NEW YORK: Mercedes-Benz is a byword for luxurious sedans. At the top of the food chain there’s the S-Class, the sweetheart of state leaders, Hollywood stars and businessmen that like what the Sonderklasse is all about – a class of its own. But the 2015 Mercedes-Benz S500 4Matic Coupe variant is a little more different than the equivalent four-door.
Known in the United States as the S550 4Matic Coupe, the €125,961 ($119,900) luxury battleship is laden with technology, oozes style and an ode to more than half of century of industry-leading grand touring. For 2015 however, the Coupe has advanced the state of the art aesthetics with sleeker haunches, muscular yet sharper lines, as well as uncompromising pillarless style for an alluring visual mix.
In comparison to today’s favorite GT cruisers – the Bentley Continental GT V8 springs to mind first and foremost, the S500 Coupe is more inviting with its rear occupants, offering sufficient levels of comfort for adults that aren’t professional basketball players. Both rear and front, the cabin is a display of everything Mercedes is good at, although the flat media system and instrument cluster screens aren’t its strongest point.
Some say that the previously mentioned amount of dough is too much for a three-pointed star model with grand touring credentials. But you know what? It’s either love it or hate it, simple as that. This editor likes the effortless cloud-like suspension, especially when cruising on the motorway or tending to your daily deeds in the suffocating concrete jungle. And then there’s the eight-cylinder powerhouse up front combined with a seven-speed box.
You see, this is a 2,090-kilo (4,600 lbs) car and it’s impossible to hide all that techno-luxo-broo-hah-hah and the armoured vehicle-like quietness inside without adding some well-deserved pounds. The 4.7-liter twin-turbo V8 motor pushes 455 PS (449 hp in the US) and 700 Nm (516 lb-ft), which is pretty good for 0 to 60 mph (96 km/h) pedal-to-the-metal action in 4.5 seconds.
However, the gray-haired 7G-Tronic Plus automatic transmission and the added lard don’t make this ride as engaging to drive as you’d expect. Heck, this grand tourer hides a lot secrets, which is why you’d better head on over to our review of the 2015 Mercedes-Benz S500 4Matic Coupe to find out what’s what.
