For $100G+, a yacht with radar and inflatable seat bladders’

Tom Incantalupo | ROAD TEST

March 10, 2006

A new Mercedes S-Class is more than just another luxury car that most people can't afford. It usually offers a hint of what we'll find one day in cars and trucks for the rest of us.

Innovations such as antilock brakes and stability control appeared first in the S-Class, then worked their way gradually down the automotive price ladder (and across to other luxury models).

So have elements of the S-Class Pre-Safe system that tightens seatbelts and repositions seats if it senses an impending impact.

So what does the future hold?

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Standard in the new generation S-Class is a superbly smooth and quick-reacting seven-speed automatic transmission - a first for a production car. It offers drivers a choice of regular and "sport" shifting modes; in the latter, the car's suspension is automatically lowered to provide better cornering along with the crisper shifts.

The new transmission was bolted to an also-new 5.5-liter 382-horsepower V-8 engine in my tester; together, they deliver zero to 60 mph in 5.4 seconds, according to Mercedes. That's quick for a muscle car, let alone a 4,200-pound luxury sedan.

Options available in the 2007 S-Class, which went on sale in the United States last month, include the first cruise- control system in a production car that works in stop-and-go traffic.

And two new features have been added to the Pre-Safe system: If it senses an impending side impact, windows close to provide better support for the curtain air bags, and special seat cushions in the front seat backrests can inflate to offer extra support for the seat-mounted side air bags.

Pre-Safe also closes the sunroof if it senses an impending rollover. (If you're having visions of windows and the sunroof snapping closed like bear traps, relax; Mercedes says everything moves at normal speed, while still helping to minimize injuries.)

Also new for '07 is an added feature to the "brake assist" emergency pedal-pressure-augmentation system. Although such systems are now widely available, this one employs the cruise-control system's radar to adjust braking pressure based on the closing distance between your car and the vehicle in front.

Also available in the new S are a few items that have appeared in previous Mercedes or competitor models but are notable anyway. These include four-zone climate control, infrared night vision, and a completely keyless entry and engine start system (the fob just needs to be in the vicinity of the car).

For now, only one S-Class model is available - the 550, starting at $87,175, including freight and a $1,000 federal gas guzzler tax. (That tax might seem unfair since the S' fuel economy, estimated at 16 miles per gallon for city driving and 24 mpg on highways, is better than that of many SUVs, yet SUVs are exempt from the guzzler tax. You'll have to write your representative in Congress about that.)

Notably, that estimated fuel economy is the same as for last year's 5.0-liter V-8, which delivered only 302 hp. - 80 fewer than the '07 model's 5.5-liter engine.

An S600 sedan due next month will have a twin-turbocharged 510-hp., 5.5-liter V-12 engine. It will start at about $',000. An S65 model with a 6.0-liter V-12 is due in July. But an S450, with a smaller V-8, probably won't make it to the United States, a Mercedes-Benz spokesman said.

As it should be for prices like these, the new S-Class is quite a yacht - superbly crafted, quiet, comfortable, confident, powerful. No doubt helped in my tester by the optional $3,900 "active body control" suspension, the S-Class chassis does an amazing job of soaking up bumps, limiting bounce and keeping the car level.

Active body control exerts an opposing force; it doesn't simply regulate the damping.

But, for this kind of money, the S-Class also is notable for what it doesn't have: all-wheel drive. It's to be available late this year as an option, as it was in the predecessor model.

Mercedes says that, when more than $2,000 worth of new standard features for '07 are factored in, the new model is $2,500 cheaper than its predecessor. With options, the tester stickered at more than $105,000. Yep, that's more than my first house cost, too.

For 2006 these S-Class variants are available: the 350 with a V-6 engine; the S430, 500 and 550 with V-8s; and the S65 with the twin-turbocharged V-12.

Prices range from $65,675 to $172,375, including freight. That second number is no typo: one hundred and seventy two thousand, three hundred and seventy-five dollars - for the AMG modified, specially-tuned, high performance S65.