Hot off the presses, three new Mercedes reviews have emerged for your reading entertainment.  In this, our newest Review Roundup installment, the Mercedes SLR McLaren Roadster, the SL63 AMG and the C320 CDI Estate are the lucky models chosen, so if you've been contemplating the purchase the any, you'll now have a somewhat better idea of what to expect from each.  As always, you can find excerpts from each review as links back to the full articles immediately below.

Enjoy.


Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster (via TimesOnline)
Reviewer's rating: 

"I am more familiar than most with the original coupé version, having driven one nonstop - apart from a health and safety enforced break in Copenhagen (which wasn’t as long as the TV pictures suggested) - all the way from London to Oslo. It took 24 hours.  Apart from the woeful brakes, I liked it very much. Unlike most hypercars, this one was not built by an enthusiast, in a shed, on an industrial estate, and as a result it never gave even the tiniest hint that it was about to break down or disintegrate or explode.  It was also very, very fast. At one point, in Germany obviously, I hit 200mph. And there was more to come. This was, and remains, the fastest automatic car in the world.

And that brings me on to its strongest suit. Because the engine was at the front, and it had an auto box, and because the dashboard was pretty much the same as it is in all Mercs, you never felt overwhelmed by the simple experience of getting in and doing up the seatbelt. In a Koenigsegg or a Zonda, your heart is thrashing about in your ribcage like a coked-up and cornered dog before you’ve even started the engine. But because the SLR felt so normal, you were relaxed, which made it easier to exploit the immense power from that 5.5 litre supercharged V8.

Unfortunately, for McLaren anyway, the world’s super-rich heard what I had to say and promptly bought something else. Maybe because the McLaren race team outfits are so terrible or perhaps because the SLR didn’t capture the heart in the way that a Ferrari can. Who knows. But the SLR was not a sales success and as it failed to achieve its targets we now have the Roadster.

People suggest that if the devil were ever to pay us a visit, he’d have small horns and maybe some numbers in his barnet. But there is some evidence to suggest that he’s here now, with an SLR badge and no roof. And terrible, terrible brakes.

Other car makers have got carbon ceramic discs to work properly, but McLaren, which I think was the first to put them on a road car, has not. They operate like a switch, doing nothing at all when you first press the pedal and then smashing your nose into the steering wheel when you press it a bit more.  This is fine in a Formula One car when you never want to slow down “a bit”, but when parking, you do. And in the SLR McLaren, you can’t.  In time, you do get used to them, in the same way that you can get used to having no arms. And when you do, the rest of the car is a big slice of bonkers joy.

Some say that you can achieve much the same from a normal Mercedes SL. They say that the standard car comes with a folding metal roof, rather than a strip of canvas, and that it’s a third of the price and that it has more toys. But this is like saying: 'Why buy a private jet when for so much less you could have a washing machine?'

The McMerc feels so much more exciting, so much more like a racer, albeit a heavy and enormous one. Lumber is not a word you normally associate with a car like this but that’s what it does. Lumber quickly. A Ferrari feels light and technical. A Koenigsegg feels like it isn’t finished. A Zonda feels like you’re on acid and you’ve fallen down some stairs. The SLR feels like Jonah Lomu. And the noise is extraordinary. No car sounds like this. It’s a big, dirty, bassy rumble. My daughter said it sounded like a big fart. She’s right. A massive, amplified fart from hell."

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Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG (via CarsGuide)
Reviewer's rating:  Unspecified

"The SL 63 AMG offers mind-boggling performance, all of which is usable in a package that makes it simple to drive on the limit.   You find yourself having to have a bit of a reality check midway through a drive. It's far too easy to slip into tarmac rally mode and forget there are speed limits to observe and cars coming around the corners ahead. 

Get it on a track and the SL 63 AMG gets you from corner to corner in a blink.  It joins up the dots between corners with ridiculous pace, never nervous with its electronic safety systems working delicately behind the scenes and not impinging on the fun factor. Cornering grip and balance is superb.  On the edge, there is a hint of protest from the front tyres before it bites and steers with authority after a mild adjustment of the throttle.

There is an infectious rumble from the magnificent V8 soundtrack that intensifies as it bounces off walls and hillsides. Lift the revs for a sprint along a straight then change down several gears into a turn, blipping along the way, and the amplification of the exhaust note gives up its thoroughbred AMG roots.

A race-start function, similar to BMW's launch control, can be programmed through an elaborate series of steps. The steering wheel must be at the straight ahead, ESP set to sport mode, select the race-start setting which is included on the switch that selects four driving modes and you are set for launch. With a press of the right-hand steering wheel paddle confirming your intentions, you then squash the throttle and the revs are automatically programmed to reach between 4000-4500 rpm.
Then let the brake go and you fire off the line with the precision of a veteran racer. The race-start function automatically cancels once you hit 50km/h, which occurs in a blink of the eye.

There is a protection facility built into the program so that if multiple attempts are made you can't program the race-start until the system determines it is safe to do so. Adjustable dampers and different driving modes tailor the 63 AMG for all situations and environments while an AMG button can short-circuit the steps you need to take by storing your favourite settings a bit like seat-position memory."

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Mercedes-Benz C320 CDI Estate (via The New Zealand Herald)
Reviewer's rating:  Unspecified

"Engine first; it's always been a beauty, but I've never had the chance to drive the so-called '320 CDI' in something small and nimble. The C-class - the dynamic equal of BMW's 3-series and arguably better - is just that. The virtuoso chassis of this compact Mercedes is the perfect means to tame the V6 diesel's 510Nm of torque. There's never any doubt that this is a rear-drive car - tickle the throttle in virtually any gear and there's a playful wriggle from the rear - but the C-class is such a beautifully engineered machine it never feels as if it's on the edge.

And in wagon form, it's beautiful too. Audi has traditionally had the stranglehold on wagons in this segment with its Avant models, but the C-class shows Mercedes - which built its share of too-sensible boxes in the past - can do stylish sports estates as well. The company also claims it's larger inside than the Audi A4 Avant and BMW 3-series Touring, with 485-1500 litres of loadspace. Yeah, whatever - just look at it.

This is such a classy and highly desirable car - more so than the C-class sedan - I'd question the need to move into an E-class unless you're desperate for space. It didn't hurt that our test car came with $16,300 worth of options, including an Advanced Agility suspension package and AMG styling kit. But even at $123,200 [in New Zealand], this is still one awesome estate car for the money. Recommended."

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And before I go, a special thanks to our friend Shiv for the tip.  As always my good sir, we sincerely appreciate it.