The brilliant new Mercedes-Benz S 500 has already take the Indian luxury car market by storm, but just how good is this new diesel?
As for the handling, the suspension has been setup for excellent high-speed stability and agility rather than sportscar-like handling. You do get that beautifully fluid steering feel that we’ve come to associate with big Mercs, and the car allows you to easily carry huge amounts of speed.
Indian cars don’t get the camera based Magic Body Control (MBC) system in India thanks to some archaic legislation that bans the use of certain radar frequencies. MBC uses a pair of cameras mounted in the windscreen to read the road up to 15 metres ahead of the car, and this information is relayed to the suspension that actively reacts to the surface it’s about to encounter! The job of lighting the road and interiors are handled solely by LEDs – close to 500 of them spread all over the car: there are no traditional bulbs. There are 56 in each headlamp, 35 in each tail-lamp and about 300 lighting up the interiors.
At Rs 1.07 crore (ex-showroom, Maharashtra) the S 350 CDI is considerably more affordable than the petrol S 500, it's undoubtedly more economical to run and nearly as well equipped - it takes luxury diesel travel to an all new level. To begin with, if you are sat in the back, you can’t really tell it is a diesel, unless you make an effort. The engine is smooth, linear and jerk free and there is just about enough performance on hand too. Add in the brilliant interiors, the fact that it has enough features to keep demanding customers happy, and you soon come away with the impression that the new S-class diesel is everything you expect in a diesel limo. And more.
SHAPUR KOTWAL