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LAKE PLACID, New York -- Dear old Dad would have been aghast over the prospect of a Mercedes-Benz S550 plunging down the side of a gravel pit.
Dad hesitated even to drive his Buick Electra on gravel, and expected any luxury car owner to show similar decorum babying his ride. And yet, given the unseasonable absence of snow and ice on the roads surrounding the former Winter Olympics site in upstate New York, Mercedes-Benz has identified this off-road trail as the best possible demonstration of its 4MATIC all-wheel-drive system.
The $122,000 S550 weighs in at 2,100 kg and stretches 5210 mm. A mega sedan. Uwe Hoernig, in charge of the testing department for the S-Class platform vehicles, recommends pressing the button for maximum ground clearance -- as though an extra 30 mm is going to turn an S-Class into a SUV -- and gives the all clear.
The sound effects are horrific: thuds and scrapes. And was that the front valance bent out of shape traversing that heave? I have to say this though: despite 382 horsepower and 398 lb-ft of torque, there is a complete lack of wheelspin, and when charging the uphill right-hander way too fast, the S550 merely ploughs wide as it passes the limit of adhesion before recovering instantly as you ease off the accelerator.
We don't stop lapping for half an hour. And when we're done there's no evidence, visual or audible, of any real harm to the car.
See Dad? No need to baby this one.
Audi, American Motors and Subaru pioneered all-wheel-drive automobiles, but now that AWD sales are growing significantly, Mercedes-Benz wants it known that it's a committed player and further, that an ancestor of the current 4MATICs -- a Daimler built with four-wheel-drive for a state secretary serving in German Southwest Africa -- first established traction in 1907.
Clearly all-wheel-drive renders any car more capable. Just as clearly, each automaker believes its approach to AWD to be the most capable. Mercedes-Benz brought waves of auto writers to Lake Placid not only to make the point that no manufacturer offers more models with all-wheel-drive, but also to establish that the newest form of 4MATIC weighs less and carries less of a fuel consumption penalty than competing systems.
Key to these gains is the fact the central transfer case dividing power between the front and rear wheels is now housed within the transmission rather than in a separate unit. This rather elegant simplification saves 35 kg over the previous 4MATIC system and, what's more, is up to 30 kg lighter than competitors' systems.
Most consumers understand all-wheel-drive vehicles consume more fuel than their front- or rear-drive counterparts. Mercedes' claim is that its price of superior traction is only .4 of a litre per 100 km with the state-of-the-art 4MATIC, compared to a full litre in the case of competitors.
Real-life experience will test that claim. What is amply demonstrated in our driving in the Lake Placid area -- slippery moisture and sand on River Road between Highways 86 and 73 comes as a pleasant surprise -- is the reassuring feel behind the wheel afforded by Mercedes-Benz's distinctive form of all-wheel-drive. The split of 45 per cent of the power going to the front wheels, 55 per cent to the rear, is constant, whereas most AWD systems continuously vary the power according to available traction.
The 4MATIC's full-time 45-55 split brings predictability to the S550's cornering behaviour that's quite different than an Audi or Subaru's ongoing search for maximum traction between the front and rear. Some drivers will consider the competitors' variable system more effective, some will prefer the full-time 45-55, but what is certain is the two approaches offer quite different driving sensations.
In Mercedes sport-utility vehicles, 4MATIC power is divided 50-50 front to rear, creating a less sporty but more reassuring ride in slippery conditions. In the version of 4MATIC still used in E-Class sedans, the division is 40-60, but the state-of-the-art 4MATIC in the S-Class and new C-Class reflects the company's latest thinking (the next-generation E-Class will change to 45-55).
In conversation, Uwe Hoernig explains the evolution. "With the split of 40-60 there have been some complaints from some drivers that when they accelerate, for example in overtaking, using full power and torque, they feel..." and here Hoernig uses his hands to indicate a suggestion of tail-wagging. "With 45-55 you can't feel this effect."
After Bernhard Dernburg's four-wheel-drive Daimler in 1907, Mercedes-Benz resisted moving beyond rear-drive until its first 4MATIC sedan came to market in 1986 (the cult classic G-Wagen SUV had appeared in 1969).
Now, the future of all-wheel-drive knows no limit. In 2006, fully 40 per cent of Canadian C-Class sedan buyers opted for 4MATIC, 77 per cent in the case of larger E-Class cars, and 40 per cent of S-Class buyers (though 4MATIC was only available starting in October).
Those percentages, Mercedes believes, are destined to grow. |