We say The S-Class is every bit the perfect luxury limo. It's costly but delivers luxury, comfort and sophistication. Ignore Maybach.Performance Petrol options include 3.5-litre, 5.5-litre V8 and ludicrous V12 variants. The 5.5-litre is powerful enough to give the S-Class a real kick. Meanwhile, a 3.0-litre diesel has the power, but at a more sedate pace.Emissions The S-Class is a particularly polluting model because of its age and size. Expect CO2 emissions over 220g/km and 30mpg fuel economy in the diesel.Driving Active Body Control decides on how firm a ride to produce. The S-Class is built for long-distance cruising and the incredible refinement is testament to this. It isn’t built for corners, but still manages to surprise with plenty of grip despite its size.Feel Extremely quiet and the suspension irons out all the bumps along the way. The S-Class is the ultimate cruiser.Space The Mercedes S-Class has massive amounts of space in the back and is comfortable as a chauffeur car. The extended Limo model is naturally even bigger.Equipment Alloys, leather, CD player, aircon, parking sensors, electric parking system and glass sunroof are all included as standard. Options include radar cruise control and infrared headlights.Price The Mercedes S-Class is an expensive car. Prices start from £60,000 but can rise to a staggering £115,000. These are matched by high running costs. As least residual values are good.Quality As the price suggests, there have been no corners cut in the S-Class. Luxurious throughout, it will not leave an owner wanting.Safety Loads of safety kit with everything you'd expect. It also boasts an object detection system which can apply the brakes itself and assisted braking in the event of an accident.Pros There isn’t much to fault with the S-Class. It is a luxurious, spacious and refined cruiser with a good level of equipment and an involving drive.Cons The S-Class is expensive to buy and to run.Alternatives Jaguar XJ, BMW 7 Series
