I’m not sure what percentage of SUV drivers have ever been off-roading, but I bet the number is unsurprisingly low. What about the number of drivers who have taken their Mercedes S-Class off-road? Definitely low? Definitely low! Well, the spies were offered the opportunity to do just that this past week, to test out the all new 4Matic system, and we weren’t turning this down. The event was held up in Lake Placid, NY, home of the 1980 Olympics, and judging by the area, not much has changed since. It’s a cozy town, still living in the memories of what must have been a wild time for country folk. In order for this trip to be a success, it called for some serious ingredients to all fall into place:
- A 2007 Mercedes S-Class 4Matic, preferably not your own!
- An off-road test track
- Snow/Ice – anything slippery
- Acceptance of the fact that you could easily wreck a $100,000 car
Well, we were good for 3 out of the 4. We were obviously supplied the car, all season tires securing it to the road. The off-road test track was part airstrip, part….landfill? I had already accepted full responsibility for any damage when I took the keys….so that just left the snow…Something no one anticipated becoming a factor in upstate New York (read Canada) was there being a total lack of the white powder. Barely a dusting separated the all-seasons from the dirt, how were we really going to test out this new 4Matic? Well, if it wasn’t cold enough for snow, it was warm enough to melt what was there and turn that hard dirt into a slippery, muddy, mess.
And did we get these cars messy.
With all the mud slinging from the tires, you’d think for sure we were sliding all over the place. Just the opposite in fact…we couldn’t have any fun! We couldn’t drift the S, we could barely get it to lose its traction! Gunning it around a corner only brought the car to the end of the corner faster, there was no drama, there was no sliding, no pushing, no power oversteer. The car just turned and stuck. Not bad for a highway cruiser, heck not bad for full fledged off road truck!
We were given the whole fleet of 4Matics to try out on this off-road course, and the S-Class was only bested by the GL. The S-Class felt more planted, more connected, more secure then the G, the ML and the R. The ML was close, but given its shorter wheelbase, it didn’t feel as locked down. If I wasn’t there to test out the S for myself, I’d be in total disbelief, but there I was, giving the car full gas around tight turns, and just driving as if the car was Velcro locked to the road.
So what’s new with this 4matic system entering it’s 100th year of existence? The full details are
available here (pdf) but the short breakdown is:
- 45/55 F/R power distribution (old was 40/60)
- 75lbs less than its predecessor and only 145lbs more than RWD
- Just 3% fuel consumption increase
- Available with a diesel engine for the first time ever(S 320 CDI)
With 48 different Mercedes models offering 4Matic, it’s bound to be on the car you want. Being from the Northeast, I buy AWD cars for daily drivers, and after having this experience with a sedan, I feel fully confident about purchasing it over an SUV and being able to get to where I need to go when the weather gets tough. I don’t think I’m a candidate for an S-Class just yet, but that E550 I could sure see me off-roading driving around in.