Well, It's only sorta off topic, but I'm in that horrible stage of a car buying experience.... Getting ready to.

I'm thinking long and hard about the C class Coupe from Mercedes, to replace my Acura Integra GS-R. I love the Teg, but the thing is just too uncomfortable on long trips, and is beginning to show a bit of tooth. My long trips seem to be increasing. I've always liked the Benz, and have a few in my extended family, so I've certainly driven them about a bit. Unfortunately, the 500SEL is a bit out of my range.

So... Anyone have any experiences in fitting the Empeg into a late model Benz? Or more generally, any experiences they'd care to share about the cars in general?

Looks like I'll have to get one of those exotic wood Facia's now..

Thanks!

Looks like I'll have to get one of those exotic wood Facia's now.

Here I was, all ready to do my sacred duty as a member of the Spelling Police and tell you that the word is "Fascia" and not "Facia" when my Webster's on-line dictionary tells me that "Facia" is the accepted British spelling.

Lucky for you -- you dodged the bullet. This Time. But just remember, Synergy -- I'm watching you!



tanstaafl.

That's funny because none of my UK spell checkers know the word "facia." I normally use a UK spell checker unless I'm writing something for consumer-consumption (like a readme for a product or other doc).

Back to the original topic at hand...

The new Coupe seems to me, the only car that comes close to replacing the third generation GSR. The new RSX has a nice transmission and powerplant, but its styling is the pits. It might as well be a Civic, Focus, Neon, any Toyota, etc. It's like all these designers got together one weekend and put together a mockup of the boxiest pile of crap they could think of.

The C coupe starts to get really expensive when you add options to being it up to what the Integra GSR includes as standard. BUt of course it has its own pluses that the Integra obviously doesn't.

Keep in mind, that unlike anything in the S class, this, despite being a Mercedes, is by no means in the same league. I'm sure their bottom-end quality has improved dramatically, but if you've ever been in a 90's C190, then you know what I'm talking about. I don't even consider those things Mercedes.

I'll be damned if I can keep my mind off the various TVR models from the UK though. :) Of course, a really great communter car, IMO (a terrific daily driver) is the Honda/Acura NSX. Very low-maintenance, great performance and terrific looks. I'd love to have one as a summer beater car. :)

Unfortunately I don't know anything about getting an empeg into the C Coupe. Looking around for some console pictures will help a lot. Plus you might want to search carsound.coms forum to see if anyone has ever posted general install questions.

Bruno

"Facia" is the accepted British spelling.


Uh... Yeah... YEAH! That's what I meant. Growing up in the british sector of Berlin warped that part of my brain!

Ever heard of a southerner talking with a mix of a british and german accent? It ain't pretty.



But in this case.....

The new Coupe seems to me, the only car that comes close to replacing the third generation GSR. The new RSX has a nice transmission and powerplant, but its styling is the pits. It might as well be a Civic, Focus, Neon, any Toyota, etc. It's like all these designers got together one weekend and put together a mockup of the boxiest pile of crap they could think of.



EXACTLY. There is a RSX where I work. I thought it looked 'ok' on the ads. In real life, OMG, it's ugly. I couldn't believe it was related. I refuse to admit that it is.


The C coupe starts to get really expensive when you add options to being it up to what the Integra GSR includes as standard. BUt of course it has its own pluses that the Integra obviously doesn't.

Keep in mind, that unlike anything in the S class, this, despite being a Mercedes, is by no means in the same league. I'm sure their bottom-end quality has improved dramatically, but if you've ever been in a 90's C190, then you know what I'm talking about. I don't even consider those things Mercedes.



It's obviously a bit up from the Teg, but that's ok with me. I'm just getting to the point that I can't stand the noise coming from the Teg at highway speeds. I'm going to go test drive one tomorrow, I think. My biggest problem is that I bought the Integra for it's agility and handling. Thanks to the buildout around here, I can't play that much anymore. As such, if I'm going to sit in traffic, I would prefer to do so in a bit more comfort. Combined with the previously mentioned Long trips, throw in a wife, and the very real possibilty of a child into the equation, and the rough edges of the Integra start to wear a bit.

Looking at the consoles, I know there is room for the empeg there, I'm just concerned about the integration with the car's electronics. On the E320, just about everything is displayed in the dash on a matrix panel, including some of the radio info. That's controlled via 4 sets of steering wheel controls. If I can use some of those controls via a stalk interface, great, but I can't lose the rest of them, nor the display itself.

RE: the buildout quality, I agree. I'm not expecting a S class, but if it's close to my mother's E320, I think I can handle it fine. We shall see.

