flying_dutchman

He, I've got a question: Is the S55AMG really a fun car to drive because it can do everything for you. It automatically switches gear, turns the lights on if it gets dark and you don't even have to use the gaspedal if you have DISTRONIC. I like a bit of comfort but if the car does everything by itself, isn't that boring?

I like to switch gears myself for example and I know you can do that with the buttons on the steering wheel but is that the same?

I would like to hear your opinion about this.

Don't understand me wrong: i love the S55 because of the outstanding looks, the even greater performance and the perfect comfort but isn't it all to much?

rgbyhkr

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING WARNING:

DO NOT BEGIN DRIVING THE CAR, ENABLE CRUISE CONTROL AND DISTRONIC, THEN HOP IN THE BACK SEAT FOR A SNOOZE!!! THE CAR CAN NOT DRIVE ITSELF.

:p

Sorry, but I couldn't help but think of the genious who did something similar in his new Winnebago and, after not surprisingly crashing, sued the company and actually was awarded a replacement vehicle by the jury. Winnebago now has a warning in their owners manuals after the incident to warn other Einsteins.

On a more serious note, I very much enjoyed the test drive. then again, I wasn't looking for a pure sports car. It's basically a suped up, large, luxury sedan. Raw power and handling without creature comforts are better found in other models that are more traditional sports cars. Some of the electronic aids and assists can be disabled on the S55 and various features have a sport vs. comfort mode so you can have a more sporty feel. For me, the S is a great merge between luxury, space (enough to fit 2 carseats comfortably) and sport.

flying_dutchman

First of all thanks for the answer. But sorry, I'm not completely satisfied.

The thing I wanted to know is: is it a car that you take out of your garage on Sunday to drive just for fun?

I know already that it is a nice car to drive to your work for example but would you use the S55 to go on a little tour just for fun with your wife and kids? Can you say it is that kind of a sportscar but than with just a little more comfort?


P.S. Congratulations with your car. Hope you'll enjoy it and I am sure you will.

rgbyhkr

Now that I won't know until I spend some time with the car. Perhaps someone else here can weigh in who's had theirs for a while.

Doody

well, here's my opinion on the matter, fwiw.

i got my '03 S55 in october 2003. i've put 3,500 miles on it so far (i've got snows on her right now so i can "enjoy" new england - yuck).

you can definitely have fun driving this car.

you can turn off the stability control (though i think it might auto-re-engage if you do anything REALLY stupid (read: life-threatening)).

you can shift manually. i have been very impressed with the manual mode. it will NOT upshift for you (you'll bounce off the limiter) and it will only downshift if you're going to actually stall, which effectively means you've coasted to the stop light and forgot to shift, so before it stalls out in 4th it'll go to 1st by itself. but otherwise it's totally manual.

when i want to have fun, i use the manual mode and enjoy it. the only problem with it IMO is that it's WAY easy to get distracted and forget you're in manual mode (whoops! i'm doing 75 in 3rd again on the highway!).

i do not tend to turn off the traction computer unless i'm going to do something really dumb (eg: donuts in an empty snowy parking lot). this is a wildly heavy car. if you turn off traction and cut it loose by accident, you'd better know what you're doing or it's gonna cost you.

the way the traction computer intervenes is very nice, ime. it doesnt' just "cut power" like many systems do, but rather it tries to accomplish what you're trying to do, it just dials it back enough to actually accomplish it. in this regard, it is a fairly tough car to launch off the line (hint: demo your new toy with a rolling 5-60 not a 0-60) - the computer kicks in on me like every freakin' time i start moving from a stop. maybe i need to remove some of that lead from my shoe .

if i want to drive hard, i just put it in manual mode and use the steering wheel buttons. it's a blast. though keep in mind that "driving hard" in this car is really just about acceleration - on ramps, empty road ahead, etc. i would not bother putting it on a road track, for example, but that might just be me.

i think the stock shift programs stink. they're "in a race to get to fifth", which sometimes seems to include doing 30 around the neighborhood as far as i can tell. the sport program is pretty good about gauging "oh - he really wants to haul ***" and holding through the torque curve, but you REALLY have to be hauling ***, or it'll just start shifting la dee dah. at the end of the day, imo, there's no substitute for a stick.

you can scare passengers. nobody expects a luxobarge like this to accelerate that fast. hell, i've scared myself .

hope that's helpful.

as for "sunday drives", my feeling is "no, not really". while the active body control is quite impressive in twisties, it's a luxobarge - there's no way around that. i'd have more fun tossing my wife's six-year-old Audi A4 all over kingdom come. but i might be a bad data point - my "sunday drive" car is a 550 Maranello.

doody.

flying_dutchman

Thank you Doody,

This is what I meant. Sounds like you really enjoy the car.

