The Mercedes-Benz S-Class: A Work of Art on Four Wheels, Rated 10/10

For more than half a century the S-Class has been Mercedes-Benz’s flagship — the “Sonderklasse,” or special class — and the car where the company debuts the technology the rest of the industry adopts years later. In Canada the current sedan comes in two long-wheelbase forms: the S 500 4MATIC, whose 442-horsepower six pulls it to 100 km/h in 4.5 seconds, and the S 580 4MATIC, whose 530-horsepower V8 does it in 4.0 — numbers that would have embarrassed sports cars a generation ago, delivered here in near silence.

The engineering under the body is aimed at one target: serenity. AIRMATIC air suspension is standard, continuously self-levelling; the S 580 offers E-ACTIVE BODY CONTROL, which reads the road and counteracts it before the cabin ever hears about it. Active rear-axle steering shrinks the car in the city and plants it on the highway. The fully adaptive DIGITAL LIGHT headlamps carry thousands of individually controlled pixels per lamp, sculpting the beam around traffic in real time.

The cabin is where the S-Class makes its argument plainest. The MBUX Superscreen spreads three displays across the dash; the vents adjust digitally and remember their owner’s preferences. The seats — power-adjustable front and rear, heated, ventilated, with massage — are trimmed in Nappa leather against hand-finished wood, under active ambient lighting and, optionally, a 35-speaker Burmester system. Buyers choose from more than 50 paints, including MANUFAKTUR exclusives, on 19- to 21-inch wheels behind an illuminated grille.

So much for the specification sheet. From behind the wheel, our reviewer’s verdict was simpler: the car drives so smoothly it almost feels like it is not moving. The elegance is over the top — in the best sense. This is a stunning, beautiful automobile, and our reviewer’s conclusion is the one in the headline: it belongs in an art museum, because it is closer to a work of art than to an automobile.

A 10/10 from the Torbrook Rating Agency is the highest score we give. The S-Class earns it the way it has earned everything for fifty years — by being the standard.