A lot of cars are hugely impressive after a quick
first drive, and some continue to impress when we test the wheels off them over
an extended period. And then there are cars like the Mercedes-Benz S-class –
cars so impressive that, even after a prolonged spell trying to pick holes in
their abilities, it’s hard to think anything could possibly be better. But
that’s not how things work here at Autocar India, and for the ultimate verdict
on just how good a car – any car – is, you need to add a bit of perspective.
To really prove itself as the best, the S-class has
to answer to its peers, and when you’re talking about quite simply the best
diesel luxury limos on the planet, you can bet the comparison criteria are on a
whole other level than usual. The fuel is actually a very important factor,
because while the S 500, with its twin-turbo petrol V8, is for the oligarch
with nary a care for issues as petty as fuel economy, the S 350 CDI is the more
sensible and, unsurprisingly, far more popular choice.
And it’s a similar story with the other cars here –
the Jaguar XJ, the Audi A8 and the BMW 7-series. All are available with petrol
engine options but for most buyers, the six-cylinder diesel is the one to
choose. The S-class is all new, while the other three have been given updates
recently that have made them a bit more appealing. The BMW got an ever-so-mild
update last year, the Audi a similarly light facelift earlier this year, and
the Jaguar was given some more equipment and a much better price tag, thanks to
local assembly at Pune. So they all bring something new to the table, which is
good, because toppling the mighty S is not going to be easy. Time to get
pampered.
Street cred
Despite immense length being a common factor on all
four cars, necessary to liberate the most legroom at the back, each one has
unique styling reflective of the companies that make them.
The S-class uses Mercedes’ wonderful new styling
language that blends old-world cues with modern details. There’s barely a
straight line in sight, and all its elements – the headlamps, grille, bonnet,
roof and boot – flow into one another seamlessly. It’s also got loads of
creases in its doors that give its large sides some life. It’s much better
proportioned than the last S, and that big grille and visually narrow boot give
it a sort of commanding presence that you’d previously have only found on a
Bentley or a Rolls. That said, for all its LEDs and chrome accents, its look
errs more on the side of old than modern.
In complete contrast is Audi’s facelifted A8, which
wears its cutting-edge credentials like a uniform. Those new ‘Matrix’
headlights may not seem like much of a big deal over the old LED lamps, but
unlock the car and the way they greet you with a ‘swipe’ of the indicators is
just plain cool. The car’s sharp edges and straight lines have a totally
different appeal to the S-class’s curves, and the longer you look at it, the
more you begin to appreciate the subtle changes to the sheet metal that have
come with the facelift. Some might criticise Audi for taking the whole ‘family
look’ philosophy a bit too far, making all its cars barely distinguishable from
one another and a bit too understated for Indian tastes, but you can’t argue
that it looks sharp as a perfectly cut suit.
Facelifts not considered, the 7-series is the
oldest car here, and it’s beginning to show. When it did get an update late
last year, the changes were miniscule, but the updated grille, new bumper
and full-LED headlamps do at least give the traditional BMW face a little more
attitude. The company’s characteristic long-nose, short-boot profile is ever present
– intended to highlight its sporty abilities – but it does look a little plain
from the side, and also appears very, very long. The rear of the car is
virtually unchanged from before, and that is a shame.
However, there’s nothing here that looks quite like
the Jaguar XJ. It can drop jaws like a sportscar normally would as you cruise
around. Like the Audi, it looks thoroughly modern, albeit in a completely
different way. It looks low-slung, sleek and powerful, and the smart 19-inch
alloys on this version just add to the appeal. Yes, the look is sporty, but it
also manages to be elegant, which is what a luxury car buyer will like. There
are a few touches we find a bit unnecessary though, like the blacked-out C-pillar
and the very blingy grille, but once you look at that roofline, the slim
headlamps and the detailing inside each of the LED tail-lamps, all is forgiven.
