2008 Mercedes-Benz S-Class

Introduction
The Mercedes-Benz S-Class is the benchmark for luxury sedans. Completely redesigned just a year ago, the Mercedes S550 and S600 are superb automobiles. The S-Class cabins are among the most beautiful interior executions on the market today. These cars are loaded with technology yet the COMAND system is easier to operate than the systems from BMW and Audi. Underway, the S-Class cars are smooth, quiet, and powerful.

The S-Class is made up of the S550 models, which come with a V8 engine, and the S600, which comes with a turbocharged V12. The S550 4MATIC adds the all-weather capability of all-wheel drive. Two AMG versions bring racecar performance to this big luxury sedan.

All of them boast quick acceleration and are comfortable and stable at high speeds. Performance goes up with the more powerful engines, of course. The S600 can accelerate from 0-60 mph in about 4.5 seconds, according to Mercedes, which is very quick indeed.

These cars handle remarkably well for big luxury sedans. They are responsive but not darty. The Airmatic air suspension system is tuned toward the sportier end of the spectrum. The Automatic Body Control active suspension option cuts body roll significantly, and you can really feel it working when you throw the car into a fast, sweeping downhill curve. And we found the Brake Assist Plus brakes spectacular in their stopping power and stopping distance performance.

Lineup
The 2008 Mercedes-Benz S-Class is composed of the S550 ($86,700), the S550 4MATIC ($89,700), the S600 ($144,200), plus the S63 AMG ($127,000) and the S65 AMG ($144,200). The S550 models are powered by a 5.5-liter V8 and come with a seven-speed automatic transmission; the 4MATIC adds all-wheel drive. The S600 is powered by a 6.0-liter 3-valve V12 twin-turbo engine connected to a heavy-duty five-speed auto. The federal Gas Guzzler Tax adds $1,300 to the V8, $3,000 to the V12. The S63 AMG is powered by a 6.2-liter V8, while the S65 AMG features a 6.0-liter V12.

Standard features on the S550 include leather upholstery, a navigation system with voice recognition, heated 14-way power front seats with lumbar, heated power mirrors, Harman/Kardon 14-speaker, six-disc audio system with weatherband, satellite radio, and front/rear illuminated vanity mirrors. Also standard are active bi-xenon headlamps which illuminate around corners, and cornering fog lamps that illuminate the front corner areas of the car, as well as automatic shock-absorber adjustment and a load/height adjustable suspension.

The S600 adds Active Body Control, Parktronic front and rear parking radar system and Distronic radar-controlled cruise control.

Walkaround
The current generation S-Class was launched for the 2007 model year. It’s longer, wider and taller than previous models.

The exterior’s most noticeable features are the exaggerated fender flares front and rear. Additional design cues include an upright grille, headlamps and tail lamps, the latter with thick body-colored horizontal bars running through them and tied together with lower body molding. The decklid opening is not contained within the rear fenders, but instead extends out to the side of the body, with a distinctly raised position that looks a bit like the rear end of a 7 Series BMW. That was done for exactly the same aerodynamic reasons as on the BMW, to give the air rushing over the long, long roof panel a good place to separate cleanly from the body without causing drag. A side benefit is a huge trunk opening for easy loading.

To keep weight down, the hood, decklid, door skins, and much of the door interiors are made of aluminum alloys, while the main body shell is made of high-strength steel.

Interior
The Mercedes S-Class boasts one of the most beautiful interior executions on the market today. Got Maybach envy? S-Class buyers can order special designo editions with lavish materials that make these truly sumptuous cars.

And it’s relatively easy to learn how to operate. We solved all of the mysteries of a complicated luxury car’s switch layout and control system without looking in the owner’s manual. It’s that easy. The COMAND system, located at the center of the dash, is used to operate the radio, telephone, entertainment system, navigation system, and vehicle systems.

The COMAND system uses a large, deeply hooded and high-mounted 16:9 ratio full-color display screen, with a console-mounted knob that twists and pushes to change categories and change settings. Everything is done with the twist-and-push controller that operates like the BMW iDrive or Audi MMI systems, only better. It’s far easier to use and understand, even without resorting to reading the manual, and far more intuitive than the BMW and Audi systems. Select the vehicle systems and the display changes to a silhouette drawing of the car where you can customize 10 different settings to your preferences as easily as using a point-and-shoot camera.

2002 Mercedes-Benz S-Class

introduction

The Mercedes-Benz S-Class has been on the road going on two years now, but the technology found in the these sedans remains the benchmark for the class. Under that understated skin lurks the heart of a robot. Microprocessors and onboard sensors instantaneously determine many of the forces acting upon the car, filter the data, and adjust the car’s handling for you.

Starting with the S500, the S-Class was redesigned in the spring of 1999 for model year 2000. The car came out lower, sleeker (most aerodynamic efficiency in a passenger car), smaller, and roomier

Lineup

Four distinct models comprise the Mercedes S-Class. All are four-door sedans with different single-overhead-cam engines using three valves per cylinder.

S500 ($80,200) comes with a 302-horsepower 5.0-liter V8.

S430 ($71,850) uses a 275-horsepower 4.3-liter V8.

The new S600 ($115,200) marks the debut of the newest Mercedes engine, a 362-horsepower 5.8-liter V12.

And the hot-rod S55 AMG ($99,500) is powered by a hand-built 5.4-liter V8 producing 354 horsepower with 391 foot-pounds of torque. Standard equipment on the S55 AMG (classified as a Low Emissions Vehicle, even with all that power) includes an active suspension, 18-inch AMG Monoblock alloy wheels with high-performance tires, ventilated front seats, AMG aerodynamic enhancements, and a trunk-mounted CD changer.

S600 features the active suspension, high-polish 17-inch alloy wheels, greater levels of wood and leather trim, a suede-like Alcantara headliner, Parktronic, four heated and power-operated seats, four-zone climate control, CD changer and digital cellular phone with voice control

Walkaround
The S-Class cars are big, long, rich and luxurious looking, unmistakably Mercedes, with flagship rather than dramatic styling. If you can separate the styling from the image, it’s not dramatically eye-catching. It says rich, at least as much as gorgeous. In the parking lot of our credit union, from the rear at least, it almost got lost among the common sedans.

The upswept window line is lovely, but the AMG Monobloc wheels seem too big and solid looking. On our S500 they housed massive 18-inch Michelin Pilot Sport tires-a two-inch jump over the standard 16-inch tires-as part of the optional Sport package ($4,900), which also includes the AMG aerodynamic bodywork.

Interior
From your throne behind the wheel, the S500 might make you feel like master of the universe. A long strip of burl walnut sweeps across the instrument panel from door to door, its bend and taper reminiscent of the graceful lines of an archer’s bow. Leather doesn’t get much lusher than the charcoal Nappa in our S500 (except for Exclusive Nappa in the S600), and the rear bench seat feels like an expensive sofa. There’s a cavernous 40.3 inches of legroom back there, just one inch less than the front-and the rear seat reclines, too.

”The design goal was to reduce driving stress as much as technology and good design sense would allow,” says Mercedes. Yes but ¿ watch out for the ambush by an oxymoron; technology and good design sense often fight for control. The S500 instrument panel includes about six dozen switches and controls, some of which have icons for German functions, and the translation into sign language sometimes comes out Greek. Press a switch, just for fun. ”Airmatic Vehicle Car Rising,” a message on the panel tells you. We never saw a ”Car Falling” message, which may be evidence that Mercedes engineers truly believe they can defy gravity.