Over the years Mercedes has used lot of different letters to name their cars. The C and E classes are probably the most popular. But they also have an S Class where the S stands for Super. They currently don’t have an ‘L’ class, but I think you could describe the S-Class I drove last week as ‘L-Class’ with the L meaning luxury.
I drove the PHEV version of the S-Class and it was so relaxing and enjoyable. Now with most Plug-in Hybrids you get between 50 and 60 kilometres in full electric mode, but with the Mercedes S-Class you should be able to get close to 100km in full electric mode.
My neighbours were very impressed and one neighbour, who drove a Mercedes for many years, told me that he is now sorry that he changed to BMW a few years back. He was really impressed with my silver-coloured Merc.
Maybe it was the famous three-pointed star on the bonnet that had him thinking about happier days. I know he suffered from ruffians who used to break the famous star on the bonnet, just for fun. Strange kind of fun, but it looks like he wasn’t the only driver to be hit as Mercedes dropped the star and used their famous badge on the bonnet instead. But now they have brought the star back for the new S-Class.
I have never owned a Merc, but I have tested a few over the years and I used to travel with a colleague who bought a secondhand Merc in the nineties. At that time he said the car would do him until he died. Well thankfully he is still us and he has now traded in for a more modern version. Maybe he also likes the famous star, which in my opinion completes the look on that huge bonnet.
It really is a huge motor at almost 5.3 metres in length and 1.95 metres wide. Yet thanks to that pointed star it’s so easy to handle. It may sound a bit Christmassy, but you just follow the star!
If it’s power you want there is plenty in this 3.0-litre motor which has 367 brake horse power and it will get you from zero to 100km/h in just over five seconds.
Keeping those Nappa Leather beige seats clean might be difficult, but I think most people would enjoy cleaning those seats.
My wife, who is nowhere near six foot, had no problem finding a comfortable seating position. The back seat is equally comfortable and if you have only two back seat passengers they can leave down the ‘dividing rest’ and have drinks.
The boot is huge, but as is normal with plug-in hybrids, no spare wheel is provided. But then as the old saying goes, you can’t have everything where would you put it. In this case the hybrid technology takes up the space needed for a spare wheel.
I can safely say that it was the most expensive car I have ever driven. The starting price was €150,000 and then when you add in a few extras like the Advantage Pack, which costs over €5k and the price of the car as tested came to a whopping €159,286. But then road tax is cheap at €140. And you will never leave your mobile phone in the car, because if you do, you will get a warning voice message before you close the driver’s door.
I loved it and hated giving the car back to the kind people in MDL on the Naas Road. But I know there will be more electric Mercs to be road tested in the year ahead.
I realise the price is outside of most people’s budget and there are parts of the country where you can still buy a house for that kind of money. But as the National Lottery ad says, ‘dreams can come through.’
