Mercedes-Benz S-CLASS RANGE
By Andy Enright
In any list of tough assignments, improving the Mercedes S Class must be right up there with qualifying the Scottish football squad for the World Cup Finals or being Geri Halliwells singing teacher. It seems a hopeless task, although the task of Mercedes designers is to cope with overwhelming excellence rather than crashing ineptitude. This time round it looks like theyve pulled it off.
Since its introduction in 1999, the Mercedes S Class has been widely hailed as the best luxury car in the world. Wait scrub the luxury tag and youre probably nearer the mark. Sales have backed up the critical acclaim with 46% of the luxury car market in Europe and 58% in Japan. Even in America where their idea of a luxury car has traditionally meant anything with more cupholders on display than Real Madrids trophy room the big Benz garners a 40% slice of the market.
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Here in the UK well over 10,000 have been sold since it was introduced. In a sector where resting on the laurels is a byword for disappearing backwards at a rate of knots the S-Class seems to have been the immoveable object. Cue the irresistible force, on this occasion in the unorthodox shape of BMWs 7 Series. Eating into the S-Class slice of the pie was never in Daimler-Chryslers script and a revision was launched, aimed at keeping the S-Class on the top step of the podium.
"The current S-Class has dropped the gratuitous gadget count in favour of well-judged refinements."
There had always been a suspicion that Mercedes had thrown a multitude of high-technology features at the S-Class and waited to see what would stick, a theme continued by the 7 Series, but the current version dropped the gratuitous gadget count in favour of well-judged refinements. The styling has been modified slightly, the car getting the now-obligatory jewel-effect headlamps as well as a nip and tuck to the grille, bumpers and intakes designed to give a sleeker appearance. The interior has been given the once over with revised switches, thin chrome strips, improved upholstery and an exclusive designo couture range of materials and trim options. Of far more importance, however, is whats lurking under the bonnet and the latest S-Class doesnt disappoint.
The sleeper success story of the range, the S320CDI diesel aims to spike the guns of BMWs 730d with an improved power output from 197 to 204bhp. Although peak power may not be quite on a par with the Munich offering, the more important torque figure is, and we can look forward to a heavyweight tussle for supremacy here. The S320CDI was a model that made the petrol powered S320 look a little redundant and Mercedes have responded by ditching the S320 in favour of a superior model the S350. Armed with a V6 engine good for 245bhp, this puts a little clear blue sky between itself and the formidable oil burner.
The S280, S430 and S500 powerplants carry on as before. For those who want the utterly ridiculous power at their disposal, the S600 is the weapon of choice. With 500bhp and 800Nm of torque, this twin-turbocharged 5.5-litre V12 monster cranks out the sort of performance figures wed expect from a
Ferrari.
Itll macerate the sprint to 60mph in 4.6 seconds and without its 155mph artificial speed limiter would doubtless run on to the other side of 200mph. A Ferrari 456 suddenly appears distinctly cumbersome. This may suggest that the S55 AMG sports version of the S-Class has been rendered redundant, but nothing could be further from the truth.
This gets a tweaked version of the SL55 AMGs engine in this instance good again for 500bhp although peak torque of 700Nm is merely overwhelming. To put these figures into perspective, they latest S55 AMG offers 39% more power and 32% more torque than its predecessor. Power is nothing without control and Mercedes have pioneered an innovative safety feature they dub Pre-Safe. This anticipates the threat of an accident and initiates preventative measures to deal with it.
Mercedes accident research has shown that there often tends to be a relatively lengthy time window between the moment an imminent collision is detected and the actual time it occurs. Pre-Safe uses sensors in the ESP stability control program and the Brake Assist system to judge whether a critical situation is impending. If so, the car will tension the
seat belts so that optimum air bag deployment occurs, will move the individual seats into the optimum positions and will even close the sunroof if the vehicle begins to skid. Does it work? Undoubtedly, but it would be fun trying to call its bluff.
The COMAND (Cockpit Management and Navigation Display) system is now standard in all S-Class models and is replete with a larger and clearer 6.5" colour display. The seats have been redesigned to make them a little softer, but have spoilt a long-standing Mercedes tradition of rock-hard seating. It was always most entertaining to see somebody whod never travelled in a Mercedes before to leap into the seat and then have that shocked expression akin to that worn by people whove just stepped off an unseen kerb. It seems Mercedes have now figured out how to make seats that are softer but still orthopaedically supportive.
The optional Drive-Dynamic Multicontour seat is a wondrous thing, taking information from sensors that detect the cars steering angle, lateral acceleration and road speed and then adapting the seat in real time via a set of air bladders. Throw the S-Class into a sharp right-hander and the Multicontour seat will firm up the left hand bolsters. Just when you thought the S-Class was as good as it gets, Mercedes prove us wrong. Now if only they could put a couple of boffins on secondment to Cardiff and chez Geri
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR:
Mercedes-Benz S-Class range
PRICES: £46,820 - £90,260
INSURANCE GROUPS: 15-20
CO2 EMISSIONS: 204-355g/km
PERFORMANCE: [S500] 0-60mph 6.5s / Max Speed 155mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION: [S500] (urban) 14.6mpg / (extra urban) 28.5mpg / (combined) 21.1mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Window and side airbags in all doors / ABS / Pre-Safe
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Heightmm [swb] 5158/1855/1444
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