New Mercedes-Benz E-class goes high tech

Unveiled at the Detroit Motor Show, the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class will go on sale later this year. The new E will have cleaner lines, aimed at giving the car a classical look – similar to its C and S-Class siblings, which Mercedes believes is dictated by both tradition and category. But, when it comes to the interiors, the cockpit takes pride of place with interesting innovations that could set new benchmarks. For example, the new E-Class is the first car to be equipped with two touch pad systems integrated into the spokes of the steering wheel. The driver just needs to scroll his thumb vertically and horizontally to control the on-board operations – much like how we ‘swipe’ on a smartphone – while keeping his or her hands on the wheel. The car also features a central touch pad – a mouse essentially – and responds to voice commands. The continuous screen, which takes up more than two-thirds of the dashboard, features two 12.3-inches contiguous screens.

The ambient lights feature a choice of 64 colours, and there are 23 speakers – four of which are placed on the ceiling to generate 3D surround sound, like that of a concert hall. Both these features contribute to create a high degree of luxury inside the car. The research undertaken by Mercedes on semi-autonomous driving also reaches its peak in the E-Class. To activate the Lane Change Assist, which is part of the Drive Pilot system, all you have to do is hold the indicator stalk for just over two seconds in order to make the car steer and overtake on its own. The technology has been approved by the German government, but Mercedes is waiting for approval from the EU.

Audi A5 Evolves

Defined by its creator, master designer Walter De Silva, as “the most beautiful car I have ever designed,” the Audi A5 is slated to change. But instead of completely reinventing the A5 design, Audi has decided to stick with an evolution of the original design.

•  Evolutionary style: the character lines along its sides are going to become more prominent, and so will the wheel arches. The single frame grille will gain three-dimensional stripes, along with regular shaped headlights, and a more prominent rear spoiler

•  The launch of both coupè and Sportback versions has been confirmed

BMW’s 5 Series will be hi-tech

The recently updated BMW 7 Series offers a ‘gesture control’ system in which several functions of the car can be activated by just making gestures by hand in front of the dashboard. The new 5 Series could inherit this as standard. But, even if that isn’t the case, the car will be a step forward as far as the driver support systems are concerned (as is the case of the Mercedes E-Class over even the S-Class). The car will be showcased later this year, with sales starting in late-2016 and early-2017.

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