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Friday, August 18, 2006
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Mercedes S-class king of luxury
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A very interesting article by Jonathan Yarkony from Canadian Auto Press. Here is a portion of the article, and if you are interested in the whole thing, just click on the link below the article.
The Mothership has landed.
For the sake of my own journalistic integrity, I am going to attempt to refrain from any excessive sarcasm or gratuitous mockery of so revered an institution as the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. And by institution I am not referring to its massive size or the multitude of features with which it sells, but rather the esteem and respect it garners on all avenues and boulevards.
The previous S-Class was widely lauded as a machine designed with a large measure of classic tastefulness. It was a bridge to the distinguished limos of the three-pointed star marque's past, like the 1963 600 or the mid-50s 300D, with technological innovations fit to usher in a new millennium.
The millennium is now past and Mercedes is looking to continue a longstanding tradition of innovation while maintaining a historical connection with over a century of car building and design. As even Mercedes designers will point out, theirs is an evolutionary progress.
"An exorbitantly luxurious car, designed, as rumour had it, to outclass everything that had been available to ambitious customers all over the world in the category of top-notch limousines."
That's a quote from the Mercedes-Benz history site about the release of the much-anticipated 600 limo in 1963, also available at the time in regular and long-wheelbase versions. It seems that DaimlerChrysler has carried forward those same principles and pulled out all the stops for the brand new 2007 S-Class. Those stops include Brake Assist Plus, Distronic Plus, second-generation PRE-SAFE, as well as various other features that have nothing to do with stopping.
Before I get to all the different ways the S-Class keeps itself from getting scratched or dented, I will give a little rundown of its newfound design. Though many will mourn the passing of the previous model's elegant curves, Mercedes is applying many of the same techniques and stylistic themes they have already applied across their model range. The dominant features to my eyes are big flared wheel arches on all four corners, recalling the floating fenders of the '30s without going back in time.
One of the defining features of all new Mercedes-Benz designs is the arcing beltline crease. In the case of the S it originates from above the front wheel arches, runs along the bottom of the windows and D-pillar all the way back to separate the rear taillight clusters and the trunk. The side panels are relatively uninterrupted, allowing a feel of substantial mass, and combined with edges in the fascia and grille and sharper headlight shapes give the S-Class an overall high-tech look, as opposed to its predecessor's sinuous, sporting demeanour.
Now that I've given word to certain features that caught my eye, I'll tell you about the foremost technological advancements of Mercedes' flagship sedan. Most of these features pertain to the car's various safety systems that help keep it from colliding with other vehicles.
The first and most critical to Mercedes are the capabilities of the new radar system, which works in concert with several of the car's programs to maintain the integrity of the S-Class in various situations. Distronic Plus is Mercedes' adaptive cruise control, which allows the driver to maintain a constant distance from the vehicle in front. In city-driving conditions, Distronic Plus teams up with Brake Assist Plus to monitor proximity to surrounding cars. If the sensors anticipate a collision, they will automatically apply appropriate brake pressure even if the driver does not.
Click here to continue reading |
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posted by Muamer Hodzic @
8/18/2006 03:12:00 PM
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