Is there a new "world's best car"? If the Mercedes-Benz public relations machine is to believed, there is. It is the new S-class, which was introduced at the Frankfurt Auto Show. It appears that the car magazines are believing it too. It's a little difficult to tell from just reading the magazines and not seeing it in person or driving it. But from what I read, and read into, it looks very good, but likely not "best". The problem with "best" is that it is only best to the beholder. All of us have different values for a car and what's best for me probably isn't best for you.
I give credit to Mercedes stylists. The new S-class looks like an S-class without looking almost exactly like its predecessor. The problem is that except for the characteristic, and widely copied, classic Mercedes sedan grille, it looks like a conglomeration of other cars. The generic headlights belong on a Hyundai. The bulging fender flares came from an Audi TT. The curved line below the side glass came from their own CLS sedan-coupe. The rear of the car looks like a cross between a Bangle BMW 7-series and Mercedes' own Maybach. I supposed to complement the raised trunk lid, there is a raised hood as well -- like the Maybach.
The overall impression is of a bigger car (it is), but simultaneously more imposing but somewhat ungainly. One additional observation from the pictures is that it appears that there will have to be additional side-marker lights for the U.S. cars. The European ones have headlights and taillights that don't appear to wrap around far enough for the side-markers to be included.
The interior is a combination of typical Mercedes and a copy of the current BMW 7-series. It doesn't exactly have the twin-hump instrument display, but it is very close. It has an iDrive controller -- oops, a vastly improved Mercedes COMAND controller. They look identical, except that Mercedes has put a wrist pad in back of the knob. They've banished the transmission control and emergency brake from the center console -- like BMW -- so the knob is easy to use. Unfortunately Mercedes likes buttons so much that there still are 150 around the cabin and 27 on the driver's door alone. And there is a strip of little buttons along the front of the dash above the console that would be impossible to distinguish at 100 miles/hour on the autobahn. With that many buttons remaining, what is the knob for? Are there that many other electronic things in the car to control? That's scary considering Mercedes current reputation for reliability.
The interior materials must have been drastically improved over the old S-class. One reviewer even said that "The S-class is beautifully made; it feels like it will last forever." That's a real change over its predecessor! The pictures do make it look nice. One interesting change is an analog clock in the middle of the dash above the console. It looks like a nice, but not really expensive, watch. This is a design feature that clearly is not very usable for a driver. It will take a lot of attention to locate the clock and then decide what the hands really say. A car is the ideal place for a digital display of time.
The car is bigger in every dimension and heavier than the older S-class. It does have a new V-8 engine and keeps the existing 7-speed automatic. That makes the car only slightly less economical than the old S-class despite extra bulk and more power. Better yet, the engine makes enough extra power, that Mercedes says that the new model is almost a full second faster to 60 miles/hour. That's kind of hard to believe. Ride is said to be excellent, even on the optional 19-inch tires. The standard tires on the old model were 16-inchers. The evaluation of the handling as "almost sporting" probably guarantees that if you want a sporting big sedan, you'd better go to the BMW or Audi dealer. Lexus is very near to introducing a new LS which will be serious competition to the Mercedes.
There is a whole array of electronics stuff that is either standard or optional on the new S-class. One item, however, that is not included from the last generation is the electronic brakes. While this list may sound much like other luxury sedans, the new S-class offers radar cruise control, night vision, voice control and DVD entertainment systems. The night vision system is much like the system pioneered by Cadillac except that instead of projecting the image on the windshield, the color monitor in the instrument panel is used. Instead of a passive infrared system used by Cadillac, the Mercedes system has infrared "lights" on the front of the car and a camera to record the image. Mercedes says that the image shows detailed objects 700 feet ahead of the car. Standard low-beam (European) lights show objects just 560 feet ahead of the car.
I don't feel that the car looks like anything but a Mercedes with some rather ugly furbelows. The German writer, however, felt that it was rather awful, but concluded that first impressions don't count anymore with a car like this. If the badge is right, then people will get used to almost anything. The BMW 7-series proved that. Well, the badge certainly is right for Los Angeles, and there will be an awful lot of them cruising around on the streets here. The only "if" in this assessment is if the Mercedes engineers really did go back to their roots when quality was their religion.