Well if you go for a test drive, definitely update in here. I'm curious myself, but not in the market for a new car yet. :)

Bruno

Well if you go for a test drive, definitely update in here. I'm curious myself, but not in the market for a new car yet. :)



Will do. I didn't think I was in the market either.... Until I started to get a slight 'rattle/vibration/wierd sound' under the hood at about 4-5k RPM that I don't know what it is, plus needing new tires soon, plus the timing belt coming soon.....

All of the maint. would make a very nice down payment, on what is in all likelyhood a better vehicle.

Glad in all of the Facia talk, no one noticed there is supposed to be an S at the end of Mercede...

Must remember to slow down when typing.

Well if you go for a test drive, definitely update in here.



Well, I did. I'm going to post my thoughts mainly versus the Acura Integra GS-R, as my other points of reference wouldn't help much.

1> It's got a good deal of torque. Since the GS-R doesn't, this is a good thing. Off the line was very nice. The torque curve is not as straight as the GS-R... It's a bit more peaky. Redline is 6G. Note, this is an I4, supercharged, so I wasn't expecting a HUGE rush. 0-60 is about 7.5 according to them, and I'd believe it.

2> Buildout quality appears to be at the same level as the E class. It didn't have the roughness the 190's did.

3> The Panaramic sunroof is cool as hell. You've got a total of about 12" of steel above you. Main Sunroof, which is quite large, then about 6" of cover for the screens to retract into, then a second sunroof (does not open), then about 6 more inchs till you reach the rear window.

4> REAR SEATS!!!! Adults can actually sit in the back without a problem!!!! Good luck in the GS-R. I was able to sit upright in the back with room to spare... VERY surprising. Good amount of cargo room as well.

5> Braking was VERY good, and the car was pretty responsive. I didn't thrash it, I don't think the Salesguy's heart could have taken it. I'll do that on Sat. to the test car.

6> The ride gives up a bit of the feel for the road that is in the GS-R, but it still connects the driver to road well. You can tell what the care is doing, but you don't feel every peeble. Overall, it seems to be a much nicer drive than the GS-R (Duh!), which a much quieter cabin.

7> The automatic transmission is still an automatic, but it responds quite well, and adapts to your driving style... Hit it hard, and it stays in the lower gears. Go soft, and it upshifts quickly. You can manually force the gears as well, quite quickly and easily, plus it has a mode that forces a downshift to the best gear for the situation, be it speed or acceleration.

Seat of the pants tells me a GS-R with someone who knows how to drive it would probably beat the Benz, but this is really designed more as a comfortable, but quick. If you aren't good at rev matching the GSR, the Benz would take it.

Which brings up the final. I think I'm going to get it. Unfortunately, I don't know if the Empeg is going to make it into it or not. It's a good enough car, that I'm putting that secondary. I'm sure there IS a way to do it, but it's probably going to be quite expensive. Of course, if that happens, I'll HAVE to do the Aluminum face.

Now I just have to worry about the financing. Trade in on the GSR ain't what it should be, in these days of 0.0% APR. But it's probably not going to get better anytime soon.

Downsides:

To get the cool options, you're going to pay for them. It's a significantly more expensive car than the GS-R.

I know they ain't common but merc build the worst manual gearbox of alomst any car i have tryed i have a 318i with 140,000miles on the clock and it has a far nicer shift than the few manual mercs i have tryed.

As to the autos i have tryed an auto car but i never wanted to as i just like my clutch pedal too much

I know they ain't common but merc build the worst manual gearbox of alomst any car i have tryed i have a 318i with 140,000miles on the clock and it has a far nicer shift than the few manual mercs i have tryed.

As to the autos i have tryed an auto car but i never wanted to as i just like my clutch pedal too much



I ALMOST got the 6 speed manual. Ended up with the Auto.

Picked the car up 3 hours ago. First REAL impression: The GS-R does not compare. I'm very happy with the trade.

okay gentlemen place your bets how long before he takes it to bits for the empeg

okay gentlemen place your bets how long before he takes it to bits for the empeg


he he he he...

We're looking..... Of course, it's looking to be an ALL or nothing job. There aren't any adapters out there that I can see (although additional links are always welcomed) that will allow me to interface the empeg into the original system.

The good news is that there is a pocket under the original radio that looks like it would fit an empeg quite nicely. I'm almost considering doing two seperate systems in one car.

Of course, there is going to be a hell of a lot of measuring and researching before I even consider disassemble.....

BTW, the Stock radio in the MB is pretty damn good. I think it might have the same tuner module as what was used on the Empeg, Plus the weather band. I never realized how useful that would be until I tried it last night. Some of the tuner units for the Empeg have that capabliity... It would be nice to use it if it existed. The other nice thing is it has an autoset for the 10 strongest frequencies. It does that in about a quarter of a second. Tuning is done in an instant... As fast or faster than the empeg.