The E-Class, the Audi A4 and the C-class - luxurious, expensive and feature packed. Known to be good cars, all of them. It’s a different experience they say to get your hands behind the wheel of one of them. My personal thoughts were different though. A drive in a ubiquitous Honda City VTEC was as fortifying, both as a driver and a passenger, as it was in a much coveted and hyped Audi A4 - perhaps even more as a driver. As a passenger too, I never felt too cocooned for hefty price tags of the luxo-barges to be justified.
I therefore had my own set of apprehensions before I entered the so called ‘best car in the world’. I gave it a good look all around. I figured that it’s enormous, but it’s moulded in such a manner that it very subtly conceals the fact till the time you get really close. As I got in and dug myself into the wide, plush, perforated beige leather seats, I wasn’t expecting anything out of the world. I had been betrayed by the Germans a couple of times earlier, and I wasn’t to be trapped this time around.
Look at the central console and you won’t witness a thing that shouts aloud of being a part of a car that spells opulence. It’s plain, simple, uncluttered – neat and sophisticated. There is an element of class, grace and dignity about it. While the dashes and central consoles of all the other ‘Classes’ and the ‘4s’ and the ‘6s’ of the world have the maximum possible buttons peppered liberally onto them, this one scares you. For once you start thinking whether you have been fooled, as there barely are any buttons. The central console comprises only of a big screen with a row of 9 silver coloured buttons under it with a round knob protruding under the armrest. That’s it. Genuine hand-stitched leather over the instrumentation cluster blends seamlessly with every other component of the interiors. It’s an airy, comfortable, friendly place to be in which lets you breathe. It’s very unlike the wannabes which attempt to match up in vain, ending up intimidating you. You don’t have to be scared before you press a button just because you are sitting in the world’s best car. The technology is there, and it works in the most understated manner possible. You don’t have to press any buttons since most things get to work automatically when required, you just have to sit back and enjoy your lucky self. The gates will be sucked in, if you forgot to close them in properly with a thud, the vipers will get to work the moment the first drop of rain hits the windscreen, head lights will turn on by themselves much before it actually gets dark enough to get dangerous to drive.
When you buy an S-class, you don’t have to worry about the features. If there’s a critical safety or stability feature, you just know that it’s installed somewhere under the bonnet, between the door walls, below the floor or somewhere in the boot. It’s equipped with electric everything - from the moonroof to the rear window blinds to the RVMs to everything that needs to be that way. The OE list of this car is as liberal and contemporary as it gets, and if you want to have a peek into the future, you have an endless list of incredible options to both amaze and impoverish you. In a nutshell, there doesn’t remain any ambiguity about the fact that the future of the automobile starts from the options list of the Mercedes Benz S-class.
The S-class, as I reckon then is a class act. It won’t ever try to impress you from the moment you get in - it rather grows onto you - slowly and delicately. From the air suspension that cuts you off entirely from the jarring realities of the world, to the wide, supremely comfortable seats which can be warmed or cooled at your will, to the amazingly easy to operate COMAND (Cockpit Management and Navigation Display) system that needs you to be just English-literate to operate it, this car cossets you, pampers you, spoils you without you having to ask for it. It gives you a reason to fall in love with it every time you demand something of it.
While I had my own set of apprehensions while I got in the car, I was completely smitten by the time I stepped out. The hair on my arms bristled up for the first time in my one-year stint as a motoring journo. There isn’t an atom of doubt in my mind that if I had the money, this would be the car that I would buy for a day when I was not in a mood or situation to drive - for there couldn’t be a better place to be in on four wheels for the money.
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