Mercedes-Benz has introduced ultra-clean S-Class models to Australia. So environmentally friendly are these cars that they already meet European stage 6 emission regulations that don’t come into force until 2014. These big S-Class Benzes are so far ahead of their time that dates for these tough regulations have yet to be set in Australia. Indeed, Euro 5 regulations only reached us on July 1, 2010.
These Mercedes S-Class saloons are the first ever Euro 6 compliant cars to go on sale in Australia. Mercedes-Benz Australia takes great pride in running ahead of competitors, pointing out that Karl Benz is credited with making the first ever car, 125 years ago this year.
Though these cars meet emission regulations that don’t even exist in Australia, buyers of one model in the S-Class, the turbo-diesel S350 BlueTec, benefits from its low fuel consumption. It benefits by having a price reduction of about $6000 due to a lowering of the Luxury Car Tax because of its officially measured fuel use of just 7.0 litres per hundred kilometres. That’s 40 miles per gallon in the old money - from a large prestigious saloon crammed full of the latest in automotive technology.
Our test drive from Bendigo to Melbourne had the trip computer frequently showing reading between five and six litres per hundred kilometres on the open road sections.
Also new under the bonnet is a V6 petrol 3.5-litre petrol engine that now features a 60 degree V instead of the 90 degrees of the superseded unit. This makes the engine smooth without the need for balance shafts. It produces 12.5 per cent more power than the outgoing engine, yet has fuel consumption that is 8.2 per cent less than before.
The VW Mercedes powerplant is the new 4.7-litre bi-turbo unit and in the S-Class it generates up to 320, and a staggering 700 Newton metres of torque. The latter gives the Mercedes S500 an effortless gait on the road, though our time behind the wheel was minimal so at this stage we can’t make many comments on its performance.
The V12 powerplants remains unchanged, though there’s no doubt that engineering work is being done on them as we speak.
Because most of the design work on these latest models in the Mercedes-Benz range was done during the harsh times of the GFC, all the R&D budget went into the aforementioned technical improvements. So the 2011 S-Class retains the same appearance as the outgoing model other than new designs of alloy wheels.
The complete Mercedes-Benz S-Class range, with prices (excluding government and dealer charges) is:
S 350 BlueTEC 3.0-litre turbo-diesel: $213,428 (automatic)
S 500 4.7-litre Biturbo petrol: $296,975 (automatic)
S 600 5.5-litre Biturbo petrol: $412,000 (automatic)
S 63 AMG 4.7-litre Biturbo petrol: $392,900 (automatic)
S 65 AMG 6.0-litre Biturbo petrol: $499,200 (automatic) |
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