2016 Mercedes-Benz C450 AMG

When Mercedes married AMG in 2005 following a lengthy courtship, who would have expected that union to spawn 38 children? Not all those babies come to the U.S., but we do receive our share and more are on their way. The car on this page is the first middle child, a sports sedan badged Mercedes-Benz C450 AMG. It’s been reared to fill the void between regular Mercedes-Benz C-class models aimed at law-abiding citizens and the rowdy Mercedes-AMG C63.

Fret not over this C’s lack of a V-8. A new twin-turbo direct-injected 3.0-liter V-6 cranks out enough energy—362 horsepower, 384 pound-feet of torque—for the C450 to run with or past competitors such as the Audi S4, BMW 340i, Cadillac ATS, and Jaguar XE S. Aided by standard four-wheel drive, it bolts to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds and through the quarter in 13.1, just a few tenths of a second behind the 503-hp C63 S. Living with only a six-pack under the hood benefits mileage and chassis balance and drops the base price to $51,725—within reach of middle management.

The C450 has a nicely balanced perform­ance portfolio. Panic stops from 70 mph in 160 feet rival the best competitors. The 0.93-g cornering grip is also exemplary, topping all BMWs lacking full M specifications. Thanks to a fixed 33/67-percent front/rear torque split, you can power out of bends in the wet without fear that the tail will slip first. Three-stage dampers handed down from the C63 provide body-motion control ranging from firm to extra firm, accessible via a console toggle.

“Discreet” best describes the C450’s exterior. There’s minimal AMG identification. But a megasized three-pointed star in the grille assures that no one will mistake this for a Suzuki.

Interior designers earned their keep by crafting one of the most nicely outfitted cabins on the market. The front buckets provide perfect restraint and long-lasting comfort without impeding ingress or egress. The rear bench seat coddles two and accommodates a third in a pinch.

Nice-to-touch steering-wheel paddles command the seven-speed transmission. While aggressive driving in automatic mode can elicit jerky downshifts, manual gearchanges are swift and smooth.

A fixed, non-touch center screen is your window to the C450’s nervous system. Key in the appropriate commands and you can fine-tune chassis and power­train operations or display an entertaining power-and-torque gauge.

While leather is available at no extra charge, the MB-Tex vinyl upholstery is attractive and satisfying to touch. If you can live without the tanned-hide aroma, it’s worth a try. The only ergonomic flaw is a cruise-control stalk hidden behind a steering-wheel spoke.

The C450 AMG’s blend of perform­ance, congeniality, and relative afford­ability suggests that Mercedes is on to something here. We say bring us more middle children.

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2015 BMW X6 M vs. 2016 Mercedes-AMG GLE63 S Coupe

Gather ’round the fire, folks, and let Uncle Car and Driver tell you a little story. Some people might call it a fable or a fairy tale, but there ain’t fairies in this tale or brownies or sprites, not even a wisecracking woodland gnome. Where were we? Right, way back in the mists of time known as the 1920s, before interstate highways and chairs that give massages, there was a land known as the Irish Hills.

Now, that name is what fancier folks might call a misnomer, because these hills weren’t in Ireland and, truth be told, the hills really weren’t much in the way of hills, either. No, those hills were in Michigan, where any old lump is called a hill. Along U.S. Route 12, once the trail that connected Detroit and Chicago, there lived a farmer named Edward Kelly whose land included part, but not all, of Brighton Hill. In about 1924, the Michigan Observation Company (MOC) decided it would build an observation tower on that hill, because, well, because Netflix hadn’t yet been invented. The evil MOC decided to cash in on the tourists with this roadside attraction. The good Mr. Kelly was not at all pleased, but the MOC built its 50-foot tower anyway, mere feet from his property line.

So Kelly built his own damn tower, of similar design, right next to it. But Kelly’s was 60 feet tall. It would come to be known as the Spite Tower. [Are we going to be mentioning the vehicles at any point in this comparison test?—Ed.]

Well, that wouldn’t do at all, said the MOC. It was not about to lose a measuring contest to Kelly and added 14 feet to the top of its tower. Possibly you saw this coming, but Kelly then added four feet to the top of his tower, putting it even with the MOC’s.

It wasn’t until the MOC threatened to tear down its tower and build a much taller steel structure that Kelly called a truce. And the people rejoiced in this battle of the towers. Then the interstate came and sucked all the tourists away from the Irish Hills and its cheesy attractions. The towers were eventually joined and ringed by a half-bit miniature-golf course. They now sit, stained and boarded up with their observation decks removed, a last-ditch effort to try to save them from the wrecking ball by making them nominally weatherproof until the current owner could raise the $300,000 it would take to repair them.

