Perhaps decades ago, testing a luxury limousine on a race track would have seemed odd and newsworthy in itself, but it has now become common practice to bring any sort of upcoming vehicle for a lap or two around the world's most famous and most demanding circuit.
Bring a camera on an Industry Pool day and you're bound to catch footage of upcoming models as professional test drivers put them through their paces in search of the best possible set up that fits that particular vehicle. In the S-Class' case - as anyone who's ever ridden in one will tell you - that would be 'supreme comfort'.
Driving the S-Class around a racetrack - particularly a non-AMG version - seems a bit like overkill but think of it this way: if it can fare there, it'll do great in other more benign circumstances. They do the same with most SUVs: very few will ever go off-road, but that doesn't mean they don't test them accordingly.
The Mercedes-Benz S-Class you see here is, according to the German manufacturer, a completely new car compared to the current generation. Like ever before, the limousine will represent the pinnacle of Mercedes-Benz technology, so the all-new interior features a more minimalistic design. That being said, the required luxurious atmosphere doesn't allow it to go completely bland, which is great news.
Design-wise, the 2021 S-Class isn't a secret anymore. The new model was leaked just two weeks ago both inside and out, but even if it weren't, you could have still put two and two together: take the classic S-Class shape and add the new Mercedes-Benz styling seen on the GLE- and GLS-Class SUVs. It's the interior where the Germans could still surprise us, and it looks like they did a mighty good job.
Given its size and subsequent weight, you don't expect the 2021 Mercedes-Benz S-Class to be the nimblest vehicle. And it isn't. What it also isn't is 'sluggish'. Forced to throw its mass around a corner, the limousine will do it just fine despite the squealing protests coming from the tires. It doesn't look at home doing it, but it won't hold a grudge against the driver either.
Thinking about it, the S-Class does look slow, but it's just that: it appears to be slow, but it actually isn't. It's really a credit to the vehicle and the engineers behind it that they successfully made a car of this type and size seem to navigate the Nürburgring effortlessly. One more reason to be excited about the upcoming model if there was ever a need for it.
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