Hurtling around a bend in a 368 kW twin-turbo 5,5-litre V12 Mercedes-Benz S600 is an exhilarating and particularly intimate experience...

Hurtling around a bend in a 368 kW twin-turbo 5,5-litre V12 Mercedes-Benz S600 is an exhilarating and particularly intimate experience (due to the introduction of dynamic multi-contour seats).

The super-powerful S600 spearheads the facelifted (2003 model year) S-Class lineup currently being launched in Cape Town.

By discarding the previous model’s six-litre V12 for a detuned version of the twin-turbo 5,5-litre V12 Maybach engine, Mercedes-Benz has boosted the S600’s power by a massive 94 kW to 368 kW, with torque up by 270 N.m to 800 N.m.

That’s enough, Mercedes-Benz claims, to lower the S600’s zero to 100 km/h time from 6,3 seconds to just 4,8 seconds. The 60 to 120 km/h time is reportedly 5,2 seconds and, after driving the car in the Swartland yesterday, we believe DaimlerChrysler’s claims aren’t far off the mark.

On the open road, the car surges ahead like a stealth jet - it’s power delivery is smooth, linear and almost disarmingly serene.

The car can accelerate from a gentle amble to speeds above the legal limit with a single hearty, but oh-so-civilised, snarl from the muscular V12 engine. Such is the refinement and sound-deadening technology employed in the long-wheelbase car that it is very difficult to maintain one’s perception of road speed.

As with other Mercedes-Benzes, the S600’s top speed remains governed to 250 km/h, although the S600 will be geared to top 290 km/h without the electronic governor, sources say. The manufacturer claims that the car’s peak torque of 800 N.m is delivered at 1 800 r/min and remains constant through to 3 500 r/min. Maximum power output is developed at 5 000 r/min.

And despite its bulk, the S-Class feels sure-footed, and dare we say it - nimble. The S600 owes much of its handling characteristics to the Airmatic system, which combines air suspension with the adaptive damping system (ADS). For the model year 2003, the Airmatic’s speed-sensitive automatic body lowering system adapts more precisely to driving style and comprises two separate stages.

The active body control (ABC) now features a new load-adaptive design that measures vehicle weight, and uses it as a further control parameter for the active suspension. The weight is continuously calculated on the basis of the suspension travel recorded by the ABC computer while the vehicle is on the move.

The 18-inch, six-hole alloy wheels are fitted with low-profile tyres: 245/45 R 18 at the front and 265/40 R 18 at the rear.

The dynamic multi-contour seat has a series of integrated air chambers, which are inflated or deflated according to driving conditions to ensure that both driver and front passenger have extra lateral support. In effect, the seats provide support around the driver’s waist. To the uninitiated, the activation of the firm lateral support function can be a little eerie, but could bring relief to drivers who spend long periods behind the wheel.

The system consists of built-in computer processors that calculate data such as steering angle, lateral acceleration and road speed, in order to vary the inflation pressure and volume of air in the chambers.

When the vehicle enters a left-hand bend, for example, the system pumps more air into the chambers on the right-hand side of the backrest, thus ensuring greater lateral support.

Original article from Car