Mercedes-Benz planning new cars with better aerodynamics within 5 years

I didn't know the most aerodynamic car on Earth was the 2010 E class. Is there any truth to this?

Yeah, it should be. 0.24 is just as amazing as when Lexus first debuted their LS 20 years ago with a drag coefficient lower than the Porsche 911.

I suppose getting it below 0.20 is plausible, since the Lexus LX has 0.35, which isn't that different from Ferrari 599 Fiorano's 0.33.

What confuses me is whether downforce can ruin or improve aerodynamics...or maybe both. Do dimples like those on golf balls, which make wind travel faster around it, really have a chance at making a car more "slippery"? Maybe the car has to be proportionally long? And when the Lexus LS 400's aerodynamics were tested a few years ago (I know...I'm all Lexus :P ), drag were found to be developing behind the fenders, which weren't originally calculated into the "equation". So complicated!!!

— WorldofLuxury:

| What confuses me is whether downforce can ruin or improve
| aerodynamics...or maybe both.

The former. Always.

Explanation is simple. If you want downforce, you need to have a downward force acting on a car body when in motion. Should this come from aerodynamics, the force can only be created by deflecting jets of air flowing over the car. Doing so you'll add some vertical momentum to those jets which will result in an impulse (force for a given time) acting on a car, translating into downforce.

But adding momentum to the mentioned jets of air increases their kinetic energy since deflected air has some mass and its vertical speed vector is increased. This energy has to come from somewhere and the only source possible is the engine performing a bit more work = producing more energy. Which means burning more fuel.

There we are.

By the way, notice all those downforce components are usually called... SPOILers. For a reason.


I'm actually impressed by the drag coefficient of this Benz coupe. To give some perspective, 2010 Toyota Prius III achieves 0.25.

swoopy lines on sports cars are NOT as aero clean as many more mundane cars. they can still attain high speeds just due to BRUTE POWER.

i recall there was one corvette model that looked sleek. but it was actually cleaner, aerodynamically speaking, when driven BACKWARDS!

Wow .19. At least we know its possible.

It is obvious that the Lexus GS has borrowed everything from the e-class. They look so much alike because it is a well known fact that Lexus has spies at Mercedes and copied the concept before Mercedes had a chance to release the latest E. Why does Lexus and every Japanese brand always steal from everyone else? They produce the worst cars in the world, even worse than Yugos. Japanese cars should never be compared to German cars because Japanese cars are completely inferior to anything German.

david969........I need a bulldozer and a Dump truck for all the shyt your spewing about lexus......I mean give it up alreayd your far from a car enthusiats your a lexus enthusiatst and you have blinders on. when you strat to understand cars from every car manufacturer and not just LEXUS you will understand that lexus is hot in their own little way but they are still at the bottom of the pile whe it comes to the german BIG 3 car manufacturers. lexus puts alot of technology in their car that people barely use like the parallel parking feature on the LS460 why they did that I have no clue the car still doesnt park itself it still need human intervention to complete and I have seeen plenty of failed test on YouTube its not even funny. The GS is a beautiful car and is their best seller next to the IS and the ES models......if i were to buy a lexus the GS460 would be th one i would buy everything else they make doesnt appeal to me at all.....in closing Lexus is hot but again take your blinders off so you can see the big picture!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

David = FAIL

969, as long as you are here, I am here...

Mercedes should use the SL65B, SLR and upcoming SLS as they are yard stick those cars are VERY aerodynamic and apply it to the best of there abilities to the next class they are working on such as S, E and even G class.

How about putting some competitive engines in the C-Class? Currently the C-Class is last place when it comes to performance among its competitors and the most expensive. And I thought that Audi's were ripoffs.

Improved aero will not make the MB's any more competitive than they already are.

Um, the C-Class doesn't cater to the brainless power-hungry mid 20s crowd that measure the size of their dicks by the amount of horsepower they have under the hood. The power of the C-Class is more than adequate. The C300 is decent and the C350 is even more than adequate. Obviously you have never driven one. If you want a C-Class with power then save up for a C63 AMG. If you want a fast affordable car then buy a used Honda Civic and slap some stickaz on it, ok?

And a better coefficient of drag means higher speeds and better fuel economy, the latter which will make the car VERY COMPETITIVE in a few criterias.

Wimmer, I agree, the C class is powerful enough. I wonder why, though, people complain about the IS and the TL being underpowered.

We don't get Acura in Europe but I don't consider the IS250 underpowered. It's an alternative to the IS220d (we don't get the IS350 here) and in the US it is an alternative to the IS350. Not everyone who buys these cars is after performance and cars like the C300 and IS250 cater to that market. They're the exact same cars as the IS350 and C350, just a little slower. Not a big deal in my book but obviously many of the "kids" here have no clue about market demographics etc.

so true. mercedes is second only to toyota--which is saving the planet with 5000lbs V8 20mpg "hybrids" with 150lbs toxic batteries that it ships across the oceans.