Standout Car of the week: New Mercedes Benz S-Class

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The long-awaited Mercedes Benz S-Class is officially here, and already it looks set to offer great levels of luxury in the large sedan segment.

Mercedes Benz is calling it the best car in the world, and it most probably will be for a lot of people. The motoring press is very excited about it too, not only because “S-Class” is one of biggest names in the luxury car segment, but also because of the amount of new technology it promises to offer.  

The new S-Class definitely has a lot of presence thanks to its sleek and elegant new design.  It is also the first car in the world to do without any bulbs for the head- and tail-lamps, using LED units only (the headlamps use up to 56 LEDs each, while the tail-lamps use up to 35 LEDs each – with an additional four for the rear fog lamps).

Initially, there will be four models available when the S-Class arrives at showrooms later this year.  Options will be as follows:

• S400 HYBRID, with a 3.5-litre V6 engine and electric motor, with the engine producing 306hp and 370Nm of torque, while the electric motor produces 20kW and 250Nm of torque.  Acceleration from 0-100km/h takes 6.8 seconds.
  
• S500, with a twin-turbo 4.7-litre V8 engine producing 455hp and 700Nm of torque.  Acceleration takes 4.8 seconds from 0-100km/h.
  
• S350 BlueTEC, which comes with a turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 diesel engine producing 258hp and 620Nm of torque.  It can get from 0-100km/h in 6.8 seconds.
  
• S300 BlueTEC HYBRID, which makes use of Mercedes Benz’s venerable 2.1-litre four-cylinder diesel engine (204hp and 500Nm) and the same 20kW electric motor found in the S400 HYBRID.  Acceleration from 0-100km/h is a respectable 7.6 seconds, while claimed fuel economy figures go as low as 4.4l/100km on the combined cycle.

The S300 BlueTEC HYBRID reaches a top speed of 240km/h, while the other three models will reach a limited top speed of 250km/h.  An S500 Plug-In-HYBRID will be the next model to join the S-Class range, and is said to use less than four litres of fuel to cover 100km.  All models come equipped with a seven-speed 7G-Tronic Plus automatic transmission sending power to the rear wheels.

One thing that new S-Classes have always been known for is the introduction of new technology, and this S-Class is no different.   Here is a list of a few of the new systems that will be available:

• ROAD SURFACE SCAN and MAGIC BODY CONTROL, which is a suspension system that scans the road ahead for imperfections and pre-sets the suspension to deal with them.  This system is optional only on the S500.
  
• ADS PLUS, an active damping system that works with the updated AIRMATIC air suspension system.  It is standard on all models.
  
• AIR-BALANCE, a system which in addition to filtering the air in the cabin, also cancels out strong perfume smells through atomization and ionization.
  
• 300 LED lights for the interior.
  
• Five seating options (two for SWB models), with the individual seating options allowing the rear passengers to extend their backrests to an angle of 43.5 degrees.  
  
• ENERGIZING massage function, which includes 14 air cushions in the back seats that are actuated separately.  It also has a warming function, and a “reversing fans” system that draws cooler air to the seating surface and allows the seat ventilation system to cool passengers much faster.
  
• It also comes with a long list of new and updated driving aids, such as: PRE-SAFE Brake, PRE-SAFE PLUS, PRE-SAFE IMPULSE, DISTRONIC PLUS, BRAKE ASSIST SYSTEM (BAS) PLUS, Active Lane Keeping Assist, Adaptive Highbeam Assist Plus, Night View Assist Plus, and ATTENTION ASSIST. 
  

Development of the new S-Class was primarily focused on the long wheelbase version, thanks to the huge popularity of the S-Class as a prestige chauffeur-driven vehicle in markets like the USA and China.  As a result, the short wheelbase version has been derived from the long wheelbase version rather than the other way around.

In Germany, prices for the S-Class will start at €79,789.50 for the SWB S350 BlueTEC, and go up to €107,635 for a LWB S500.


By Alex Kisiri