We’re not implying that the BMW X6 M and the Mercedes-AMG GLE63 S Coupe are in any way like those two towers. For one, both vehicles were, in our testing, watertight and structurally sound. To see the towers as an allegory for these two hot-rodded coupe-ish SUV thingamabobs would be to imply that German carmakers are in a constant and sometimes futile measuring contest, caring only about one-upping each other. And that can’t be true because, um, these two vehicles are both made in the United States.

Mercedes started this whole “four-door coupe” silliness with its CLS sedan, and was followed quickly by BMW and its two four-door coupes. BMW was the first to take the basic concept to new heights of absurdity with its X6. And it was Mercedes that fired back with the large bar of soap known as the GLE Coupe. And look at where this has gotten us: Testing 5200-plus-pound perform­ance vehicles that ride on massive, sticky summer tires and provide precious little of the utility of an SUV with precious little of the fun of a proper performance car. It’s a cautionary tale.

But here they are nonetheless. A second-generation snub-nosed BMW X6 M, which pumps out 567 horsepower from its twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V-8, performs astonishing feats on the test track and looks from the rear-three-quarters view like a rat with no tail.

Fresh this year is the GLE Coupe, a GLE SUV made less practical. Predictably, its 5.5-liter twin-turbo V-8 makes 10 more horsepower than the X6 M’s engine, because, nyah, nyah, nyah, ours is bigger. Viewed directly from the rear, it looks like a sad robot with a chrome unibrow.

So what, pray-tell, constitutes a win in this segment of $100K-plus high-perform­ance, low-utility parade floats? Good question. Let’s find out together.

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2016 BMW 340i

Here’s how we see it: BMW tempered the driving character of the current 3-series in its quest for a broader audience. We’ve been vocal about this, and BMW has been listening. But maybe not closely enough. While a host of updates address some of our gripes and improve the car’s performance, the 3’s previously sublime tactility—that unquantifiable element that made these cars so engaging—remains muffled in this sixth-generation car.

The most obvious change for 2016 applies to the six-cylinder models, which are now badged 340i and feature BMW’s new B58 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-six. Along with producing 320 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque—increases of 20 and 32, respectively, over the previous N55 unit—the new engine emits a sonorous exhaust note reminiscent of BMW’s naturally aspirated mills.

Paired with a six-speed manual, the B58 engine shaved a few tenths off the zero-to-60-mph time of the last manual 335i we tested, returning a 4.8-second dash.

The refinements to the F30’s chassis are more modest and include stiffer front struts, retuned rear dampers, and new programming for the electrically assisted steering. The results are incremental: The ride is slightly more composed, and improved body control makes for flatter, steadier cornering.

Our test car also featured the 3’s newly available Track Handling package, which for $1700 adds BMW’s Variable Sport Steering, Adaptive M suspension, and M Sport brakes, as well as darkened 18-inch wheels wrapped with Michelin Pilot Super Sport summer tires. Overall grip is strong, maxing out at 0.91 g on the skidpad, and stops from 70 mph take just 159 feet.

Yet, despite the tweaks to the steering software, the updates do little to improve the feedback at the 3’s helm. The steering still lacks the positive on-center feel we want in a driver’s car—it’s video-game artificial for the first couple of degrees of input—and there’s only a small increase in effort as cornering loads rise. Further interfering with the 3’s fun factor is the manual transmission’s new standard automatic rev-matching feature, which works well but, frustratingly, can only be turned off by fully deactivating the stability-control system.

The rest of the changes, including subtle fascia and lighting touches and various new trim pieces throughout the cabin, require a keen eye to spot. While prices increase marginally on four-cylinder models, the 340i costs about two grand more than the 2015 335i, at $46,795 to start. And with the Track Handling hardware and several other optional packages, our test car’s sticker quickly ballooned to $58,420.

The new 3-series’ mid-cycle updates make a good car a little better, but they’re not transformative. This generation of 3-series still lacks the rewarding sense of driver involvement that helped earn its predecessors 23 10Best trophies since 1992. Knowing its record, we can’t help but miss its defining characteristic.

