Face to giant face with the 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class

Mercedes-Benz isn't a brand afraid to put on a show for any old reason at all – like, just because it's Tuesday – but the premiere of the 2014 S-Class, even by the standards we're used to, was Broadway-theater intense. Held at a purpose-built venue inside a hanger at the Airbus factory in Hamburg, the hours-long extravaganza was hosted by two German newscasters and guest-starred Alicia Keyes, an A380, fireworks, every model in the lineup in a choreographed driving routine while The Stig did donuts in an SLS AMG in the rain, and at the very end, burlesque. That's how much the S-Class means to this brand.

What's it going to mean to the razor's edge of the mass-market large luxury sedan market? The exterior, that's ripe for debate. But the interior – well, it just hung a sign on the segment that read, "Achtung! This,meine Damen und Herren, is how it's done."

Truth be told, we were concerned about meeting the latest conveyance of kings. We couldn't get a handle on its proportions in the photos – the homogenized face gave us pause, and the sloping rear end had us genuinely concerned that this was about to get ugly.

Turns out the car is fine. Some other introductions of late have had us worried that Mercedes is designing cars like it knows people will buy them no matter what, even if they're unattractive (SL anyone?). And they're right - the new SL will not have a problem finding new owners to please, and it is a terrific car for its class, but to our eyes the current convertible is an aesthetic step sideways and down compared to the last one. And those headlight eyebrows that are going on everything, well, let's just not get into that.

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Mercedes unveils the 2014 S-Class in Germany

Mercedes has finally unveiled the new S-Class and it’s done so in very apt location –at the Airbus A380 delivery hanger in the German city of Hamburg. The S-Class of course is quite easily the land based counterpart to one of the largest and most luxurious aircraft in the world. Here are the details

The design is far more dynamic with a larger front grille and A-Class-esque headlamps. The side profile has bolder creases while the roof slopes nicely into the muscular looking rear end. LEDs have been used all around and Mercedes claims that not a single bulb has been used with this car. And it’s an incredibly slippery shape with a drag coefficient of just 0.24 – a segment benchmark

The interiors like we mentioned last month are beautifully crafted in some of the finest materials. The long wheelbase model gets five different seat packages, with a maximum recline of 43.5 degrees. The seats themselves are 20kgs lighter than before. Six massage programs are on offer with heating and cooling functions. The aircon can even diffuse air into the cabin in three different modes. The top end Burmester audio system has woofers installed in the body shell to use 40 litres of air in the cross members for ultimate bass. It uses 24 speakers for an overall 1540watts of what promises to be glorious sound. The car gets a built in atomizer that which diffuses scents into the cabin. 5 specially developed scents are available and the company claims that the scents don’t linger on your clothes after you’ve left the car.

Merc's optional ‘Magic Body Control’ uses stereo cameras to monitor the road surface ahead and keep the suspension ready for any imperfections. Standard suspension includes the Adaptive Damping System and also an updated version of the Airmatic air suspension. The body itself is lighter than before thanks to extensive use of aluminium but boats 50 per cent more torsional rigidity. In typical Merc fashion the S features such an extensive list of safety features that this could quite easily be one of the safest cars on the planet. It even gets a special airbag under the rear seat that holds you in the reclined position in a crash!

Four powertrain are available for the first year – a 3-litre V6 diesel in the S350 BlueTec which should make for the bulk of sales in India, a 4.7-litre V8 biturbo petrol for the S500 and a 3.5-litre V6 hybrid petrol in the S400 Hybrid and a 2.2-litre four cylinder diesel electric hybrid for the S300 Hybrid. The more powerful AMGs should follow suit. The best car in the world is back.

By Team Overdrive
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