[NOISE] You know in my line of work, you drive a lot of nice cars.
And I'll be honest with you, they do tend to start to blur together.
Until you get in this guy.
And then it takes you someplace really special.
[MUSIC]
Now I'd construct these videos by pointing out the competitors to the car I'm about to show you, but I don't think I can here.
BMW and Audi and Lexis, they don't do this.
Bentley does with the Continental Convertible, but that's what, a hundred more at least?
Mercedes may have themselves their own niche with the S Cabrio.
Now call me a heretic but I don't think this is the prettiest car from the rear, at least when the top is up.
It looks too much like a [UNKNOWN] on wheels.
But once you put the top down, everything changes.
They stop mocking you when everyone realizes you just won the best weekend drive competition for life.
Now notice this top will operate up to 31 miles per hour.
When it's down, you reveal the two rear seats.
I put those in quotes, cuz it's more like bench with headrests.
They're not real practical.
Notice, also, that this top is really more like firmware than software, it's almost as sturdy as a retractable, amazing!
[MUSIC]
Considering we've got a big convertible here, this trunk space isn't bad.
Now this divider reminds you the top has to go there when it goes down.
If you want to commit to not having the top down on your trip.
This will move out of the way and give you more space.
[MUSIC]
So what's the point of having the Cabrio, then?
[MUSIC]
Notice the design of this cabin.
It is not an accident.
It looks a little bit like a high-end yacht.
A little bit.
Hell, a lot like a high-end yacht.
The ivory upholstery doesn't hurt.
Of course I can add, you've got two twelve-inch L C Ds.
It's just going to be a matter of a couple model years before those become just one piece of screen.
Nothing really interesting in the area of audio and media.
It's what they've had for years.
And notably missing in the S class are Android auto and car play.
It's a big gripe for me.
Mercedes does a touch pad, of course.
You've got pinch and zoom, you press to click.
And in front of that, you've got the turn, kick, and click knob as well.
Lot of ways to get things done, except touch screen.
[MUSIC]
The audio in this car, as you can tell from the grills everywhere, is Burmester brand.
Real high-end.
Standard.
And by the way, they have this front bass system where the cowl of the car is a subwoofer.
The Mercedes thing.
This little vent here on the headrest is their air scarf.
It blows hot air on your neck when the tops down.
I love it.
Over there left of the steering wheel is a dumping ground of bad ergo.
That set of buttons on the high upper left.
They're too small, they're too close together, and they're too far away.
The headlight switch down there is the stupid as to ever invented.
It faces the floor.
I've had this car for two days, I still can't tell you what's the different positions are.
I just keep turning it till the lights come on.
And those seats on the doors for seat heating, and cooling, and air scarf, and all matter, kinda strangely hard to reach and hard to see the way they're angled.
[MUSIC]
Power is sort of traditionally liberal.
A biggish 4.7 liter V8 with a turbo on each bank, couples to a nine speed automatic, on which seventh, eighth, and ninth are overdrive.
That tells you something about this car's torque, but also about it's luxurious intended use.
Rear wheel drive only on the Cabriot, unless you get an AMG model.
4,800 pounds, gets up to 60 in four and a half seconds while delivering 25 on the highway.
To be honest, those three numbers in one sentence are kind of a miracle.
Now as you might imagine this car has great power on the road.
You saw the numbers on paper, it doesn't feel nearly as heavy as it reads.
That's because it Not just power, but it's real silky smooth power.
But that's when you're really able to max the throttle and get out on some open road.
It's a very different experience if you're on town or in stop and go traffic.
When this thing becomes a chore it's because Mercedes likes to program the S Class with a very high latency throttle.
I don't know why.
You dip into it, and power doesn't arrive much For a while.
You lay off it, and deceleration doesn't arrive much for a while.
It makes for a very disconnected driving experience.
Open road, whole different story.
I've got two suspension settings, and two power trans settings, and that's it.
You see that wind blocker behind me there?
That goes up and down with the push of a button here on the console.
There's another Blocker up here on top of the header of the windshield with the air scar the heated seats once you can find the right button.
Very comfortable in here with the top down.
Bottom line I could spend all day in this car.
As long as it's not a day spent in town in stop and go traffic.
Okay we're gonna start with our S550 cab, by the way the baby of the S cab's.
You got two AMG's above this, that's another story.
this guy starts off at about 133 delivered.
I like the premium package for 3500 bucks, those are all things all used all the time.
There's an additional sound system that has 3D surround.thighs I don't think so.
Night view assist I remain unconvinced the screen is on the wrong place.
So I don't see at as $2,300.
The driver assistance package is good.
Though not pioneering there's a bunch of active driver assist and well price.
You can get Swarovski crystal headlights for the oil billionaire and all of us Apps.
Mercedes has more connection plans than Verizon, absurd in their complexity.
I'll leave that to you.
And the very best option for this car costs $25, what they call the flexible cargo stabilizer, a thing that keeps whatever shape thing you've got in the trunk from sliding around.
So about 138 done CNet style without going stupid style.
In a car that's in a category of one, how do you judge the value?
Let's just say, if you can afford it, you will like it.
And you'll also wish the weekends were longer.
[MUSIC]
[INAUDIBLE]
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