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Jeep Grand Cherokee V-6 4x4

Jeep’s current-generation Grand Cherokee SUV has been such a success that it probably didn’t need an update to keep things rolling, but onearrived for 2014 anyway. We aren’t complaining, what with the ’14 GC’s new eight-speed automatic transmission, refined interior, and even more handsome sheetmetal. We have previously driven the Hemi V-8, put the new V-6 diesel in a comparo, and tested the hot-rod SRT, but this is our first full test of the volume V-6 model.

We were curious to discover how the new eight-speed—the only significant mechanical update—would improve the V-6’s drivability. In our long-term 2011 Grand Cherokee V-6 and a separate 2011 test model, we noted that the 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 felt like it struggled against the SUV’s porky curb weight. The six makes its 290 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque high in the rev range, and the outgoing five-speed automatic had to work hard to keep the V-6 on the boil.

More Speeds, More Shifting, Better Use of V-6’s Power

The optional V-8 and the new diesel six move the Jeep with more bravado, but the eight-speed brings slightly more verve to the high-strung V-6. The transmission loves to shift, but the changes are as smooth as butter. The ratio spread keeps the V-6’s revs low at higher speeds, but the lower gears make the most of the Pentastar’s power. Still, the transmission’s brain clearly was programmed to upshift early and often, although you can calm it down by moving the shift lever to the Sport setting.

We recorded a 7.5-second 0-to-60 time for this test; that’s 0.6 second quicker than the best sprint registered by our long-termer. For a sub-300-hp SUV weighing 4987 pounds, that qualifies as quick. With the eight-speed, EPA fuel-economy ratings improve by 1 mpg each to 17 mpg city and 24 highway, and we saw 17 mpg. (Our long-termer returned 19 mpg, but its much longer stay provided the opportunity for more mileage-boosting freeway time.)

The dynamics carry over to 2014 largely unchanged. The Grand Cherokee still feels planted through turns, despite plenty of body roll, and the steering is accurate if numb. Our luxe Overland-spec test car’s standard air suspension delivered a cushy, isolated ride, and it affords the ability to manipulate ride height at the push of a button.

The fancy suspension works in concert with the Overland’s standard Quadra-Trac II four-wheel-drive system, which works automatically but offers a driver-selectable low-range setting and several terrain choices for the suspension and driveline. We sampled this setup in our first drive of the ’14 Grand Cherokee and found it worked as advertised. Less-extreme systems are available on lesser Cherokees, namely, Quadra-Trac I (regular full-time all-wheel drive) and Quadra-Drive II (same as Quadra-Trac I but with an electronically managed limited-slip center differential).

Look Out, Propeller, Three-Pointed Star, and Four-Ring Badges

Buyers can step into a four-wheel-drive, V-6 Grand Cherokee for as little as $31,790 in entry-level Laredo trim. Jeep offers the Limited and Summit trim levels as well; the $47,190 Overland tested here slots between those two. Standard equipment on our test model included heated leather front and rear seats (ventilated up front), a heated wood-rimmed steering wheel, a rearview camera, an 8.4-inch Uconnect infotainment screen, a panoramic sunroof, bixenon headlights, a power liftgate, and 20-inch aluminum wheels. The $1795 Advanced Technology Group, which brings adaptive cruise control, forward-collision warning and mitigation, and blind-spot monitoring with cross-path detection, was our vehicle’s only option.

That’s a lot of high-zoot gear for less than $50,000, and when combined with the Jeep’s roomy cargo hold, on- and off-road abilities, and sumptuous interior, it makes for an extremely compelling alternative to similarly sized vehicles from Germany.

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2016 Kia Sorento V-6 AWD

Few brands have ascended from near oblivion as convincingly as has Kia. Run your eyes down the flanks of the resculpted 2016 Sorento and it’s hard to envision products that were once bait for subprime buyers shopping for low monthly payments. Kia’s 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty introduced more than a decade ago helped erase some memories of bottom-of-the-barrel quality and subpar resale values in preceding years. But the advent of Peter Schreyer’s design put a face on the rapid improvements to driving dynamics, feature content, and build quality that really started coming together in the 2011 Sorento. Suddenly Kia products transitioned from used-car stand-ins with good bang-for-buck value into something a bit more refined and aspirational.

