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AUTO REVIEW
Mercedes S550:
All about the tech
By Steve Schutz, MD
The new Mercedes flagship S-class sedan, center console. I actually checked these out rapid cooling on sweltering days. Massag-
the S550, is one of the best cars for sale and changed them a few times. It was in- ing seats aren’t new, but Mercedes’ “hot-
today, but it’s not wrong to say that the teresting for a minute, and one or two color stone massage” feature feels as if
S550 is all about the tech. The S550 looks options seems fine. But seven? In a car? somebody’s gently nudging your back with
like an alpha car and has an interior like the warm golf balls. I loved this gizmo and used
Four Seasons. But it’s the technology that UNUSUAL TWISTS ON OPTIONS it frequently. And the super soft pillows on
sets it apart. Then there’s the “Magic Vision Control” the headrests of the two optional “execu-
tive” rear chairs are much softer than any
What kind of technology are we talking that uses nozzles to squirt washer fluid di- others on the market (regrettably, my test
about? Some of it is completely new and all- rectly in front of the wiper blades so that car didn’t have these.) Also, presumably
world, though it should be noted that most your vision isn’t momentarily obstructed by with South Texas in mind, Mercedes says
of the coolest goodies are optional. a big splash of fluid like it is in lesser cars. that the S-class’ new air conditioner is extra
I like this feature a lot, but doesn’t it seem powerful — the strongest available, in fact.
Let’s start with a few unusual features like its name was chosen in a Stuttgart bar
that aren’t options. The new S-class has two at 2 a.m.? Still not impressed? Buyers who enjoy
reverse gears. Probably only chauffeurs who constant olfactory stimulation will love the
need to worry about kidnappers care about Mercedes also has added unusual twists “Air-Balance” system, which perfumes the
this, but it’s nice to know it’s there just in on options that we thought we knew. Like cabin with your choice of pleasing scents,
case. There are seven interior mood-light- seat coolers that suck air in for four min- “a world first,” apparently.
ing colors, which can be switched easily by utes before they blow cool air out, which,
using the COMAND controller on the Mercedes engineers say, results in more Perhaps the S-class’s most high-tech fea-
44 San Antonio Medicine • May 2015
