Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe 2014 Review

Mercedes-Benz S 500 4MATIC Coupe

Almost every kid of the 1960s and 70s will know the image of which I write. And after a rapid ride across sinuous Tuscan roads, it’s an image I can’t shake. Disney's dancing hippos…

The Dance of the Hours wasn’t playing on the big-buck Burmester audio system. In fact, the only music was the S 500 Coupe’s remarkably vocal, yet incredibly polished, twin-turbo 4.7-litre V8, but the hippos were top of mind.

Poised and precise, even on their tip-toes, they are the perfect metaphor for Mercedes-Benz’s latest. A vehicle that defies its mass and dimensions to drive better than it has any right to...

Meet the new S-Class Coupe – the replacement for the CL-Class two-doors that sold along the last three generations of S-Class sedans. In this newest generation, the choice of well-heeled sporty 'captains of industry' types and Bayside/Eastern Suburbs matrons has graduated to wear the full S-Class branding.

The uber-Coupe is built using the newest W222 S-Class sedan as its donor platform. It rides on a shorter wheelbase than the standard S (2945 v 3035mm) but it is gifted more individualised external styling than any CL, and a re-designed interior. For the first time it has an identity all of its own.

It will also be joined in this generation, although not for a couple of years, by a full-sized four-seater cabriolet. It seems there’s no end to the demand for ever more elaborate and expensive ways of standing out on four wheels.

While it will likely sport a $300K-plus price tag (Mercedes Benz Australia is yet to confirm pricing), our test S 500 is the base model of the range. There is, however, nothing base about its luxury, performance or packaging.

Passengers and driver alike are pampered. The cabin has unique componentry and a more enveloping design with different look and feel to the S-Class sedan. Strictly a four-seater, there's little to complain about – even in the rear seats. We were three-up for much of our Tuscan launch drive and even our six-footer had no complaints when in the back.

As you'd expect, the S-Coupe carries over the OTT [over the top] features list of the sedan. Active and passive safety systems are listed by the page in the press kit. Autonomous braking and a battery of active driving assistant features head the bill, and are now grouped under what the S-Class' maker describes as Mercedes-Benz Intelligent Drive.

Luxury fittings on the spec list include such items as heated armrests; powered soft closing doors and boot lid; heated, cooled and even hot-stone-mode massaging active front seats. And that's just the start...

And if the standard car doesn't possess quite enough 'bling', Mercedes-Benz even offers an LED High Performance headlight option that incorporates 47 Swarovski crystals in each lamp! In fact, interior and exterior finish options are almost unlimited thanks to the ateliers at AMG's Performance Studio.

Sir would like pink leather? Please step this way...

The S 500 will arrive Down Under in early 2015. It’s more expensive and more powerful S 63 counterpart will, however, be the first of the new S-Class coupes to arrive in Australia – in time for Christmas this year (2014).

The better part of $100K cheaper than the 5.5-litre twin-turbo AMG, the 500 will likely be the most popular S-Coupe locally. In the last generation it accounted for almost 200 examples of the 280-plus CLs sold since the model kicked off in 2007.

A pair of V12-engined models, including an order-only AMG-fettled S 65 with a Newton-kilometre of torque, will top the four-model local S-Class Coupe range.

Although shaded by the AMG engines, the 500's bi-turbo V8 is no shrinking violet. Rated at 335kW and 700Nm (+15kW and 170Nm), in the rear-drive versions that we will be limited to Down Under (left-hand drive markets get 4MATIC all-wheel drive as standard) it is mated to a new nine-speed 9G-TRONIC automatic transmission.

The gearbox will eventually be rolled out across Mercedes-Benz's entire big car range, but for the time being it's restricted to the big coupe, and the facelifted version of the E-Class-based CLS 400.

The 9G packs nine gears into a space barely larger than the seven-speeder it replaces and is lighter. The story in it, however, is effective ratio spread which stretches almost 50 per cent further than the 7G. In real world terms consider this – although first gear is notably lower than in the seven-speed, in top (ninth) at 110km/h the S 500 V8 is turning at 1100 instead of 1600rpm.

Closer stacked gears and that lower first allow Benz to specify a taller final drive ratio. Fuel economy is therefore improved – 8.7L/100km compared to 9.4 for the seven-speed AWD version and 11.1 for the old CL 500. Perhaps even more importantly in this high-price category, so is noise, vibration and harshness.

Indeed, the S 500 is an incredibly quiet car. Mercedes-Benz claims a world record in terms of wind noise attenuation and double glazing and myriad other tricks and tweaks are used to ensure that only the right amount of V8 rumble ever enters the cabin.

It’s this refinement aspect that makes the car a potential license eater – more so than the powertrain. Simply, your senses need recalibrating. I asked my extremely experienced launch drive partner to guess on our speed on the empty Italian autostrada we hit just a few minutes after first stepping into the S 500. His estimate of a legal 130km/h was out – by 35km/h!

Specifications for the Australian market S-Coupes are yet to be announced. If Mercedes' recent practice is anything to go by, however, standard equipment levels will rise.

One of the highlights of the series' spec sheet (and sure to be fitted to local cars) is introduced to the world via the S 500 – a new version of Mercedes' active suspension system with a "curve tilting" function. The system uses a combination of cameras, lateral acceleration and steering angle sensors to detect a curve and then actively leans the car into the corner.

Benz says this is a comfort rather than ultimately sporting function and we're in agreement.

At normal pace, the positive camber (+/- 40mm) acts to effectively reduce the lateral G on driver and passengers. Drive faster though and the system can be a little at odds with your normal 'seat of the pants' feedback.

Methinks only keen or focused drivers will really notice the slightly unnatural attitude change on corner entry. And, it's no hardship – just select the 'normal' Sport mode instead.

Like the S-Class sedan, the same camera used for curve control detects road surface irregularities and 'tunes' the adaptive suspension to provide an appropriate balance of ride and handling in Comfort mode.

Indeed, balance is the overriding theme of the S 500. Like few other cars it balances the requirements for comfort for four and pace.

In this respect, it is a Gran Turismo in the true sense. So often GT is misused; not so here. Fast and pampering, it's easy to imagine using the S-Coupe to cross counties, countries, perhaps even continents, at a serious whack.

The Aussie legal limit (100km/h) comes up from a standstill in just 4.3sec. Slow it isn’t.

Top speed is more academic – unlimited it would embarrass many sports cars.

And thanks to that gearbox and excellent aerodynamics (and an 80-litre fuel tank) range is better than you'd expect. A 20km autostrada consumption check at circa-130km/h suggested that a sub-9.0L/100km combined-cycle test number might not be so far from the real world mark... Remarkable.

A more detailed report card on the S 500 Coupe needs pricing, full specification and a drive on local roads before it can be completed.

Already we noted one area for improvement. Compared to the accurate and intuitive steering of the S 63, the S 500 seems a little remote. This translated on the autostrada and Tuscan B-roads to a propensity for the car to be harder than it should be to place just so.

This comment is arguably more one of praise for the AMG version than any serious fault in the 500. Indeed, only my drive in the S 63 AMG Coupe stops me from nominating the new 500 as the best luxury GT on sale today.

2015 Mercedes-Benz S 500 Coupe pricing and specifications:

Price: $TBA
Engine: 4.7-litre eight-cylinder twin-turbo petrol
Output: 335kW/700Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel: 8.7L/100km (EC Combined)
CO2: TBA
Safety Rating: TBA