Mercedes-Benz S-Class road test

If you’re looking for a car that carries passengers in supreme comfort while being engaging to drive and relatively efficient, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class 350 L BlueTEC could be the ideal choice.

Effectively a long-wheelbase version of the venerable S-Class saloon, this model is powered by a 3.0-litre V6 diesel producing 255bhp and a substantial 619Nm of pulling power. Primarily thanks to the latter figure this two-tonne car can go from zero to 62mph in 7.1 seconds, while top speed is electronically limited to 155mph.

This car picks up speed in a linear and urgent fashion, helped by the excellent seven-speed twin-clutch gearbox. Gears changes are quick, which makes the car easy to drive yet also very versatile thanks to the paddle-shifters behind the steering wheel. To switch from automatic to manual mode you just flick one of the paddles and the car puts itself into manual configuration immediately.

Despite its size, the S-Class is surprisingly agile on the road. The steering is particularly impressive, with a good turning circle making parking manoeuvres much easier than you’d expect. The ride is exceptional; it soaks up all bumps and divots for an incredibly smooth drive.

Furthermore, the large dimensions mean you’d usually expect fuel economy to suffer. However, there’s a raft of ‘BlueTEC’ efficiency-boosting technology – like stop/start and brake energy regeneration - installed in an effort to cut down on fuel consumption while keeping CO2 emissions at a relatively moderate 164g/km. That means you'll pay just £165 per year in road tax, not bad for a two-tonne car making 255bhp.

Mercedes-Benz claims it’ll manage an average of 45.6mpg on the combined cycle, but in the real world the trip computer indicated around 35mpg over a weekend of mixed driving. The fuel tank holds 90 litres of fuel, meaning our theoretical maximum range would have been around 665 miles, while if you managed to hit the company's claimed fuel economy figure you could expect 866 miles from a full tank.

As you might expect from a large, long-wheelbase car, one of its strengths is practicality. There’s a 560-litre boot and a huge amount of head- and leg-room in the cabin for both front- and rear-seat passengers.

Mercedes-Benz’s excellent COMAND multimedia system comes as standard, and includes an eight-inch colour display in the dash along with radio, a hard drive, 3D satellite navigation and ‘Linguatronic’ voice control. This is all operated using the rotary selector roughly placed where the gear lever is in other cars.

The car we tested had a list price of £65,005. You can pick up a BMW 7 Series diesel for around the same price, though an Audi A8 will cost around £5,000 less. An equivalent Jaguar XJ long-wheelbase weighs in at slightly more, starting at just under £70,000.

However, our car came with an eye-watering £42,570 worth of optional extras - pushing the overall price to £107,575. Some options were effective, others impressive and some were verging on ridiculous.

For instance, the white paintjob, although quite attractive, costs £3,395. The special leather upholstery costs £5,395 and the Maple Grain wood trim a further £1,895. The stereo system, with its 15 speakers and premium branding, costs another £6,700. You can see how all of this quickly snowballs into a very large on-the-road price.

Some of the more impressive options include Night View Assist (£1,690). Which at the flick of a switch replaces the dash with a screen showing what’s in front of the car using infrared, making things easier to spot at night when there isn’t much light around. The ‘Driving Assistance’ package (£2,065) is another option that comes in very useful. This includes a blind spot warning system, lane-keeping assist and Mercedes-Benz’s excellent radar-guided Distronic Plus - which keeps you at a pre-determined distance from the vehicle in front of you when the cruise control system is active. This means you always move at the speed of the traffic in front and lowers the risk of running into the back of people.

So, if you’re budgeting for a large, safe and comfortable saloon with sports car pace and an impressive list of kit, you could do a lot worse than the Mercedes-Benz S-Class.

Also consider:

BMW 7 Series

Perhaps the direct competitor to the S Class, BMW’s offering is refined and extremely well-built with acres of space in the cabin.

Audi A8

Boasting a remarkably efficient 3.0-liter TDI engine, the A8 is a comfortable, modern and classy large saloon which is more than capable of taking on the competition.

Jaguar XJ

The latest XJ is a departure from the classic Jaguar look of the previous version. The new model is agile, aggressive and stylish in equal measures.