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AUTO REVIEW

ture is the “Magic Body Control,” an ad- around $95,000, and it’s reasonable to ex- Steve Schutz, MD, is a
vanced feature that comes with the op- pect to pay quite a bit more than that if you board-certified gastroenterol-
tional hydraulic “Active Body Control” want some of the tech described here. ogist who lived in San Anto-
suspension. This ingenious system uses the nio in the 1990s when he was
car’s forward viewing cameras to see bumps Yes, the newest Mercedes S-class is all stationed here in the U.S. Air
on the road ahead, and then it relaxes the about the tech, which is quite amazing. Force. He has been writing auto reviews for San
suspension in order to float you over said But otherwise it’s a top-shelf luxury sedan Antonio Medicine since 1995.
bumps. This is really something in 2015, that costs a lot of money and is worth it.
but given how rapidly the computer world There are other luxury cars you can buy For more information on the BCMS
moves I can imagine non-luxury cars hav- that cost more than the S550, but none Auto Program, call Phil Hornbeak at 301-
ing this in 10 years. of them are better than this Mercedes 4367 or visit www.bcms.org.
tour de force.
OK, you get it. There’s lots of technol-
ogy in the new S-class. What about the rest
of it? Design-wise it looks like what any
master-of-the-universe might drive,
though it’s clearly different from the last
version of the S-class. While that car was
angular in the usual early- to mid-2000s
Mercedes manner, the new S is notable for
its roundness. In fact, it seems that every
angled area on the old S-class sedan has
been smoothed out. Mercedes hopes you
like that, because if you don’t, too bad.
The automotive market of the future,
China, prefers soft curves to sharp angles,
and those customers drive luxury car de-
velopment these days. Still, the new design
has enough gravitas to make you move
over if you see one in your rearview mirror,
which is probably all that matters.

Driving the new S550 in everyday life is
a lot like driving the previous one, which is
to say rock-solid and completely confident.
Sports car-esque point-and-shoot is not its
thing, but otherwise piloting the newest S-
class is like hiring an automotive celebrity
bodyguard. It can handle any road situa-
tion you might encounter with aplomb,
and it makes sure you get where you need
to be as efficiently and comfortably as pos-
sible. I drive a lot of cars every year, and
this one is special.

NOT A FUEL SIPPER
Not surprisingly, the S550 does not sip

fuel. The standard engine is a twin turbo
4.7-liter V8 that produces 449 HP, so fuel
economy figures of 17 mpg city and 25
mpg highway shouldn’t surprise anybody.
In fact, the only surprise is that they’re not
worse.

As always, Phil Hornbeak can fill you in
on the particulars, but the S550 starts at

visit us at www.bcms.org 45