The features on a brand new luxury car are always seen as gimmicks at first - electric windows, cruise control or even gesture controls. But eventually, they trickle down to ordinary models and become the norm.
Mercedes has always tried to put the S-Class at the spearhead of the automotive industry, at least when it comes to features. And while we believe the company will still sneak in a few surprises, we at least know all about the autonomous driving tech.
Daimler has been working on this kind of super-smart car that can drive itself. And while the 2021 S-Class won't be at the level of those concepts that don't even have steering wheels, its available Level 3 autonomous tech will at least let you take your eyes off the road and do other things while it takes care of the driving.
With most current systems, the car tracks your line of sight and require you to put a car on the steering wheel once in a while. Tesla, with its Level 2 system, isn't an exception, but people still find ways to catch naps, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. It's worth mentioning that Audi's computers are pretty smart too.
But this isn't the normal S-Class; it's the Maybach S-Class. It was caught testing in Stuttgart this week, looking very long and sporting a super-long body that dwarfs most vans and some cool new design elements like the flush door handles. But if the car can do all the driving itself, why do you even need a limo in the first place? Maybe the chauffeur will be too blown away by the infotainment screen to keep his eyes on the road. Or this could just be the next toy for dictators to play with and boast about.
They probably won't have anything to shout about in the engine department, as all the Maybach configurations are said to be powered by V8 engines, leaving Bentley and Rolls-Royce to play the 12-cylinder game.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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