of Mercedes is a return to a sober and classic styling, this concept represents a clear break, offering a high-tech space for five passengers.
Driver cockpit is like.... a dedication to fans of gadgets: the wheel has a novel form, taking our thoughts to a complex game with machines, while information is displayed in digital format replacing the analogue clocks.
Center console continues with the central tunnel and armrest, clearly separating the two front seats, but more importantly, COMAND System integrates an advanced interface with touch screen and a video camera, which records the movement of the hand on it - the images are displayed on the screen at the top, near the driver's eyes in an unusual way: the hand appears slightly transparent, so the commands and indications are visible on the screen.
Using the touch screen can be controlled a lot of features: air conditioning, multimedia system, navigation system, phone or internet access, and subjects who tested the new system have shown themselfs very pleased with ergonomics offered by it, but also by the much lower level of distraction from driving, compared with current systems.Otherwise, luxurious ambience, specific Mercedes, is covered by large areas covered with wood. The high degree of interior lighting, sculptural forms with details of the interior, contributing to the impression of "floating" - for example, the armrests are constructed so that they don't seem attached to the doors.
The seats are having an innovative structure: the skeleton is of magnesium, being covered by a structure of carbon fiber, then coated by a highly resistant fabric. Outer casing is made of wood seat chairs, through a new 3D way of modeling it, process used, moreover, also for wood inserts in the dashboard and doors. To achieve the highest standards of security, timber inserts are having the the interior of aluminum, so their deformation is controlled and is avoided the breaking of the chip that could harm humans.At the technical level, Mercedes F800 Concept is a true ecologic laboratory. Two types of engines are offered: hybrid plug-in or fuel-cell electric engines.
In the first case, the F800 has V6 engine with direct injection, developing 300 bhp, combined with an electric motor, whose power goes up to 109 hp. Thus, the total power developed by the hybrid car reaches 409 hp, making Style F800 concept sedan a very potent sedan: 0-100 km/h in 4.7 seconds and top speed of 250 km/h (limited to 120 km/h, when running electric only).
F800 hybrid is also in charge of the environment - lithium-ion batteries have a capacity of 10 kWh and can be loaded separately from the electricity network, so the car can be electrically powered exclusively urban, with autonomy up to 28 km. Using more efficient gasoline engine combined with electric module leads to an average consumption of only 2.9 litres/100 km, while CO2 emissions amounts to 68 g/km.
Like in the case of Mercedes S400 Hybrid, electric module is integrated with an automatic gearbox with 7 reports, and the batteries are placed under the rear seats, giving to the car a down center of weight and ensuring maximum security for an accident.Equipped with fuel cell technology, the Mercedes F800 Concept Style develops 136 hp and maximum torque of 290 Nm, the system used on the series case limited B-Class F-CELL. In F800, fuel cell module is placed in front and compact electric engine is found near the rear axle. The car benefits from four hydrogen tanks, two of them being placed in the transmission tunnel, between passengers, and the other two under the rear seats. Lithium-ion batteries are positioned behind the rear seats.
Is the fact that in this case, Style F800 concept car is a "zero emissions" car, the reaction of hydrogen with oxygen producing only water vapor. Furthermore, dynamic performance of the machine are much lower compared to the hybrid powered version, but the Mercedes engineers have promised that their level remains satisfactory.When running purely electrical engineers have designed for the F800 a new function, "Range on Map" - basically, the map navigation system are showing the best routes, within a radius of 360 degrees to the nearest station power supply, depending on the battery charge level. With this function you can check if a particular route can be traveled only with electric propulsion, "Range on Map" taking into account also centralized data navigation system, such as congestion or restriction of movement.
In addition to propulsion systems, Mercedes F800 also proposes several innovations which helps even more the driver. One of them, "Mirror Display", is using the central screen as a rear-view mirror (the images being received from a camera), reducing eye fatigue - whether in a regular mirror, the eye must adjust to focus the image, the screen eliminates this extra effort.DISTRONIC PLUS system (first radar cruise equipped with control that automatically adjusts the car speed depending on the other traffic participants) has now been improved, with the function "Traffic Jam Assistant" - it is a world first premiere, this way, the car it's able to follow the one in front in a curve without the intervention of the driver on the steering wheel.
The system is able to distinguish between "curve" and "turn", so a car is not following "blindly" the one in front if it turns to the main road, and it passes over the dividing strip. The system only works up to the speed of 40 km/h but does not eliminate the requirement that the driver has be alert to traffic and needs to stand with hands on the wheel - instead, impart a plus of relaxing and lower level of stress especially in case of congestions.
Another innovation's Style F800 Concept is the upgrade of PRE SAFE system , now becamed the PRE SAFE 360o. Designed to prepare the passive safety systems when an imminent accident can not be avoided, the PRE SAFE 360o monitors also the back side of the car. Thus, the brakes are put into service with 600 milliseconds before an impact from behind.
Explanation: a car that is struck from behind may cause further accidents if it's pushed in an intersection or a pedestrian crossing. However, when is braked, these risks are minimized, while the car passengers are protected by other safety systems of the car, ready for PRE SAFE. Of course, if the driver refer that is going to be hit from behind and is pressing the acceleration, the brakes will be released.
Mercedes F800 Concept Style is continuing the series of "technology labs", started with the F100 in 1991 and are announcing new systems which will enter in the equipping of the production models.
For most people, F800 will remain a preview of the new generation CLS, an exclusive car, which gave rise to a very special segment, the four-door coupe cars. How much of the F800 we'll find on the new CLS, we won't find at Geneva 2010, but somewhere at the end of the year, most likely at Paris 2010.
