The Mercedes S Class has always had a special place in my heart. I grew up in Dubai amongst the W126s and W140s so a love towards the S Class is natural. The first Mercedes to get the S Class badge was the W116 in 1972. The new W222 S Class is the sixth generation of the car to be launched world wide and the third gen to be launched in India. The first India launch was the W220. I remember watching the global unveil video of the new S on the internet and just couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. So finally I got to spend a couple of days with the S500 and got to find out why it is called ‘The Best Car In The World’. Or is it?
The first thing you notice about the new S Class is the sheer size. The signature grille is larger than before. There are new all LED headlamps which add a distinctive character to the front and look like nothing else seen on a Mercedes car before. A line runs all the way from the headlight till the rear door on the top half while another goes from the front wheel arch all the way till the rear bumper. The rear gives a coupe like stance when viewed from the front three quarter angle. The all LED tail lamps look really classy and remind you of the now defunct Maybach. May I mention that the new S Class has to fill the shoes of the Maybach. The bumper gets chrome exhaust tips on either side. An interesting fact is that the new S Class does not have a single filament bulb in the car. What you get instead are 300 LEDs for interior and on the outside. I did mention technology no? Mercedes has used more than 50 percent aluminium in the construction of the new S Class and therefore even though the car is huge, it tips the scales at 2200kg.
The new S Class comes with Magic Body Control but sadly that will not be offered on cars that will be sold in India a ban by the Indian Government on the usage of certain frequencies. Still, let me tell you what it does. The Magic Body Control uses two cameras that are mounted on the front windshield which read the road upto 15 metres ahead and the information on the road condition is transmitted to the suspension which then adjusts the car’s wheels so that you don’t feel the bump or the broken road that you will encounter. Come to think of it, the Magic Body Control would have to work overtime on our roads if it came on the S Class here.
So we now come to the interiors. Open the doors and step inside. What you find is nothing short of royalty. The doors come with the soft touch closing feature and once you shut them once you are in, the outside world no longer exists for you. The two spoke leather steering reminds you of the Mercs of the yesteryears. The cabin is fine mix of wood, leather and aluminium which gives a very subtle and class feel to the insides. There are two large 31.2 cm screens, one which houses your instrument cluster, car information and the optional night vision and the other is for the COMMAND system. Unlike conventional fuel gauges in cars, the gauge in the S Class shows fuel remaining in percentage. There is a strip of LED lights in the dashboard with the choice of seven colours for ambient lighting inside the cabin. Really fantastic. The stalks for wipers and steering adjust are of good quality but they look too similar to those seen on other Mercedes models. Mercedes could have thought of making these unique for the S Class.
Moving on, there is everything to pamper you as a passenger inside the S. The seats get ventilated heating and cooling with massage function. Seated in the rear you can move the front seat forward electrically and out comes a foot rest to put your feel on while you relax in complete luxury. Reaching out to the foot rest can be a problem for short heighted people as I found out myself. More travel for the foot rest would be more desirable for sure. With the Executive rear seat package that the test car came with, you can also recline the back rest of the rear seat for more comfort. There are two fold away tables stored in the area between the rear seats which you can use for working on the go. Sitting with the table open reminded me of being seated in an aircraft. Mercedes equips the new with a state of the art 24 speaker Burmester sound system. This is easily one the best audio systems I have heard in a car, the other being the Bang & Olefsen in Audis. The tweeters come out in a circular motion from inserts in the A pillar which looks very novel.
The round AC vents look retro and cooling from the 4 zone climate control is what you would expect from a car of this class. It is also nice to see that an analogue clock finds place on the dashboard in a car that is filled with so much tech. Other features include panoramic roof, 10 inch screens for the rear passengers mounted behind the front headrests, Bluetooth, hard disk, 6 DVD changer, USB, Aux and Wifi connectivity too. The S Class comes with spare wheel in the boot which eats into the 530 litres of boot space but there good space nevertheless. The boot can be closed electrically via a button on the boot lid. The S Class is loaded to the brim with safety features like air bags for the front and rear passengers and window bags. There are inflatable 3 point seat belts with belt bags too. There is also the PRESAFE Brake feature wherein the car can brake itself to avoid a collision with a pedestrian or a stationary object at speeds upto 50 kph.
Powering the S500 is a 4.7 litre V8 petrol motor with 453 bhp on tap and belting out 700 Nm of max torque. To say that the engine is refined would be an understatement. It is super smooth and will do the 0 to 100 kph dash in a claimed 4.8 seconds. Top speed is an electronically limited 250kph. Acceleration is very linear and the car just surges forward without blinking an eye lid. NVH levels are top notching you cannot hear a thing inside. Shifts from the 7G Tronic gearbox are super smooth and you cannot feel them as you drive along. Despite its size, it is very easy to manoeuvre the car in traffic. Parking is not an issue either thanks to the 360 degree cameras that the S Class comes equipped with. Even through ground clearance is not much, going over speed breakers is not a problem because the car can be raised via a button on the centre console.
The car comes into its own element on the highway. It just glides over uneven roads thanks to the air suspension with adaptive dampers. There are two modes that the car can be driven in ‘Comfort’ and ‘Sport’. There is also a manual mode where you can shift gears using paddles mounted behind the steering. Steering feel is superb and the car has tons of grip as I got know navigating corners through the Khandala ghats. The S500 comes with a staggered tyre set up with 245/45 profile rubber at the front and 275/40 at the rear riding on 19 inch rims. The test car came with run flat tyres so Im quite eager to know how much of a difference regular tubeless tyres would make to the ride quality.
The S Class sets a new bench mark with every new model that takes birth and the new W222 is no different. It is nothing short of a technological wonder and has taken the luxury level bar many notches higher. It is so good that the Maybach marque is not missed. And Mercedes has also added the S350 powered by an oil burner to its line up so there you have a choice as well. The S Class is as awesome to drive as it is to be chauffeured around in the back seat. There is just something special when you drive an S Class with the three pointed star perched on the bonnet which also lets the world know that you have arrived. So coming to the question which thought of at the beginning of this review… Is the S Class still the ‘Best Car In The World? The answer is a definite Yes.
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