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At this point in the evolution of the car, it’s fair to ask whether one can actually be perfect. While there are many that are far from it — including, you might be surprised to hear, Rolls-Royce and Bentley, both of which are pure excess, and thus disqualified — there are many that would seem to be pretty damn close. They ride brilliantly, handle competently in even the diciest situations, and are packed with electronic gewgaws that all behave so seamlessly for so many years that it’s increasingly hard to wonder what they could possibly do better.
When you get into one of the standard-bearers of automotive awesomeness, namely the flagships from Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Lexus, the question of whether any of these cars are somehow actually unimpeachable — subjective traits such as aesthetics aside — immediately springs to mind. “Wow,” you think while bombing down the Autobahn at 145 mph, as I did recently in the AMG variant of the gigantic new Mercedes S-Class sedan. “This is just…great.”
Perfect or not, Mercedes is to be commended for the newly updated S-Class. The car, which uses its great mass to generate a feeling of luxury that smaller and lighter cars, even in Merc’s own lineup, just can’t match, has always had a sublimely effortless way about it, wafting you down the road as though you were hovering a foot above the pavement rather than bumping and grinding your way across it. This despite its bulk and weight, and usually thanks to a big V8 or V12 under the hood. But the 2018 update coalesces so much technology into the driving experience, from so many different angles, that the overall impact often seems downright magical. Whereas most luxury flagships have one or two marquee tricks up their sleeves — BMW’s key fob, for instance, which lets you park and unpark your car from tight spaces while standing outside it, or Audi’s splashy driver interface — the Merc packages up a bounty of innovations, both new and enhanced, visible and not, that make the S-Class the kind of technological cocoon that no other car can truly match.
While technically this version is just an update, it’s a doozy. The car has been infused with all the cool new stuff that’s been rolled out in lesser Mercs over the last few years and has folded in some newness of its own. Not surprisingly, the chassis and exterior are largely the same, with a few tweaks, such as a new radiator grille with three sets of chrome louvers and headlights that can peer nearly half a mile into the night. There are new splashes of chrome from front to back.
Inside, though, the highlights multiply. There are dual 12.3-inch high-res displays that blend together to form an expansive cockpit, touch-sensitive buttons on the new steering wheel and something called the Energizing Comfort Control. This combines seat massaging, automated fragrances, dynamic and colored ambient lighting, and music to enhance “wellness” while driving. There are six programs, including Freshness, Warmth, Vitality, Joy, Comfort and Training. All have their own ten-minute routines that include five separate music tracks synced up with the lighting and massage function. The Training program is great for perking up your muscles during long drives, while the rest — well, I did say this was a tech cocoon, didn’t I?
2018 Mercedes S560 and S63
