What's the news?

The all-new Mercedes-Benz S-Class has been revealed with more than a little help from an Airbus A380 and Alicia Keyes. Described by Mercedes boss Dr Dieter Zetsche as "the best automobile in the world" the new S-Class will go on sale in September with prices ranging from £79,789 for the S 350 BlueTec, rising to £107,630 for the long wheelbase S 500 model.

Exterior

Unlike previous S-Class generations, which started as regular wheelbase models before being lengthened, the new car was designed from the outset as a long wheelbase car before being shortened. This is perhaps a nod to the S-Class' success in China where the new car will only be offered as a longer limousine.

The new car follows the design trends of other recent new Mercedes, with an oversized, more upright grille and sculpted headlights. The lights themselves are important as the S-Class is the first car in the world to ditch conventional bulbs altogether and use brighter LEDs instead. There are 56 individual LEDs in the headlights with 35 in the tail lights.

Interior

Thanks to the longer, wider and taller dimensions of the S-Class interior space has also increased with extra room for heads, shoulders and elbows. Rear legroom (never something the S-Class was short of anyway) has also grown by 14mm.

Being the car that you are driven in rather than drive yourself Mercedes will offer five different rear seat designs, ranging from a traditional rear bench to two 'Executive' seats that can recline independently of each other. Heated armrests are also available from the options list, as too are an active perfuming system that adds fragrance to the air conditioning and a hot stone massage function for the front and rear seats.

Owners who go for the 'First Class Rear' package will get an extended centre console that includes heated and cooled cup holders, in addition to airline-style tables.

The dashboard of the new S-Class is dominated by not one but two 12.3-inch widescreen TFT screens. One screen replaces the traditional instrument cluster while the other displays various infotainment and navigation functions.

A 10-speaker stereo system is fitted as standard but audiophiles can plumb for one of two powerful Burmester systems.

Mechanicals

At launch the new S-Class will be offered with a choice of four engines. The S 350 BlueTec diesel uses a 258hp V6 diesel engine to deliver a 0-62mph time of 6.8 seconds yet returns 146g/km CO₂ and combined fuel economy of 51.3mpg. This compares favourably with the S 500 that packs a 455hp petrol V8 that also produces 700Nm of torque and a 0-62mph time of 4.8 seconds.

These models may be overshadowed by their hybrid counterparts - the S 300 BlueTec Hybrid and S 400 Hybrid that offer comparable performance but improved economy and emissions. In the case of the S 300 diesel figures of 64.2mpg and 115g/km are quoted - scarcely believable for a car of this size.

In time these engines will be joined by others including the S 500 Plug-in Hybrid, described as Mercedes head of R&D, Thomas Weber as "the first S-Class with a fuel consumption of lower than 4l/100km [71mpg]."

A new suspension system called Magic Body Control will debut on the S-Class. Built in cameras scan the road ahead and relay the information back to the computers, allowing the air suspension to proactively react to changing conditions.

Anything else?

Over 2,200 individual patents have been applied to the new S-Class with 600 of them relating to safety features alone. The most interesting of these is DISTRONIC PLUS with Steering Assist and Stop&Go Pilot, which can take the burden of driving in traffic away from the driver by doing it itself. The system is only capable of driving up to 62mph but that is due to legislation rather than a shortfall in the design. Mercedes says it could go further were it allowed.