A recent Facebook and Twitter challenge by Mercedes-Benz sent two fans home with a new model by Mercedes-Benz that will not be available until this fall at Boston Mercedes dealer lots in Massachusetts: Mercedes C-Class Coupe. The all-new 2012 model is even more stylish, modernized and appealing than its C-Class predecessors. 45,000 to St. Jude Children's Hospital as part of the event. Todd and John's Tweet coach, Pete Wentz, is an active supporter of St. Jude Children's Hospital and chose the charity to be the winning team's beneficiary. The contest, which was ran entirely through Facebook and Twitter, required participants to earn as many tweets as possible through a variety of different ways. These ways included getting supporters to tweet certain team hashtags and each driver's handle in every tweet. Other tweet points were earned for pictures tweeted of support signs from participant's hometowns; pictures tweeted by people the participants met along the route also earned participants points. Perhaps the most interesting part of the entire Mercedes-Benz Tweet Race, which by the way is the world's first tweet race, was the fact that tweets were considered fuel for the vehicle. That is to say, participants could only continue on their route to Dallas if a certain amount of tweet-fuel was in their tweet-tank. Winning specific challenges would add to participant's tweet-tank, while not making nightly check points in time, not responding to the race director via Twitter in time and not abiding by speed limits would all deduct tweets from participant's tweet-tank. Being punished by local law-enforcement would also penalize participant's tweet-tanks. For more information on the vehicles driven in the race, which included the CL 550 4Matic Coupe, the E550 Cabriolet and the GL350 BlueTEC SUV, in addition to the S400 Hybrid sedan, visit your local Boston Mercedes dealer in Massachusetts. The Mercedes C-Class Coupe that was awarded to the winners is expected to arrive on dealer lots this fall and from all accounts thus far, is one of the most appealing vehicles Mercedes-Benz has ever produced.

A recent Facebook and Twitter challenge by Mercedes-Benz sent two fans home with a new model by Mercedes-Benz that will not be available until this fall at Boston Mercedes dealer lots in Massachusetts: Mercedes C-Class Coupe. The all-new 2012 model is even more stylish, modernized and appealing than its C-Class predecessors. 45,000 to St. Jude Children's Hospital as part of the event. Todd and John's Tweet coach, Pete Wentz, is an active supporter of St. Jude Children's Hospital and chose the charity to be the winning team's beneficiary. The contest, which was ran entirely through Facebook and Twitter, required participants to earn as many tweets as possible through a variety of different ways. These ways included getting supporters to tweet certain team hashtags and each driver's handle in every tweet. Other tweet points were earned for pictures tweeted of support signs from participant's hometowns; pictures tweeted by people the participants met along the route also earned participants points. Perhaps the most interesting part of the entire Mercedes-Benz Tweet Race, which by the way is the world's first tweet race, was the fact that tweets were considered fuel for the vehicle. That is to say, participants could only continue on their route to Dallas if a certain amount of tweet-fuel was in their tweet-tank. Winning specific challenges would add to participant's tweet-tank, while not making nightly check points in time, not responding to the race director via Twitter in time and not abiding by speed limits would all deduct tweets from participant's tweet-tank. Being punished by local law-enforcement would also penalize participant's tweet-tanks. For more information on the vehicles driven in the race, which included the CL 550 4Matic Coupe, the E550 Cabriolet and the GL350 BlueTEC SUV, in addition to the S400 Hybrid sedan, visit your local Boston Mercedes dealer in Massachusetts. The Mercedes C-Class Coupe that was awarded to the winners is expected to arrive on dealer lots this fall and from all accounts thus far, is one of the most appealing vehicles Mercedes-Benz has ever produced.

59,950. Several individual option packages, including an upgraded steering wheel, full leather and adaptive xenon lights bumped the price up a bit. 5,950) that includes navigation, COMAND voice control, Harman/Kardon LOGIC7 audio, HD Radio, an iPod interface and keyless ignition. Without question, the GL350 Bluetec is beautifully appointed. Passengers are greeted with yards of flawlessly sewn leather on the seats and doors, while darker contrasting leather covers the dashboard. Deep glossy wood trim is balanced with brushed aluminum accents on the vents, dials and various grab handles. The center console is large (thanks to the electronic P-R-N-D controls located up on the tree) and there's storage galore. Fit and finish is excellent, the quality of materials is superb and cabin lighting is nearly perfect. Distinctively European in execution, the overall aura of the cabin is classy, well-polished and appealing. Better still, all seven seating positions are comfortable. The front seats are very supportive, especially for the lower back, feeling as good after 10 hours as they do after 10 minutes.

Second-row passengers are equally as content as they enjoy generous room for knees, legs and feet. The third row is a very pleasant surprise. Thanks to the ML's unibody platform, the German engineers were able to carve out a deep and accommodating passenger compartment in the "way back" of the GL. Making it even more pleasant, entry/egress is easy as the second-row seat pivots forward and completely out of the way. It says volumes about comfort when adults volunteer to sit back there for a 40-minute trip - and emerge with a smile. Primary instrumentation, with large round dials set immediately behind the four-spoke steering wheel, is excellent. We found quirkiness with the turn signal stalk on the left side of the steering wheel. Nearly every automaker places it at the horizontal nine o'clock position, while some manufacturers position it slightly higher up at ten o'clock position. Mercedes-Benz drops the stalk down to eight o'clock, and puts the cruise control up at ten o'clock.

Those unfamiliar with the non-standard arrangement will likely find themselves repeatedly and inadvertently fumbling with the cruise control operations when simply trying to summon a few blinks to change lanes. We also liked the color-coded phone icons (red to hang-up, green to dial), but found the numeric keypad that shares functions with the map display to be confusing and a quite a reach from the left seat. The commanding view from the driver's seat offers excellent visibility of the conditions outside whether darting through traffic or cruising on the open highway. The GL's size, however, works against it when the speed slows to a crawl. It's a guessing game judging where the front wheels are, especially when parallel parking along a curb or attempting to maneuver around a small obstacle. Backing isn't any easier as the GL-Class has particularly undersized exterior mirrors. Our test model was fitted with a rear-view camera that helped remove most of the mystery - until it rained and the drop-laden lens refracted the world into a blurry underwater mess. Outward appearances say the Mercedes-Benz GL350 Bluetec is going to drive like all of the other big SUVs. And as expected, it does.

However, this seven-passenger German is actually enjoyable to pilot whether cruising down the highway or through a mountain canyon. It handles much lighter than its weight would suggest, thanks to its capable suspension and generous contact patch. We put the GL-Class through its paces, and taking advantage of its passenger volume, we frequently had all three rows occupied with nary a complaint. At one point, we took the GL350 Bluetec on a one-day 200-mile jaunt across the L.A. Basin during a driving rainstorm. The automatic rain-sensing wipers kept the glass spotless while the automatic climate control ensured all windows, even with seven passengers on board, remained completely fog free. Like all GL models, ours had the standard all-wheel drive and four-wheel electronic traction system (a.k.a. Inclement weather will not deter this SUV. What sets this model apart from its GL-Class siblings is its superb diesel engine. Ignore the mediocre horsepower rating and take a look at the wonderful 400 lb-ft of torque. None of the eight-cylinder models can match it.