MK7 Any Better Than The Previous Generation MK6 GTI?

The much anticipated GTI has reached South African markets, with local pricing announced at a starting price of R368 300 for the GTI 2,0 TSI MT and R382 800 for the 2.0 TSI DSG unit. With the Golf 6 phasing out and the Golf 7 in our markets, Golf enthusiasts are now posed with the predecessor vs. MK7 any better than the previous generation MK6 GTI? 264km top speed for the DSG model. On the looks, the car is far from ugly, but It may be time for VW to re-think the design of the GTI and offer customers a new look. The current design which is almost refreshed from model to model is a bit tired. Motoring journos have dubbed the GTI 7 as the “fresh-faced” GTI, which tells us that changes have been made but more could have been done. Customers will appreciate the integration of the single red lip running into the head lights as well as the five-spoke 18-inch Austin alloys which are unique from the two model old, ninja star-aping Detroit wheels. Maybe with the Golf 8 we might see what VW have up their sleeves, but from what has been brought to us seems to be well on its way of selling its expected 65000 models to loyal South Africans. VolksWaggen means “the peoples car” in German and with the correct price tag it will surely stick to its meaning in our market. That is what the Golf 7 will be, as without a doubt the Golf GTI is a favourite in the South African market.

All you need to do is winterize your Mercedes car appropriately. You could probably spend thousands of dollars to winterize your Mercedes, but there's really no need to do that. The Benz engineers have helped you by building in traction control on many models. That helps with acceleration and deceleration. Buying winter tires is much like picking out shoes-there are so many options to choose from that it can be bewildering. But two tires seem to stand out. The first is Goodyear's Eagle Ultra Grip line. These tires were designed with sport coupes and sedans in mind, specifically to improve road traction in wet or snowy conditions. But they're probably fine for a more modest C-Class sedan as well. Sylvie Rainville tried some out on a C-Class for a GuideAuto review, and said it the car performed better than a four wheel drive vehicle with all weather tires. The second tire you might want to look at is the Bridgestone Blizzak. This is an extensively tested tire designed for winter weather. Their Multicell compound looks like Swiss cheese under a microscope, with uniformly distributed pores to wick away water on the surface of ice and snow and grip the surface better. Mercedes Benz forums are full of recommendations for them as winter tires. As you might imagine, winter tires are for winter. You'll want to swap them out for summer or all weather tires from roughly mid-April to mid-November in most parts of the United States. You'll have to spend some extra money on tires to have sets for two seasons, but the upgrade in safety is worth the expense.

The history of Mercedes-Benz or for short Mercedes (and sometimes even "Benz" or "Merc") is quite interesting. Mercedes is a German company founded in 1871. In the beginning there were three people - Gottlieb Daimler together with Wilhelm Maybach and Karl Benz. Karl Benz and the other two were able to invent the automobile with internal combustion independently from each other. It is very interesting however that they were only sixty miles apart from each other in that time. Karl Benz was working in Mannheim. He had a shop there which was the place where he invented the first real automobile driven by internal combustion. The year was 1885 and in the next year Karl Benz was granted a patent for his new creation. The automobile was called "Benz Patent Motorwagen" and it had three wheels and the design reminds of a carriage hauled by horses perhaps because the main design model was taken from a carriage. The first engine Karl Benz patented in 1879 and it was designed by him. Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach were granted a patent a year before Karl Benz's internal combustion automobile model.

The year was 1885 and the exact date - August 29. The engine they made is believed to be the first prototype of the today's gas engine and they called it "grandfather clock engine". In the next year Gottlieb Daimler purchased a stagecoach in which he was planning to put the internal combustion engine. Many people made these purchases in that time but Gottlieb Daimler is perhaps the first one with the engine idea in mind. Daimler and Maybach worked together to adopt this stagecoach to fit the needs of the engine. The official words which Mercedes used for this model is "a carriage without horses". It is without horses but with conventional drawbar steering and internal combustion engine. Soon after that in 1889 they built a complete model from scratch which was the first automobile powered by four-stoke engine. On the other hand Karl Benz was able to sell his first model in 1888 - an year before Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach was able to build their model.

Karl Benz did that after some refining of his model Motorwagen and maybe this gave him this advantage over the years because he did not started from scratch like Daimler and Maybach did. In 1899 automobiles from Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft made in a city near Stuttgart took a part in a race driven by Emil Jellinek. Jellinek was a diplomat and a businessman and he was very enthusiastic about the whole idea around automobiles. In 1896 he went to see the designers Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach and soon after that he bought from them his first automobile car - the Phoenix. An interesting story about that car is that Emil Jellinek painted the name of his daughter Mercedes Adriana Manuela Ramona Jellinek on the car for good luck. Years after that a whole series of cars got that name. Jellinek wanted faster cars and that the 1900 DMG was the first to bear his daughter name. Very soon after that he made a deal for another 36 models but of another series - with 8 hp engines.