The world’s best car now comes in a
package that should be irresistible to the Indian buyer
Mercedes comes with a cachet and history
that permeates their products thoroughly. There’s an experience you expect when
there’s a three-pointed star up front, and it’s usually delivered. The company
tends toward the conservative for their luxury cars and understatement has been
the order of the day. This is changing subtly, as is visible in the newest of
the German car makers’ products. When we drove the first S-Class to be launched
in India back in February, I was immediately impressed by the poise and luxury
coupled with the modern aesthetic that the S500 projected. “World’s best car”
didn’t feel like an idle boast.
The
Mercedes S350 CDI is a visual standout from every angle, inside and out
So how do you take the world’s best car and
make it even more attractive to the Indian audience? Make it cheaper of course!
The minty-fresh Mercedes-Benz S350 CDI plays checklist checkers with the
competition and comes off pretty well indeed. Diesel engine? Check. Massage
seats? Check. Big TFT console and driver info display? Check. Additionally, the
car is now assembled at Mercedes’ Chakan facility as a CKD model, thus bringing
the price down to a very competitive $175,355 ex-showroom. That’s right in the
ballpark of the Audi A8 L, the Jaguar XJ L and the BMW 7 Series that’s
currently seeing renewed interest thanks to the Modi sarkaar choosing
the high security model for our PM. However, since the 350 follows the
top-of-the-line S500 to market, there have been rationalisations in the
equipment provided, which we found to our puzzlement as we spent some time with
the car. But on to the driving.
The
interior ergonomics are excellent
The most striking thing about the S-Class
on the move is the near-complete silence in the cabin. I thought the Audi A8 L
was quiet when I drove it a few weeks ago, but this is on another level
entirely. So efficient is the isolation that it’s sometimes hard to hear your
own horn with the windows up. The engine note seems to have been carefully
tuned to provide audible feedback, but that’s about it. For a diesel, it’s
rather quiet on the outside as well. A refined motor with purposeful
performance, as befits this luxury coach. It’s worthy of note that the
3.0-litre V6 in the S350 is not the most powerful among its rivals, but the
package of gearbox, torque and horsepower is such that you never really feel
the deficit. At 255bhp, you’d expect moderate performance, but the monstrous
torque of 620Nm makes for rapid progress. It’s efficient too, returning between
10 and 12kmpl on our brief test, which is quite good for a vehicle this size.
A
hard drive-based sat-nav system comes with the COMAND Online set-up. It has 3D
mapping and live traffic information
The gearbox used is the ubiquitous Mercedes
7G-TRONIC PLUS that’s used (in some form) all the way down to the new C and all
the way up to the GL 63 AMG. Tuned for the S-Class - which is more likely to be
driven by a chauffeur than the owner - it is very, very smooth. I like quick
shifts, so I left it in Sport mode, and it was quick enough to not frustrate
me.
Which brings us neatly to the ‘Sport’ mode
in the S350 CDI. There are two buttons on the centre console for when you want
to push the S a little. One stiffens the suspension and the other quickens the
gearbox and throttle response. Truth be told, the S-Class is so plush that I
couldn’t really tell much difference between the Sport and Comfort suspension
settings. Even on rutted roads, speed-breakers, tar, concrete - the ride
quality of the S-Class is beyond reproach.
