Mercedes-Benz tend to get a little anxious when other car manufacturers attempt to poach their reputation for building the 'best car in the world'. For as long as many of us can remember, this title has been awarded to the Mercedes S-Class, but with a slew of astonishingly good rivals from the likes of BMW, Audi and Jaguar, Mercedes needed to pull out all the stops to halt any dissent. The latest S-Class looks set to restore the unequivocal hierarchy.

The outgoing car can be viewed as nothing but a resounding success, but six years is a long time at the top and since its introduction in 1999, the game has moved on. Never mind the fact that Mercedes cornered 46% of the luxury car market in Europe and 58% in Japan. Even in America, where the prohibitive exchange rates have often meant that a basic S-Class was almost twice the price of a top-end Cadillac, Mercedes still captured a 40% slice of the market. By any conventional measure, this car has been an overwhelming winner. At its launch, it was a technological tour de force and a mid-life revision did much to keep the car at the cutting edge in terms of gadgetry but the basic shape was just beginning to look a little dated in the face of some very avant garde rivals. Mercedes' riposte - dubbed the W221 series - is almost overwhelming.

The styling takes a little getting used to, observers like me having grown accustomed to the sleek coupe-like lines of the 'old' W220 generation S-Class. The latest car smoothes the flanks with the absence of side rubbing strips but adds sharply defined wheelarches that some commentators claim are reminiscent of the Mazda RX-8, along with a swage line that runs from the front wheelarch back to the tail light clusters. Bigger in every dimension to its forebear, this S-Class also features a bootlid that's raised. Mercedes claim this mirrors a styling cue from Maybach - their super-luxury vehicle division - but most of the car-buying public will more readily associate it with a BMW 7 Series, which isn't great news when trying to position the S-Class as a trend setter rather than follower.

"The current S-Class has dropped the gratuitous gadget count in favour of well-judged refinements"

That suspicion is reinforced in the cabin where a number of fascia buttons have been dispensed with, replaced instead by the COMAND (Cockpit Management and Navigation Display) controller, a rotary knob located between the front seats. Stop me if you've heard this one before, but doesn't that sound a great deal like BMW's almost universally hated iDrive or Audi's rather more acceptable MMI interface? Even the smooth expanses of dashboard and hooded instrument binnacle seem distinctly redolent of the BMW. Perhaps this is a little harsh. If Mercedes have judged this layout and interface to work adequately, pragmatism should dictate that they adopt it, rather than wilfully and expensively pursuing a design dead end.

Most of the underpinnings are constructed of high-tensile steel, and the chassis is a good deal more rigid than the outgoing S-Class, a car which remains a surprisingly entertaining steer. In an effort to reduce all-up weight, the bonnet, bootlid, doors and wings are fabricated from aluminium. The wheel-at-each-corner stance improves cabin space and also helps with engine packaging. Although length of the standard wheelbase car has grown by 33mm to 5076mm, the wheelbase stretches by 70mm. Opt for the long wheelbase car and the length stretches to 5206mm, so you may need to get a tape measure to your existing garage! Width goes up by 16mm to 1871mm and the S-Class also grows 29mm taller to 1473mm. This is a car with serious on road presence.

Mercedes' approach in past times with its flagship saloon was to throw a multitude of high-technology features at the design, then wait to see what would stick (a theme continued by BMW's current 7 Series). More recently with the post-'99 version, Stuttgart dropped the gratuitous gadget count in favour of well-judged refinements - and this continues here. The problematic Sensotronic braking system of the E-Class has been ditched in favour of a refinement of the existing hydraulic set-up, dubbed Adaptive Brake. This system incorporates a number of safety features such as the pads lightly skimming the discs during wet conditions and a hill hold function. The foot-operated parking brake, never a hugely popular Benz staple, has also been quietly ditched in favour of an electronic handbrake. Brake Assist Plus can register vehicles ahead by radar and can calculate if the driver is applying too little braking pressure to avoid a collision, powering up the system to maximum retardation. Pre-Safe is another safety system that recognises potential accident situations, tensioning the front seat belts, inflating air cushions in the multi-contour seat to support the occupant and automatically closing the side windows.

The array of powerplants available has filled out in promising fashion. Prices start at £54,317 for the S280 with its 231bhp V6, then there's the now-familiar 272bhp 3.5-litre V6 for the S350 and a 388bhp 5.5-litre V8 for the S500. This replaced the old 5.0-litre 306bhp unit and was the first in the series of multi-valve V8s. It'll punch the big Benz to 60mph in around 5.4 seconds and hit an electronically limited 155mph. Also available is a twin turbo 5.5-litre V12 with 517bhp for the S600 and an S320CDI featuring the 235bhp 3.0-litre V6 turbodiesel. Plans for hybrid and all-wheel drive models have been discussed but Mercedes is coy about whether these will come to the UK. A 6.3-litre V8 engine with 525bhp is offered in the S63 and AMG also do an S65 with a 612bhp version of the V12. A 4.6-litre V8 and a 4.0-litre diesel are also pencilled in for the future.

Although the jury remains out on whether the latest S-Class can prove as successful as its predecessor, there's little doubt that Mercedes have given it the raw materials to succeed. The best car in the world? Mercedes seem quietly confident.

TOP 5 S CLASS DEALS

The results below show the top S CLASS deals on buyacar

	Mercedes-benz S Class S350 4dr Auto Saloon
	ETR	Mthly £1,017	Saving £4,815	Price £52,965
	Mercedes-benz S Class S320 CDi 4dr Auto Saloon
	ETR	Mthly £938	Saving £4,661	Price £51,219
	Mercedes-benz S Class S65L 4dr Auto Bi-Turbo AMG Saloon
	ETR	Mthly	Saving £13,029	Price £136,021
	Mercedes-benz S Class S500 4dr Auto Saloon
	ETR	Mthly £1,290	Saving £6,011	Price £65,059
	Mercedes-benz S Class S350L 4dr Auto Saloon
	ETR	Mthly £1,098	Saving £5,175	Price £56,605

typical 9.44% APR

PCP finance quote over 48 months,  10,000 miles pa,  deposit of £1000