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2014 Mercedes-Benz E-Class lineup shows its freshened face

Mercedes-Benz showed us its redesigned 2014 E-Class more than a month ago, but the Detroit Auto Show finally gave us a chance to see the full family of mid-size luxury cars and wagons in the flesh. Dieter Zetsche introduced the cars, including sedan, coupe, convertible and station wagon, on stage showing the stylish new design direction.
The wagon and sedan versions (shown as the E400 Hybrid above) will go on sale this spring, while the coupe and cabriolet will hit showrooms over the summer. Check our new gallery of live shots for the entire 2014 E-Class lineup, as well as the previously released press release below.

EVO "2012 Car of the Year: The Track Battles" is a sports car salmagundi

EVO has come out with another gotta-watch-it video, throwing its 2012 Car of the Year contestants around the UK's 1.5-mile Blyton Park track. It's actually a 15-minute teaser for the full-length DVD detailing the magazine's Car of the Year selection, but the tease is worth every penny free second.
Tiff Needell and sports car racer Richard Meaden handle the wheel duties, the two driving five pairs of sports cars: Lotus Exige S vs. Porsche Boxster S, Morgan Three-Wheeler vs. Toyota GT86, BMW M135i vs. Porsche 911, Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Black Series vs. Alpina B3 GT3, the marquee event pits the McLaren MP4-12C vs. the Pagani Huayra. After a head-to-head lap with commentary during drifts, Meaden takes each car out to set a representative lap time.
You'll find the verdicts, lots of tire smoke, and lines like "Anything you can do sideways I can do sideways" in the video below.

Mercedes testing C-Class plug-in hybrid modes in Germany

Testing appears to be underway for what would be the first Mercedes-Benz C-Class with a hybrid powertrain. We can see a pair of the prototypes undergoing testing in Germany, with one, a C-Class Wagon, still heavily clad in camouflage and featuring a more noticeable outlet on the passenger side of its rear bumper.
There's also a more production-looking sedan, which features a not-so-discreet flap over its rear-bumper outlet. It's difficult to speculate on power outputs for this fuel-sipping C-Class, although our spies seem to think that this car will feature some combination of a four-cylinder gas engine with an electric motor, although just which four is unclear (note, we wouldn't mind if MB fit its 2.0-liter turbo with some batteries and motors). Regardless, the four-pot/electric motor seems like a pretty reasonable combo, although it probably means that Mercedes won't be challenging the six-cylinder-powered system of the BMW ActiveHybrid3 any time soon.
When the plug-in C-Class arrives later this year as a 2015 model, it will likely offer a full range of driving modes, including both gas or electric, only, as well as a more traditional hybrid mode.