I'd like to hear some more comments though.

Doody

all that said, i'm not convinced that i shouldn't have gotten an RS6 instead.

though at least when i take the family out, the little rugrats can't kick the back of the seats in the S

get some seat time.

and speaking of seats, i'm not a fan of the dynamic drive seats - they don't adjust enough imo. i'll live, but i'm not impressed with the configuration options.

doody.

MB AMG

LMAO!!!!! What wrong with these people!?

GrepAwk

IMHO, I think the car is excellent. I don't have a Ferrari to compare, but...I find it very interactive, with fairly good road feel and excellent throttle response.

Yes, I find myself taking it out on the weekends for errands, and for fun tours with the family. There's plenty of room for my family or customers, which is why I landed on the S-Class in the first place. An S500 at 302 HP with all bells/whistles would have been acceptable to meet my "needs", until I learned the S55 power would be 496HP in 2003 MY. Now my standards for power have been set higher.

I don't think I will ever tire of the thrill of having near 500HP under the ball of my foot whenever I hit a highway on-ramp or for passing. That's the biggest seller in my mind.


I do find the ABC suspension and Drive Dynamic seats useful for the moderatly spirited drive. My wife likes the seat's massage feature. I haven't tried throwing the car into S-turns to check its limits, and probably won't. I feel too mortal (and responsible) on city streets. It stays in the garage on snowy/icy/rainy days, when the Audi or the SUV comes out to play.


Features I don't use:

o manual shifting. I had expected shift response time with the steering wheel buttons/lever would be faster. If you are serious about holding a gear to red-line, the manual mode works as advertised.

o Distronic (didn't order it)

o Keyless Go (didn't order it)

o Disabling Automatic Traction Control and VSC; they stay on at all times when I am driving. I have turned this off to spin the wheels a couple of times for fun, but I generally don't find any need to induce overstear. No track days for me yet.

o Auto Headlights. I always turn my headlights on/off manually. Force of habit.

It doesn't drive itself.

rekjr40

And remember as great as the 550 Maranello is, and it is a great car, your S55 will give it all it can handle in 0-??? acceleration. With a little work, like a $15,000 Brabus kit, you'd leave it in the dust. Yes the S55 is truly a great car, heavy, luxurious, practical, and one of the world's great sleepers in performance.

Doody

amusing story:

i took the 550 out of winter storage yesterday. wasn't able to "enjoy it" on the way to work - too much traffic, phone calls, etc. so i'm heading home at the end of the workday in edge-of-rush-hour traffic. it's crowded, but definitely moving. finally a hole opens up and i decide to punch it (clean out the carbon deposits, y'know). i was already in the passing lane doing over the speed limit and jetted up from there. it was a short jaunt. when i gunned it there was this black car behind me. all through the short run this guy is sticking on my butt! i was impressed and surprised. i slow it back down to semi-legal speeds and pull over to get towards my approaching exit. the black car passes me - it's an S55, the guy's giving me a thumbs up and he's putting his windows back up - i assume he had them down to hear the exhaust wailing. it was VERY amusing! the guy was totally diggin' it! and so was i! kept a smile on my face the rest of the ride home!

doody.

Mmmm

It's a hoot to drive, amazing combination of performance, sophistication and some fun.

As well as having done 15000 miles I've taken the car on the track now and it's great.



The track is a tight circuit, it was wet and greasy, the excess on the track insurance was £11250, about $17000 so I wasn't pushing too hard . Without trying too hard it was easy to lose traction at the rear, the car was very progressive and the slides were easy to control.

Here's a vid of an M3 from the BMW board following me, he can't keep with the S55 on the straights at all, but although the grip is pretty good two tons on a wet and greasy track needs considered braking, as you would expect the M3 coped a little better through the corners with the wet conditions.

S55 on Track

Overall the grip available is very impressive, some chassis feedback (amazing for a car in this class), excellent acceleration, the steering is nicely weighted and their is some feel too.

Other vid 0-100mph bad launch with traction control on

Bad Launch

Cars can realistically do 0-100mph in around 10 secs.

Here's just below 90mph to the limiter 157mph, spedo is amazingly accurate show just about 160mph when on the limiter, car is totally stable, still pulls very strongly right to the limiter.

S55 90-157mph