The Stuttgart-based manufacturer has unveiled the new W222-codenamed Mercedes-Benz S-Class luxury sedan at the Airbus A380 Delivery Centre in Hamburg, Germany. The benchmark-setting Mercedes-Benz S-Class competes with highly prestigious, premium, vehicles like the Maserati Quattroporte, Audi A8, Range Rover and BMW 7 Series. Mercedes-Benz say they invented the class and they want their car to be the undisputed “best car in the world.”
This is the first new Mercedes-Benz S-Class in eight years. Initial reaction to its CLA/CLS-like profile, roofline and prominent front grille with requisite Mercedes-Benz S-Class emblem, suggest that mixing sporty lines with elegant cues bodes well for the luxury saloon and its continued success.
Updated styling sets the W222 apart from its illustrious predecessor. The grille opening is enlarged, upright and offset by the lower intake. If you think the front end doesn’t look quite how it should, that’s because it’s incorporated pedestrian safety elements into its structure, raising and lengthening the front end and altering the point where the bonnet meets the A-pillar.
At the rear, bold horizontal lines widen the car’s stance. You’ll notice the tail lights, with three horizontal fibre-optic elements, are encased by the rear bodywork and give an almost 3D effect. In profile the proportions are somewhat generic and yet with a typical Mercedes-Benz character line going from the front to the rear, creating a leaner and meaner look. The Mercedes-Benz S-Class is the first car in the world to not include a single lightbulb, with 500 LEDs split between the headlights (56), tail-lights (35) and interior (300).
The Mercedes-Benz S-Class designers wanted to return to classic, upright, dashboard-style for the interior and centre console, but bring it into the 21st century with the large, centrally mounted, screen display. While maintaining a thoroughly modern look, the unique LCD instrument cluster integrates the driver’s area with the high-resolution centre display screen, whilst avoiding an over stimulating environment. The new two-spoke wood and leather steering wheel is unique to the W222 too.
In the metal, the W222 is slightly bigger than the car it replaces at 5 116 mm long, 1 899 mm wide and 1 496 mm tall and, while the wheelbase remains the same as the last S-Class, headroom is up by 12 mm, shoulder room increases 14 mm and elbow room is up 10 mm. In the rear, shoulder room increases 9 mm and knee room is up by 14 mm.
The range, which was launched last night in Hamburg, includes the S350 with a 3.0-litre V6 CDI Bluetec rated for 190 kW. The S550 follows with a 4.7-litre turbocharged V8 with 335 kW, and the S400, which we’re unlikely to see in South Africa, features a 3.5-litre petrol V6 with an electric motor for a combined 225 kW.
The twin-turbo 4.7-litre V8 engine is touted to hustle the new S-Class to 100 km/h in an estimated 4.6 seconds and onto a limited top speed. This will be the top-performing W222 S-Class until the S63 AMG arrives a few months later, along with the S550 4Matic that’ll gain all-wheel drive.
Commenting at the world launch: “Rather than being about safety or aesthetics, power or efficiency, comfort or dynamism, our aspirations were ‘the best or nothing’ in every respect. No other car stands for the Mercedes-Benz brand promise more than the S-Class,” said Daimler chairman and Mercedes-Benz chief Dr Dieter Zetsche.
An 8-speed automatic gearbox is standard with both models, as is an electro-mechanical rack-and-pinion steering system. Underneath, S-Class includes a multi-link front and rear suspension setup with air springs and continuously adjustable damping shock absorbers.
New optional extras include Magic Body Control, something Mercedes-Benz like to call an ‘energising’ massage function based on hot-stone principles. A full array of driver assistance and safety features include Driver Assistance, which brings Active Lane Keeping Assist, Distronic Plus with Steering Assist, Cross-Traffic Asist, and Pre-Safe brake assist with pedestrian recognition.
Final pricing and specification will be announced closer to the local launch date. The car will arrive in most world markets in the final quarter of this year and we should see our allotment start to arrive in South Africa by the first quarter of 2014.