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AUTO REVIEW

fact, Mercedes, like most automotive manufacturers, is already test-
ing cars that can drive themselves on public roads. They're not doing
that much here because our laws don't allow it, but other countries
do. My son has a friend who works as an engineer for Mercedes in
Germany, and that friend has taken many trips between Berlin and
Stuttgart during which he has sat in the driver’s seat doing nothing
more than watching movies on his iPad.
While the appearance and feel of the materials in the S560 are
good enough to make you stop what you're doing and just enjoy
them, and the tech is the most advanced you can get in any vehicle
currently for sale, this is not an exciting car to drive. Certainly it's
very quick, as a zero-to-60 MPH time of 4.3 seconds will attest,
and it can gobble up interstate miles at super-legal speeds without
breathing hard. But the experience of driving the S560 is clinical
and almost sterile. If piloting a Ferrari 388 is a 10 when it comes
to driver involvement, I'd give the S560 a 7. It does everything
you need and does it well, but the big Mercedes keeps you at
arms-length, as if the car knows what to do better than you do.
Which I guess it does.
The engine that enables that impressive performance is Mercedes’
latest twin-turbo 4.0 liter V8 that produces 463 HP. While that's a
lot of power, and the S560 convertible weighs a weight watcher-ish
5,000 lbs or so, its fuel economy numbers aren't as terrible as you
might expect: an estimated 16 MPG city 25 highway. As future Mer-
cedes incorporate cutting edge hybrid technologies, especially plug
in capability, expect those figures to improve.
The S560 convertible is a top shelf luxury car that does everything
well. Luxury, technology, and safety are all there beyond what you'll
experience in almost any other vehicle for sale today. And while this
plush Mercedes isn't much fun to drive, it has a lot of heft, that je
ne sais quoi that makes well-heeled customers feel special every time
they get in it and drive away.
(Author’s note: This review was based on driving the 2017 S550 convertible,
which is no longer for sale. The 2018 S560 is mostly unchanged except for the
powertrain and some detailing, and therefore is expected to provide a very similar
ownership experience. I attempted to describe what owning the S560 would be
like based on my time with the S550, and I incorporated information that is
available about the S560 in order to make it relevant for prospective purchasers.)

smart cruise control, as there is in many vehicles that cost much less If you’re in the market for this kind of vehicle, call Phil Hornbeak
than this car, but that's just the beginning. at 210-301-4367.
Where the S560 creates separation from more pedestrian vehicles
is in autonomous driving, and the S560 takes things as far as you Steve Schutz, MD, is a board-certified gastroenterologist who
can get in 2018 with a smart cruise control that automatically adjusts lived in San Antonio in the 1990s when he was stationed here
its speed for curves, intersections, changes in the speed limit, and in the U.S. Air Force. He has been writing auto reviews for
toll plazas. (Its knowledge of the terrain is based on GPS data.) In San Antonio Medicine since 1995.

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