Och

iTrader: (3)

Last gen S class was available during its last year of sales with a V6 engine - S320.

The current S class is only available with V6 in the hybrid version - S400h.

LexFather

Thanks OCH I forgot the S400 is a V-6....but there is a I-4 in Europe.....S120 or something

mmarshall

It must also be a physically smaller, lighter S-Class than what is sold in America. I don't think any production M-B four-banger, even the supercharged ones, could adequately power the S-Class behemoth (by today's standards) sold in the American market....it's a large, quite heavy car, and simply wouldn't have the performance that American M-B buyers have come to expect.

Stormforge

case of deja vu...i recall seeing a commercial on tv many, many years ago about the above. can't remember if the commercial was about luxury cars or poupon? hmm...

mmarshall

Lexus did some ads in the 90s, I believe, using liquid-glasses riding on a seat when the car was in motion. And, many years before that, I can still remember, as a teen-ager, some Ford ads, in the mid-late 60s, comparing their quiet noise levels to Rolls-Royce cars of the period.

LexFather

Mike its the same identical S-class, just uses a 4 cylinder. Europe likes that type of stuff

Lil4X

One man's trash is another man's treasure. Although I'm not a huge fan of minivans, I currently drive one and have to admit they have a certain utility. That is IF you can get around the minimal performance, limited suspension travel and the exceptionally long wheelbase of the "Grand" versions that makes them a handful to park.

OTOH, while Chrysler's TC and its Dodge twin, the Grand Caravan, are pretty nicely appointed mommy vans, no one should EVER consider buying a new one. While a mid-line Chrysler minivan will cost you something in the mid-thirties, that's pretty rough for a "utility" vehicle. Consider buying a low-mileage three-year-old model that will go out the door for less than half price.

For less than the price of an tinny little 2+2 econobox you can have a vehicle that will haul six in relative comfort, plus drag home a week's worth of groceries and still return a moderate 20 mpg at the same time. OK, you may not make the conspicuous consumption statement of a Porsche, or be able to exude the environmental smugness of a Prius owner, but you can comfort yourself that the first owner threw away about 16-large on being the first on his block to own the new mommy-van.

Somehow, I don't think that's worth it.

UDel

http://www.worldcarfans.com/11010012...most-efficient
The S250 CDI BlueEfficiency 4cylinder S class is the same size and I don't think any or much lighter then the regular S class. It is a turbo diesel with 202hp 369ft/lbs of torque though so it should have decent power around town, it is said to do 0-60 in 8.2 seconds but I am suspicious of that claim considering how heavy S classes are. I have not read or seen any actual road tests on this car or owners insight so I am not sure it is on sale right now, I have mostly read about it coming.

I doubt there would be much market for it in the US unless it was a good deal less expensive then the base S class but I do believe 6 cylinder versions of flagships will have a decent market in the US now. BMW now offers a 6 cylinder in the 7 series and Mercedes offers a hybrid v6. Other companies are downsizing engines and sure to add 6 cylinder versions to larger luxury vehicles as stricter governmental regulations go into effect. The S class was sold with a 6 cylinder and 5 cylinder diesel in the US in the past and has always had 6 cylinder versions in other markets, the 7 series was sold with a 6 cylinder in the US in the 70's, 80's and early 90's. With many modern 6 cylinders putting out 300hp or more they provide enough power for larger luxury cars whose buyers are not all that concerned with cylinder count.


The S class is still a mostly unreliable and expensive to fix/maintain car like other German flagships from Audi and BMW. Not sure which one takes the crown as being the most unreliable or why the others were not included on this list, base price may have been the deciding factor. Reliability for the current S class may have improved some over the previous generation but that is not saying much since the previous generation was notorious for its poor reliability and cost cutting compared to the generation before it.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

i see this kind of argument all the time about new cars not being 'worth it' but i disagree, for many reasons.

first off, they had a NEW car, smells nice, spotlessly clean, hopefully everything works, new tires, new everything, and with a factory warranty to cover problems. so ok, if, as you put it, they 'threw away about 16-large' for their 3 year ownership, let's call it 5k a year. during that time, i doubt maintenance costs were much at all.

so let's say you buy the 3 year old minivan for say 15k. let's say you keep it 3 years (although i know you're likely to keep it a lot more). you'll probably sell it for half again, so let's say 7k, that means you 'threw away' 8k in 3 years, or nearly 2k a year. however, it's likely you had higher maintenance costs during that time since your warranty ran out (unless it was extended), plus you may have had to get new tires where during the first 3 perhaps the owner didn't, etc.

regardless, the money 'thrown away' in the first 3 years vs. the second 3 years is perhaps 6k, or 2k a year. i personally would MUCH rather drive a new car during that time which i know no one else has abused, with a warranty!

now if you keep the car for a looooong time, and drive it into the ground, then in theory your per year costs should get low, but there's also a chance that something major will break like the transmission, and if that happens, you may end up paying not much less than a new car, to drive a worn out vehicle with sloppy suspension, mildewy smell inside and fogged headlights.

mmarshall

A 4-banger in an American-size S-Class? Hard to believe, but I'll take your word for it. I know you are a credible source.

bad co

It's a diesel it has 202hp and believe it or not more torque than the LS460 (369). Torque is what moves you so I don't find this surprising.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRgad...feature=fvwrel

1sicklex laugh all you want but with this S class your getting the Performance of IS250 and the mpg of Prius (rated at 5.7L per 100km = 41 U.S mpg)

mmarshall

OK......thanks. That explains it, and (now) makes some sense. I didn't know the reference was to a diesel. Yes, diesels, especially the modern ones, DO have low-RPM torque.

LexFather

I'm very happy for it. Did you mention it does 0-60 in forever? Don't just quote what favors the car, tell all the info on the car.

It does not have the performance of the IS 250 (O-60 in high 7s) and does not get 50 MPG like a Prius gets.

mmarshall

Even a small diesel, dragging something as big and heavy as an S-Class, is probably going to use some fuel.

The high-sevens for the IS250 must be for the RWD version. I'd bet the monthly rent that a stock AWD model doesn't run that, on a level surface, under normal conditions.

bad co

Well the awd does it in 8's so does this. 8 seconds is not bad considering barges like suburbans dont do any better.