The Boss's cabin
This is the area in which these cars seriously and
very tangibly take things several notches higher than most other cars. This is
where owners spend their time and, chances are, these sort of owners won’t
settle for anything less than the finest materials, the best comfort and the
latest technology. All these cars have fully electric seats, with the ones at
the rear able to massage you. Each car has a great sounding audio system from a
top-drawer hi-fi brand, and they all get rear screens and their own form of
infotainment computer. It’s hard to fault any of them for things like rear
headroom and legroom either, because while some are better than others, all of
them have more than you’ll ever need. And like the exteriors, each car’s
interior brings its own distinct flavour to the table.
The Merc’s old-meets-new philosophy carries on in
here, with all the technology (and there is quite a lot of it) buried under a
heavy layer of classic luxury. Some of it is more obvious, like the two massive
high-res screens that make up the infotainment and instrument clusters, but
other things less so, like the electronically controlled air-con vents that are
operated by manual twist knobs.
Old-world cabin design
juxtaposed with huge twin hi-res screens. Quality and fit are pretty much
faultless.
The quality in here is faultless, and this is
brought out more by the simple and uncluttered design of the cabin, and also
the beautifully finished metallic switches. The A8, for example, is just as
good, but its overload of buttons and controls tends to distract you from it. A
trait that’s common to the three German cars is that they all use slightly firm
cushioning on their seats. We’re nitpicking, of course, but comfort is a big
priority in a one-crore luxury car, after all. The Mercedes, however, masks it
best with a softer top layer over the primary cushioning and lovely pillows for
rear passengers to sink their heads into. The front chairs in the S-class are
big and accommodating, though the tall digital dial display impedes your view
of the three-pointed star on the nose a bit if you’re not very tall. At the
rear, you get a ‘chauffeur mode’ that lets you push the front passenger seat
all the way forward at the press of a button and also releases a footrest. The
Audi A8 gets this feature too, but frankly, it’s a bit gimmicky, as you can
operate the front passenger seat of any of these cars using the rear seat
controls. It’s also a bit annoying to have to go into the COMAND system using
the remote to use the Merc seats’ massage function. Ah, first-world millionaire
problems!
Button-heavy centre console looks
more A380 than A8. Quality, fit and finish are on par with the Mercedes.
The A8 comes closest to the Merc on cabin comfort,
although its seats are just a touch more snug; very supportive and far from
anything approaching uncomfortable. Mention has to be made of the dials in the
Audi – it’s the only car with conventional analogue dials, but frankly, they
look the best and are the easiest to read on the move. The central console is a
tech fest full of buttons, and though this makes it easier to use the MMI
system, the way the backlit controls light up the cabin at night is more suited
to a sportscar than a limo. Our test car was fitted with both of Audi’s option
packs – the Luxury Pack (Rs 15.56 lakh) and the Elite Pack (Rs 16.55 lakh). The
latter gets you even more leather-wrapped bits in the cabin, while the former
adds equipment, including the executive rear seat. This makes the A8 the only
one here with a split rear cabin with two individual seats; not an option to
tick if you might sometimes have a fifth passenger. The S-class’s ‘hot stone’
massage function comes close, but we’d say Audi’s version is more effective;
the Jag and the BMW’s massage, on the other hand, are quite basic.
BMW cabin feels solid,
materials are top notch but it just doesn’t look special enough for a one-crore
sedan.
‘Basic’
is also the first sensation you get when you step into the BMW’s cabin, though
you’ll discover soon enough that it is anything but. It suffers heavily from
generic BMW family design, and it just doesn’t look sufficiently different from
the interior of a 3-series; this is particularly true of the rather plain, all-black
steering wheel. The materials, though better than lesser Bimmers, lack the
overall richness of the ones in the Audi and the Merc. Fit and finish, however,
is faultless, and the 7 feels the most solid of all the cars here. The seats
offer superb thigh support, but they are also the firmest. One unique feature
in the BMW is the ability to adjust the seats for better shoulder
support, crucial for typically small Indian frames. The fact that the front
seats were made slimmer with the facelift also makes the cabin feel a lot
airier than before. The overall sensation, however, is that the 7-series cabin
doesn’t have the same pizzazz as the Merc, Audi and Jag.
XJ cabin mixes
retro-futuristic with classic British charm.
Beautiful design let down by
a few low-rent bits.
