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Other Makes And Modelsdiscussion of all other makes and models
2007 Mercedes-Benz S-Class
Techno Wonder: New S-Class has gadgets galore. Does it all work?
2007 MERCEDES-BENZ S550
ON SALE: February
BASE PRICE: $89,000 (est.)
POWERTRAIN: 5.5-liter, 382-hp, 391-lb-ft V8; rwd, seven-speed automatic
CURB WEIGHT: 4500 lbs (est.)
0 TO 60 MPH: 5.5 seconds (mfr.)
Mercedes-Benz says its new 2007 S-Class is the most technologically advanced luxury car on the market.Mercedes has said that about every new S-Class for 20 years or more, but reaching deeper into its bag of technology tricks today poses a risk for the company: The previous-generation S was plagued by recalls and customer satisfaction below luxury-car levels. The company has been striving to simplify its technology as part of an effort to improve quality control.
Now comes the ninth-generation S-Class, codenamed W221 and first shown at the Frankfurt show (.Big Think in Frankfurt,. Sept. 26). The car.s list of gizmos is extensive. Here is but a sampling:
Brake Assist Plus: A booster kicks in and adds brake power automatically when sensors mounted in the front bumper think you are too close to the car in front and predict a panic stop is needed. (In-house tests found accident rates dramatically reduced with the new technology.)
Pre-Safe: If the car senses an accident coming, the system pre-tensions the seatbelts, automatically closes the windows and inflates cushions in the front seats.
Night Vision: A new system employing an infrared sensor to identify objects quickly. It delivers clearer images to a screen on the dashboard.
That is atop the goodies one would expect in a 21st-century uber luxury sedan, such as active body control (cuts roll 60 percent, says Mercedes). The company says a dozen innovations are making their production debuts on this S-Class.
So how does Mercedes keep it all straight? How does it decide which technologies make the cut and which don.t?
That task falls largely to Frank Knothe, S-Class development director. Knothe has been working on S-Classes for 15 years, so he knows whereof he speaks.
Knothe says developing an S-Class is a multiphase process. First comes strategy.
.Every conceivable system is evaluated in pre-prototype stages,. Knothe told AutoWeek. .The next step is to take something like Distronic Plus cruise control and test it. We run the electronic features for 44 to 45 months in about 120 prototypes before anything is given the go-ahead..
In all, Knothe says, some 500 prototypes are tested in that time period. In other words, even as the last S-Class was hitting the market, Knothe and his team were already developing the next car.
This new S-Class is bigger than the outgoing model, three inches longer in the wheelbase and an inch-and-a-half longer overall. We will see the S550 first (formerly called S500), with a 5.5-liter 382-hp V8 and a seven-speed automatic transmission. That car will arrive in February.
The U.S. entry-level model.if you can call it that.is the S450, using a 4.6-liter 335-hp V8 mated to a seven-speed automatic. The S450 arrives in April, along with the S600, which boasts twin turbos on its 5.5-liter engine, taking horsepower to 510. 4Matic will be available in the fall; diesel models for America are being studied, Mercedes says.
So how does the new car drive? We spent a couple days trying out an S550 in Italy and Switzerland. Frankly, we were disappointed at first. Low-speed cruising was sublime, but once the road got twisty and we tried to hustle the car it felt soft and lumbering, more like a big old American sedan than an autobahn stormer.
Ah, but then we tried Sport mode. It was wonderful. It transformed the car. In Sport mode the big dog could be hustled along nicely as we moved up and down the gearbox using the shift buttons on the back of the steering wheel. The car stayed poised and controlled.and supremely quiet.with little body roll. The seats, heated and cooled of course, were comfortable in the extreme and we got out after a full day.s driving feeling relaxed and refreshed.
The new Distronic cruise control system works a lot better than the old system, which some among us detest. This new system is a lot smoother, less abrupt, and in stop-and-go traffic will bring the car to a stop and back up to speed again.
All this is controlled from an interior that looks like that of the BMW 7 Series. Indeed the Mercedes Comand system looks suspiciously like iDrive (the alumi*num knob sits on the center console, just like the BMW), but works more intuitively, controlling functions such as navigation, heating/venting and the stereo. The gear selector is located on the steering column, again, just like in the big BMW.
S-Class prices are not yet set, but when pressed Mercedes officials whisper that the S450 will start in the high-$70,000 range, with the S550 starting around $89,000 and the mighty S600 coming in around $130,000.
Those same company officials aren.t shy about calling their big sedan the finest luxury car available. That.s what they say about every S-Class, of course, so we will need more drive time to fully evaluate the claim. Plus, the entire world will be watching to see if this new car and its bells and whistles can be delivered with all systems functioning, and be reliable over the long haul.
The early signs are the new S-Class is beautifully built and much more engaging to drive than its predecessor. For Mercedes, that.s a good start.
pics, what the hell is the difference, they ALL look identical! from 1960 to 2005 mercedes havent changed their style!
What are u talking about? The S-Class has remained rellativley unchnaged over the past few years,undergoing a few exterior refinements. But to compare a 1960 S-Class to a 2007 S-Class is like comparing a WWII P-51 Mustang to an F22 Raptor. Both have there pluses and minues. The F22 Raptor basicly evolved from the P-51 Mustange the same way the orignal S-Class has evolved into the current W211 S-Class. Mercedes tends to stay with a traditional look dating back to thier origns, which is probably why the S-Class hasnt chnaged too much over the years.
But the E- Class and C-Class have undergon major refinements so to speak. Take a look at a 97 C230 and a 95 E320, then look at pictures of a 2004 C-Class and E-Class, the lines are more rounded and cleaner giving it a more prestigious look. Ill try to get pics for you to compare.
so... which technology is the one that fails when inside of a steel tunnel?
The radar thingy (cant remeber the actual name). Its supposed to automaticlly apply the brakes when it senses your getting to clsoe to a car ahead of you.
11-30-2005, 03:05 AM
I keep forgetting that - I have a great memory but it doesn't last long
