The second round of the Mercedes-Benz bionic car project now commenced. The task was to develop a full-size, roadworthy automobile on the basis of the boxfish contours – a fully equipped model for four occupants, with typical Mercedes attributes in terms of safety, comfort, design and day-to-day practicality, and equipped with all the technology necessary for minimal fuel consumption and the best possible environmental compatibility.

The result of this unique vehicle project is a compact car with two doors, four comfortable single seats, a panoramic windscreen, a glass roof and a large tailgate – 4.24 metres long, 1.82 metres wide and 1.59 metres high. Naturally the exacting requirements with respect to practicality, everyday suitability and design made compromises compared with the 1:4 model necessary, but the concept car still retains outstanding aerodynamic characteristics: with a Cd value of 0.19 the fully-functioning and driveable Mercedes-Benz bionic car is among the aerodynamically most efficient in this size category.

In addition to the boxfish-like basic shape, this result is made possible by a number of other aerodynamic features, e.g. rear wheels which are almost completely shrouded with sheets of plastic, flush-fitted door handles and the use of cameras instead of exterior mirrors.

In the Mercedes study, the optimal aerodynamic properties derived from the boxfish and a new lightweight construction concept taken from nature create the conditions for a low fuel consumption and excellent performance. Equipped with a 103 kW/140-hp direct-injection diesel engine, the concept car consumes 4.3 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres (combined), making it 20 percent more economical than a comparable standard-production model. In accordance with the US measuring method (FTP 75) the range is around 70 miles per US gallon (combined), which is about 30 percent more than for a standard-production car. At a constant speed of 90 km/h the EU fuel consumption falls to a mere 2.8 litres per 100 kilometres – corresponding to 84 mpg in the US test programme. The concept car has a maximum speed of 190 km/h.

Length/width/height: 4243/1815/1594 mm
Wheelbase:  2568 mm
Engine output: 103 kW/140 hp
Max. torque: 300 Nm at 1600-3000 rpm
Fuel consumption (combined): 4.3 l/100 km; 70 mpg (US gallons)
Acceleration:  0-100 km/h 8.2 s
Max. speed: 190 km/h