Sort of like we are all at fault for getting a ticket for driving 70mph in a 55mph zone. We made a decision knowing rules and so did Mercedes. I think they did it on purpose because they know their customer base.

Also, there is a lot a talk about pollution.

Sorry, but our cars are very clean. Even though our sticker shows we will generate 12.2 tons of CO2 if we drive 15000 miles, so what? I exhale CO2. Trees and algea eat it.

Get this
5X10^11 kg of CO2 per year is equal to is equal to me driving my Mercedes 677 billion miles (677x10^9 miles). This number inspires some other calculations.

Since it would all be highway driving I would get about 22MPG.
I would probably do the driving on the Autobahn so my average speed would be 120MPH.
I would probably get about 50K miles per set of tires.
I would change the oil every 10K miles at 9 quarts per change.
SO
I would consume 30.8 Billion gallons of fuel.
It would cost me $107.8 Billion to fill up
I would need 13.55 million tire changes
I would need 67.76 million oil changes (609.9 quarts or 152,47 million gallons)
It would take me 644.6 thousand years to complete the task.

Anyway, I see the only real reason for these standards, which were set when the world was concerned about global COOLING, is that it increases our need to import more oil. This causes more of a trade imbalance, which is a problem. It would be nice to go after more of our own natural resources, but the world (primarily China and India) will easily use what we do not.

I think that research into unique methods of electrical energy storage is our real long term hope. If you can make a battery system which stores as much energy as a 10-20 gallon tank of gas, fit it in about 120% to 140% of the space and make it quickly rechargeable I think you have a solution.

Think of the AMG models. Custom built electric motors with rare earth magnets and highly efficient drive systems proprietary to AMG. All wheel drive and 1000ft/lb or torque at 0rpm. Of course we need to start building nuclear power plants like crazy to charge these cars, but then the US wins on what they do best - innovation and creativity.

 

none taken man... at the end of the day we all have that star on our hoods, that's all that really matters

really? spelling class? aside from the obvious (and yes, dated) 'teh' internet colloquialism, which you would have to have been in a hole yourself to not have seen before, please point out all the numerous spelling errors that have detracted from the credibility of my rants. they must be quite glaring and numerous for them to have caught your eye.
and i was not being jealous of new owners, i was defending my own choice of vehicle. after a '94 E500, a W211 E55 would actually be my ideal choice of car.


oh, just before I go again,
you forgot to factor in that there are about 250 million cars registered in the US alone, so you should re-do the calculations as a per-car average, rather that just one car, it would be more realistic and less sensational... cheers!

 

Okay relax........ I didn't know that CAFE has been set at 27.5 mpg for the last 23 years. I just thought that they keep raising it every 5 years or so, as I always see adds by the manufacturers raising their mpg average.

How could that be though? If in 1985, lexus and some of the high-line toyota models averaged only 25 mpg, then that would mean they were some how fined as well, right?

 

that's probably more so because gas prices have been going up...


"Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) is the sales weighted average fuel economy, expressed in miles per gallon (mpg), of a manufacturer’s fleet of passenger cars or light trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 8,500 lbs. or less, manufactured for sale in the United States, for any given model year."

so like i said earlier, it sucks for MB when all the cars they sell are high-end, since they are unable to offset the figures like other makers.

 

With the upcoming increase to 35mpg? Car companies will be hard pressed to comply and I am not interested in cars that would help the weighted average.

Car companies like Porsche, AMG, BMW M will pay fines and deliver products that people want.....or they can grow their marketshare and flood the market with cheap fuel efficient vehicles.

I am thankful the direct injection diesels are combing, they are going to save our 500 hp - 600 hp cars!

 

But then that's not the point. Nor is it the point of the E63.

Sensationalism is giving the Nobel Peace Prize to a man and a PR organization pushing to find some way to redistribute the worlds wealth based on sensationalizing an unproven theory of anthropomorphic global warming.

Here is another calculation.

There are 6.6billion people in the world. About 1kg of CO2 per day.

That is 2.4x10^12 kg per year. Wow, 5 times more than volcanoes.

They don't care.