When luxury is "redefined" by more and more brands, when the 139-year-old traditional automobile industry is "disrupted" by a new company that is less than 10 years old, when the brand influence that has been accumulated for a long time is defeated by a celebrity boss... We have to admit that the automobile industry is being restructured at a speed beyond imagination.
But some people always ask: Can refrigerators, color TVs, and large sofas satisfy all human needs for cars? Can point-to-point autonomous driving replace the adrenaline and dopamine secretion of passionate driving? Is it enough to build a brand by creating one or a few hit cars?
These trends and questions pose puzzles that will take time to answer as the industry rapidly changes.
Recently, at the Mercedes-Benz 2025 "Sharpening the Ice and Snow, Driving the Legend", it showed us the B-side of this era of homogeneous involution: using its own persistence and evolution to continue the story of the inventor of the car in the new era.
For decades, Mercedes-Benz has been conducting winter tests near the Arctic Circle to verify the reliable performance of its vehicles in extremely cold temperatures as low as -40 degrees Celsius. Mercedes-Benz's ice and snow test drive activities are derived from the extreme cold tests of vehicles. Its purpose is to let participants experience the uncompromising Mercedes-Benz standards with a rich product matrix and difficult ice and snow driving experience, fully demonstrating the brand connotation of "Why Mercedes-Benz, only Mercedes-Benz".
Each of the 18 models has its own characteristics, including full-time four-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, front-wheel drive, and their body dynamics and line routing are all different. On the ice, these differences in characteristics are multiplied.
The first step to driving a car well on ice is to be bold. After all, the opportunity to drive on a field with almost 100% tolerance is very rare. But being bold does not mean driving blindly. It still has a set of basic logical principles.
Take the AMG SL63 4MATIC+ as an example. The powerful M177 4.0-liter V8 twin-turbocharged engine, combined with the AMG SPEEDSHIFT MCT 9-speed gearbox, has power on demand. But compared to horsepower, the more critical factor affecting the dynamics of the ice surface is the AMG high-performance four-wheel drive enhanced version, which can flexibly distribute the front and rear axle torque between 50:50 and 0:100. Coupled with the active rear-wheel steering system, the whole car has a strong sense of compactness and high sensitivity, commonly known as "following the foot". In the first lap, familiarize yourself with the track, switch to sports mode, and adjust ESP to "half off". Under the action of the studded tires, this car has excellent tracking performance, like a "rail train" firmly grasping the ice surface. Only when you deliberately turn the direction will the rear of the car symbolically swing, indicating that it has accepted your intention. In the next lap, in the "Sports+" mode, press and hold esp off to completely turn it off. At this time, it reveals its true colors. The tail twists actively, and if you can control the throttle and direction just right, it will respond to you in the most graceful posture.
The model settings of each section of Mercedes-Benz Ice and Snow Driving are very particular. For example, after the SL63, there is a rear-wheel drive GT50. Compared with the former, the latter has a stronger sense of volume and is actually heavier. Compared with the SL63's swiftness, the GT50 requires you to slow down a little and add some foreplay. If you use the line driving method, you need to slow down earlier before entering the corner; and if you use the drifting method, you need to "reverse" the direction when the center of gravity of the tail is about to move outward, and keep the throttle stable until you start to return to the correct direction before exiting the corner.
If you are lucky enough, your body will not feel the "pendulum feeling" when the front of the car returns to the center, but for most people, a few slight swings after turning are normal. This depends on your familiarity with the original position of the steering wheel and the coordination ability of your hands, feet and eyes.
It is easy for a rear-wheel drive car to create drift, but maintaining and ending the drift requires more experience and delicate movements.
The AMG A45 S is the favorite car of everyone who loves driving on ice and snow, not just because it is equipped with the most powerful 2.0T engine on the planet, the M139, but also because of its compact body that looks like a piece of tendon meat.
With the support of the timely intelligent four-wheel drive system, although this is a front-wheel drive car, there are many ways to make it turn, such as stepping on the gas and adding a little steering, such as braking and adding a little steering, and steering to one side and then immediately to the other side. Of course, on the ice and snow track, given that some places are narrow and there are "snow walls" on the side, it is more appropriate to use the brakes and steering. This is not cowardly, because once drifting, you must immediately reverse the direction and step on the accelerator to the bottom to "push" the car body all the way out of the curve.
In the world of ice and snow, the accelerator is the "second steering wheel". If you control it well, your hands can move more calmly and less flustered - literally.
Another car that must be mentioned is the AMG C 63 SE PERFROMANCE, not only because it debuted on the ice and snow field, but also because I have never tried the 2.0T "63" tail-marked model. When I firmly believed that the C63 with half the displacement and cylinders would definitely not have the same sense of power as before, Mercedes-Benz taught me a lesson with the M139 and electric drive technology. This car not only has power on demand at all speeds, but is also easier to drive. The support of the high-performance four-wheel drive enhanced system and rear-wheel steering (the front and rear wheels are in opposite directions at low speeds, and the front and rear wheels are in the same direction at high speeds) makes it easier to achieve a perfect posture and eliminate the "pendulum feeling" at the "end of drift" stage.
In this white world, there is nothing more gratifying than watching the snow mist rising in the rearview mirror after you have drifted through a bend completely.
But as mentioned above, being wild does not mean being unruly. If you just swerve at the steering wheel and step on the accelerator, what awaits you is not only the mocking looks from the rescue vehicle and your peers, but also "two penalties out" - if you get stuck in the snow twice on the same track, you will be deprived of the opportunity to continue participating in this section, and the coach will ask you to calm down and reflect on yourself.
When crossing the snowfield the next day, you need to completely forget the wild drifting skills on the ice and snow track and return to the rigorous and respectful driving methodology.
For the AMG G63, no terrain is too difficult to conquer. The combination of wet mode and snow tires can easily handle most icy and snowy roads. The AMG active ride control suspension with active hydraulic roll stabilization can greatly suppress roll during driving on ice, providing more stable and precise body control. When driving off-road on snowy plains, the wheels can be kept in contact with the ground to the maximum extent, significantly improving its traction, climbing ability and comfort.
After going through the high-intensity ice and snow test, after returning to daily driving scenes, the attitude towards driving should not be the inflated feeling of returning from learning, but to further restrain the bad driving habits or mentality that may exist in daily life.
During this snow event, the fastest production car in AMG's history, the new Mercedes-AMG GT 63 SE PERFORMANCE, was launched at a price of RMB 2.2855 million. Equipped with a 4.0T V8 engine and hybrid technology from F1, it accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in just 2.8 seconds. The powerful active aerodynamic kit ensures that the car still has strong enough grip after being lightweight; the direct battery cooling technology also derived from F1 makes it not only very fast, but also continuously and stably fast... A large number of cutting-edge technologies make up this Affalterbach masterpiece.
In the "old car era" of linear development, people maintained a long-term love and curiosity for cars; but in the "new car era" full of "subversion", people developed "aesthetic fatigue" after only three years.
In my opinion, Musk, the founder of the new power, should bear the blame. According to his "first principle", if the problem cannot be solved, then "solve" it - if the internal combustion engine technology is difficult to improve, then don't use the engine. The "computer/living room/mobile palace on four wheels" evolved under this spiritual totem is indeed a novel concept, but it is also like a passing cloud and is not worth lingering on.
What Mercedes-Benz always says is: All luxurious and beautiful things must have everlasting style.
