2008 Mercedes-Benz S-Class

Bragging Rights

Inspector Gadget has nothing on the redesigned Mercedes-Benz S-Class, which offers some of the most advanced features ever offered in an automobile.

The S-Class is the Mercedes-Benz flagship, sitting atop the automaker’s line for more than half a century. It has introduced a catalog of automotive innovations to market, from antilock brakes to anticipatory crash systems. An all-new version, introduced in early 2006 as a 2007 model, is likewise a rolling test bed of technology, offering a laundry list of features, literally too long to list here.

• Get a Mercedes-Benz S-Class price quote

As you’d expect, the car’s styling is revised with somewhat sleeker lines. And its already stellar performance is enhanced with added power and sophistication. A new 5.5-liter V8 engine enables even the “base” S550 S-Class, if you can call it that, to reach 60 mph in a little more than five seconds. As before, the engine is mated to a seven-speed automatic transmission that now affords manual gear selection via a steering-column-mounted lever. There is also an S500 4MATIC version with the Mercedes all-wheel-drive system.

Not quick enough? An available bi-turbo, V12-powered version, the S600, delivers more than 500 hp. And above that is the S65 AMG, with more than 600 hp.

In terms of driving dynamics, the standard Airmatic air suspension system in every Mercedes-Benz S-Class affords a plush ride and precise handling characteristics by self-adjusting the shock absorbers at each wheel individually, according to the changing road and driving conditions, in as little as 50 milliseconds.

This is all fine and well, and you expect top performance from a top-priced luxury sedan. But what sets the S-Class apart from mere mortal forms of motoring is the advanced automotive gadgetry, which buyers will brag about to their pals, and delight in demonstrating on the way to and from the country club.

• See Mercedes-Benz S-Class specs

This means items like 12-way-adjustable, multicontour, heated and ventilated, massaging, leather front and rear seats, fitted with 11 self-inflating/adjusting air cushions for the ultimate in comfort. Ditto with the car’s available Night View Assist function. Night View essentially extends the driver’s range of vision without having to turn on the high beams. Here, two infrared headlamps illuminate the road, while an infrared camera records the reflected image of the road ahead and displays it on a small screen mounted on the instrument panel.

Likely the most-talked-about feature offered in the Mercedes-Benz S-Class will be its innovative Distronic Plus proximity control system, which takes so-called adaptive cruise control to a higher level of sophistication and functionality. Using radar as a guide, the system not only keeps the car at a desired speed and distance from the vehicle ahead, but does so even in stop-and-go highway traffic. It will automatically bring the car to a stop if necessary and accelerate back to the selected velocity when traffic starts moving again. This isn’t a car that drives itself, but it’s getting there.

That’s not all. As an added safety measure, the vehicle’s Brake Assist Plus system measures the distance between the vehicle and the traffic ahead and immediately applies the ideal amount of braking assistance when you’re coming to a stop, if it calculates that the closing speed is too high.

• Mercedes-Benz S-Class Vehicle Summary

And if the Pre-Safe system feels a collision is imminent, based on input from the antilock brakes, traction control and the steering wheel, it will automatically tug on, or “pre-tension” the seat belts. The system also moves the front seats, to put occupants in the safest position relative to the airbags, in case the airbags deploy.

An airbag inflates so fast because, in effect, the stuff inside that inflates it is an explosive charge, not very different from a “blank” in a gun. Shorter drivers who pull their seats forward to reach the pedals can be gravely injured sitting too close to an airbag that goes off.

• See all Mercedes-Benz models in the Mercedes-Benz Showroom

Occupants whose seats are reclined can also be injured because their hips slide underneath their seat belts (called “submarining”), reducing the belts’ effectiveness. Pre-Safe also closes the sunroof and the side windows, which is especially important in case the car rolls.

The seat belt-tugging, and window- and sunroof-closing take place whether or not the car has actually hit anything. Seat belt pre-tensioners in most cars don’t go off until the car has actually hit something, and the car has started to “deform’’ — that is, suffer damage. That deformation is also the signal that makes the airbags go off.