Bojan Vrbnjak
Good, the subtitle says “retirement swing". But the first Mercedes B class model series 245 he's got a lot going for him, if we ignore his retired image. A lot 245 B grades, which were published in 2005, are still good today 13 years after the end of production, can be seen on the roads. More than 2007 new vehicles were registered in 50.000 alone!
Solid (and precisely because of its image) often cheap used car, which is in length 4,27 meters offered plenty of space and comfortable seating. Class B has been since then class A inherited the sandwich concept. The trunk could be spacious up to 2.245 liters. However, sensitive roof blinds and continuously variable transmission Autotronic were not recommended. On the engine side, mild engines were mostly present B 150/160/170 with power between 95 and 116 hp. He was the biggest B 200 Turbo s 193 BAM. But Mercedes could also do something completely different, which we discovered when we were looking for photos of the first B-Class. It suddenly appears B 55. Excuse me? That sounds more like AMG. And this for a rather unsporty car.
Mercedes in Great Britain presented the model in early 2010 B 55: class B with V8 engine and rear-wheel drive – like a sports car. And without an attachment "AMG", as Affalterbach had nothing to do with the project. The car marked B 55 was created in Mercedes factories v Rastatt at the suggestion of the factory manager Peter Wesp. He ordered his employees to build an unusual vehicle based on the B class. Andreas Würz, responsible for the technical training of the apprentices, picked up a collapsible yardstick, measured class B and came to a surprising conclusion: it should be installed in it V8 engine. Together with a colleague Matthias Rieger gathered around him a team of twelve trainees from the second and third years of training and drew up the specifications.
Class B interior concept it is expected to remain unchanged, with only minor changes planned for the exterior. The interior should be adjusted for increased power. After all, the result should be suitable for everyday use. The starting point was B 200 CDI, which was intended for learning anyway. Würz he found for a new engine 5,5-liter V8 with 388 hp in 530 Nm of torque. It is the same naturally aspirated engine called M 273 K E 55, which was used in models in those years E500 in S500. It was installed in class B together with seven-speed automatic transmission.
Exhaust system was made of various spare parts and equipped with a dual exhaust pipe that provides characteristic sound. Then they got down to business drive conversions to the front wheel pair to the drive to the rear wheel pair. It turned out to be the rear axle of an older E-Class from the series W 210 good geometric solution. With the help of an auxiliary frame, the part was installed in class B. Brakes were taken from the model C 32 AMG: At the front, the strengthened family car was equipped with air discs of dimensions 345 x 34 millimeters, and at the back with air discs of dimensions 300 x 30 millimeters. There were rims in front AMG 8,5x18 and tires 235/40 ZR 18 Y. The rear axle was equipped with rims 9 x 18 and tires 255/35 ZR 18 Y.
V inside the B 55 got linings from alcantara on pillars A, B and C and on the ceiling, and leather and Alcantara seats were also added. In the end, they gave the car a paint job white dress with a dark cooler mask and darkly dimmed headlights. The project team is particularly proud that it is B 55 with their 1620 kilograms only about 180 kilograms heavier than the original model. According to the team leader, this is what he should do Würz made it possible to sprint up to 100 km/h less than six seconds. It's hard to believe what all could be in to the humble B class found itself in the field of drive systems: it was also available with a drive on Natural Gas and prototypes with drive cells and projects"E-Cell Plus” with electric motor and range extender.