Speaking
of the XJ, like the outside, the interior is like none of the others here. Like
the Mercedes, it too blends old-world class with modern touches, but in a very
different way. There are retro-futuristic bits like the voluptuous,
turbine-like air-con vents, and cool touches like the ‘pulsing’ starter button
and the rising rotary gear selector. But then there are also bits of old-school
luxury, like huge slabs of wood on the doors and chunky bits of chrome all over
the cabin. Purely for a sense of occasion, it has the potential to upstage the
Germans, but sadly it can’t compare on quality and fit and finish. Again, in
isolation, it’s not that bad, but when you’re up against this lot, every last
micrometre counts. While it’s difficult to spot any plastic trim in the other
cars, there’s a fair bit in here. The screens are relatively low-res, the
steering buttons feel a little flimsy, and the touchscreen feels old and clunky
compared to the sci-fi systems in the German cars. You will, however, love the
seats which, in complete contrast to the others, use a tauter upper layer and a
much softer lower layer, so you really sink into them. Rear legroom and
headroom aren’t as good as the rest, but it’s surprisingly good, given that low
roofline. You might feel a little hemmed in by the slim windows, however. What
spoils the view forward on all the cars is the rear entertainment package, and
unless you actually use it frequently, we feel it should have been kept
optional. Higher segment standards, however, have made it a standard feature on
all cars, and in the S-class, it’s actually the only way to access key features
like the rear seat lumbar support and massage.
Hostile overtake
The diesels are the sensible choice, but that
doesn’t mean they can’t pack a decent punch. All the cars use 3.0-litre,
six-cylinder units, the BMW of course laying out its cylinders in a straight
line. The Jag’s engine makes about 20bhp more than the others, though it’s just
about pipped by the Mercedes on torque; 63.2kgm beating 61.2kgm. The S-class
sticks to the tried-and-tested seven-speed auto, while the other three now all
use an eight-speed automatic. In fact, the XJ, A8 and the 7-series use derivations
of the same ZF unit.
The Mercedes has the most refined engine, although
the Audi and Jaguar aren’t too far behind. It’s a very relaxed motor, getting
off the line smoothly and surging gently through its powerband. In Sport mode,
it is a bit more responsive, but not by much, though this isn’t a bother in
everyday driving. When it might be, is during overtakes, as the gearbox isn’t
the quickest to respond to inputs. This certainly isn’t the car to have if
you’re late for a board meeting and need to get there in a hurry.
The Jaguar’s gearbox responses also aren’t the
quickest when you’re going slowly, but once you pick the pace up, it charges
through the ratios quickly and smoothly. The engine is a gem, not only being
the most powerful, but also just begging to be revved and belting out a
soulful tune when it is. Put the gearbox in Sport and things sharpen up a
fair bit, and this is when you first see what people mean when they call the XJ
a ‘sports limousine’.
But of course, the sporty one has traditionally
always been the BMW, and at least in the engine department, that still holds
true. The engine is super responsive and darts off the line at the merest tap
of your right foot. Of course, this is affected by which mode you have the car
set to, although it is very sprightly in all but Eco Pro, which dulls engine
responses considerably. A big issue, however, is refinement, and the straight
six is audible in the cabin at all times.
Audi’s 3.0 TDI motor has always impressed us, and
it does even more so now that it’s mated to the eight-speed automatic gearbox.
There is a bit of a hum at idle, but that soon goes away once you’re on the
move. The gearbox seems like the best executed of the lot, and unless you’re in
a hurry, you can hardly tell it’s shifting gears.
Not that these cars will ever be entered into a
drag race, but their performance figures are interesting to compare. The BMW
and the Audi are the lighter ones (1,900 and 1,935kg respectively). The 730d is
more responsive and the A8 has the benefit of AWD traction, and both of them
post identical 0-100kph times of 6.61 seconds. It’s hardly shocking that the
big, heavy Mercedes is the slowest at 7.92sec, but what is a surprise is that
the XJ only manages a 7.91; it doesn’t feel that slow.
The big Jag somewhat redeems itself with decent
kickdown overtaking times, 5.08sec from 20-80kph and 5.44sec from 40-100kph.
Overall, however, the BMW and the Audi are quicker cars.
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