Meet the 388HP V8-Powered and RWD Mercedes-Benz B55 [with Video]

The regular Mercedes-Benz B-Class wasn’t exactly created with the motoring enthusiast’s needs in mind, but this one-off B55 special is another story. Trainees of Mercedes-Benzs Rastatt plant in Germany turned a B200 CDI diesel model into a full-blown sports car by planting in a 388 hp 5.5-liter V8 and transferring the drive from the front axle to the rear.

The idea of the project came from plant manager, Peter Wesp, while the execution fell on the shoulders of foremen Andreas Würz and Matt Rieger and a team of twelve second and third-year trainees specializing in production mechanics and automotive mechatronics.

The team aimed to fulfill several goals, drawn up in a book of specifications. According to the plan, the spatial concept as well as the body of the B-Class were to remain unchanged. The interior, however, was to be upgraded to reflect the newly acquired qualities and the overall goal was to create a vehicle suitable for everyday driving.

While fitting the powerplant into the rather small engine bay wasn’t the hardest part of the build – the team was able to use the original engine mounts, installing other parts proved to be more difficult than anticipated. That was the case with the engine control unit, which had to be reprogrammed only to process signals from the rear axle, and the steering as well. Fortunately, by combining various replacement parts and doing a fair share of modifications, engineers were able to solve all problems.

The rear axle was sourced from a W210 E-Class and suitable brakes were found in the C32 AMG replacement parts catalogue. The B55 rides on 18-inch AMG alloys, shod in 235/50 front and 255/35 rear tires. The final performance upgrade is comprised of a K&W-sourced coil-over suspension.

Fellow trainees from the Sindelfingen plant helped modifying the interior, which was upgraded with sport seats and steering wheel, Alcantara linings and other, more luxurious materials.

The end result is a low-key, but definitely high-performance B-Class, which only weighs 180 kg (397 lbs) more than the stock model. With 530 Nm (391 lb-ft) on tap, the B55 accelerates like no other B-Class before it and can also do some pretty sweet burnouts.

“We have not made any measurements yet, but we should manage a sprint to 100 km/h in under six seconds”, said Andreas Würz.

The B55 may notr see the mass-production line, but the project's officials didn’t rule out the possibility of other similar conversions.

Check out the video below for some... smoky action from the Mercedes-Benz B55.

By Csaba Daradics

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Mercedes' Chinese Partner BAIC Blatantly Copies B-Class with New BC301Z

Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corp., commonly known by the acronym BAIC, is one of Mercedes-Benz's partners in China. However, that didn't stop the Chinese automaker, which has acquired the intellectual rights for Saab's older 9-5 and certain 9-3 models, to rip off the design of Mercedes' B-Class for its new BC301Z five-door hatchback and to a lesser extent, the BC302Z sedan.

The styling similarities are not only concentrated on the outside with the profile line, V-shaped grille, headlamp and bumper designs, but are continued inside with the dashboard.

Fortunately for Mercedes, that's not the case with the drivetrain as the 4.038mm long BC301Z hatchback will be offered in China with a choice of two Mitsubishi-sourced gasoline engines, a 1.3-liter unit linked to a five-speed manual and a 1.5-liter powerplant hooked up to a CVT. The five-door model will be followed next year by a four-door sedan (BC302Z) and station wagon (BC303Z) variant.

Photos: Auto-Sohu

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Mercedes Announces Production of Hydrogen-Powered B-Class F-Cell

This is Mercedes-Benz's B-Class F-Cell, the company's first ever series production fuel-cell car. According to the German automaker, production will begin in late 2009 with the first of around 200 examples of the hydrogen-electric hybrid to be delivered to customers in Europe and the USA at the beginning of next year. Based on the B-Class hatch, the F-Cell uses a new generation fuel cell system, in which gaseous hydrogen reacts with atmospheric oxygen at 700 bar to generate a current for the electric motor, with water as a by-product.

As in conventional hybrids with combustion engines, the fuel-cell car makes use of a lithium-ion battery with an output of 35 kW and a capacity of 1.4 kWh to boost power and recover braking energy.

The drive components of the F-Cell powertrain are located in the sandwich floor, meaning that passenger and luggage space (416 liters) remain unaffected..

The vehicle's electric motor produces an output of 100 kW or 136 horsepower and a maximum torque of 290 Nm or 214 lb-ft allowing the five-door Merc to reach a top speed of 170km/h or 105mph. We don't know how Mercedes made the calculation, but the firm claims that the zero-emission car fuel cell drive consumes the equivalent of 3.3 liters of diesel fuel per 100km or 71.3mpg US.

The B-Class F-Cell is said to have a driving range of around 400 km or 250 miles while it takes about three minutes to refuel the car with hydrogen.

The Stuttgart automaker said that it has addressed the cold-start issues that affect hydrogen-powered vehicles with the B-Class F-Cell being able to start in temperatures as low as minus 25 degrees Celsius while vigorous testing ensures that the car offers the same level of safety as in other Mercs.

2011 Mercedes-Benz B-Class Fuel-Cell is on its Way

The B-Class F-CELL will be the first series vehicle with a local, zero-emission fuel-cell drive and it is set to commence production in early 2011. The compact car is powered by an optimised fuel-cell system that Mercedes-Benz first presented in 2005 in the F 600 HYGENIUS concept. While the newly designed “stack” for the fuel cell module, is roughly 40 percent smaller compared to previous generation systems, it generates 30 percent greater power, along with a 16 percent reduction in consumption compared to the A-Class F-Cell.

The electric motor develops a maximum output of 136 hp and a maximum torque of 320 Nm which promise to give better acceleration figures than a B-Class fitted with a standard 2.0-litre petrol engine. At the same time, the zero-emission fuel-cell drive uses the equivalent of just 2.9 litres of fuel (diesel equivalent) per 100 km.

But before we get to see the fuel-cell powered B-Class on the road, Mercedes-Benz has to subject the vehicle to rigorous testing in order to get things right. Over the past few months, the German carmaker’s engineers took the B-Class F-CELL up to northern Sweden where they completed the winter part of the tests. - Continued after the jump

The main goal of the German carmaker in these tests was to focus on the interaction between the different components under real-life winter conditions at double-digit, below-zero (Celsius) temperatures. Additionally, Mercedes-Benz also used the winter tests to adapt the Electronic Stability Program (ESP) to the special requirements of a fuel-cell vehicle. A special feature in this context is that an electric motor exhibits different speed governing behaviour to that of standard combustion engines.