The 2016 Sorento continues that trend. The tiger nostrils in the crossover’s grille flare more widely now on what is the third-bestselling Kia behind the Optima sedan and Soul hatchback. The look is decidedly upscale with elegance and balanced proportions inside and out and a preponderance of premium-look and -feel materials cheering the cabin that—we’ll just say it—would do an Audi or Lexus crossover proud. A three-inch stretch in overall length this year takes the Sorento to roughly the same size nose-to-tail as the 2015 Lexus RX350. But the Sorento offers three rows of seats (standard on V-6 models) to the RX350’s two. Certainly, the aft chairs of the Kia are for wee folk, yet the Sorento manages to offer four more inches of third-row legroom than the 3.7-inch-longer Toyota Highlander.

In addition to the base 185-hp 2.4-liter four-cylinder and a 290-hp 3.3-liter V-6 for upper trim levels, Kia offers a new 2.0-liter turbo four with 240 horsepower on tap and 260 lb-ft of torque in a broad swath starting at 1450 rpm. The turbo four likely will replace the V-6 in future iterations as Kia moves to meet tougher fuel-economy targets. But for now the direct-injected 3.3-liter V-6 is the best choice for all-around performance and drivability, especially in the all-wheel-drive 4313-pound SX model we tested. It’s also a good match for the Sorento’s smooth personality. It has ample torque, a pleasing sound, and pulls enthusiastically to its 6500-rpm redline. The six-speed automatic offers clean, crisp shifts.

This crossover is no slouch, either. Our $40,595 Sorento V-6 AWD test vehicle reeled off a 7.2-second zero-to-60 time, edging out both a Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.6-liter V-6 4x4 and a Toyota Highlander 3.5-liter V-6 AWD we’d previously tested. And even though the Sorento prioritizes ride comfort over high-limit handling, the Kia’s 0.80 g of lateral grip was far stickier than the Grand Cherokee’s 0.73 g. Shod with 235/55-19 Michelin Premier LTX all-season rubber, the Sorento stopped from 70 mph in 179 feet, 6 feet shorter than a 2016 Acura MDX, 7 shorter than the Highlander, and 12 shorter than the Grand Cherokee.

That said, the 2016 Sorento—in V-6, turbo four, or any other guise—won’t be challenging the Germans for fast-lane or twisty-road domination. Rather, the made-in-the-U.S.A. 2016 Kia Sorento is a crossover that’s very comfortable in its own skin. Despite employing column-mounted electric-steering boost, the Sorento is still not quite as talkative as the best German systems, although weighting is now quite good. But the Korean is quiet, very well appointed inside, has comfortable and supportive front seats, is stable and composed at speed, and feels very solid. While the base L and mid-level LX and EX trims deliver a lot of standard equipment for the dollar, the SX and Limited dip more than a toe into premium territory—for thousands of dollars less than premium-brand entries. We’d call that a winner.

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2016 Nissan Maxima SR

Our culture is currently grappling with questions of identity, the ability to change ourselves. So what, you may ask, does that have to do with the new Nissan Maxima? This is a sedan that has long claimed (without much credibility) to be a four-door sports car, or 4DSC in Nissanese. As far as automotive identity crises go, this is the one to have. We’d love to get a sports car trapped in a four-door body, but that’s easier said than done.

Much of the Maxima’s spec sheet reads as if it comes from a family sedan. It has a transversely mounted engine, front-wheel drive, and a continuously variable transmission. These are hardly the physical attributes of a sports sedan, let alone a sports car. And yet, nothing on the spec sheet would matter if the Maxima transcended these parts to deliver a sporting driving experience. It doesn’t.

Our test car’s SR trim is the Maxima at its most athletic. The 19-inch wheels are an inch larger than on other models, and the springs, anti-roll bars, and shocks are all retuned. Nearly all SR models come with 245/40 Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric All-Season tires developed for this application, but our test car came equipped with like-sized Bridge­stone Potenza RE050A summer tires. That is stickier rubber, available only as a dealer-installed accessory. So, cheater tires, sort of.

The SR’s ride is more sensitive to the road than the luxurious Platinum trim level we also drove, and those summer tires hold to the skidpad with 0.87 g worth of grip. That’s a respectable achievement for a mid-size sedan, but it’s not something we’d call sports-car, or even sports-sedan, worthy. Let’s put skidpad grip aside; it’s just a number, after all. What’s really bothering us is that the Maxima isn’t much fun.

Great sports sedans are instruments of joy when you give them the whip. Switching the SR’s Drive Mode Selector to sport enhances the throttle sensitivity, changes the transmission’s shifting strategy, raises steering effort, and then lets in more of the engine note. None of that overcomes the dynamic handicap that is born of having 61.4 percent of the mass carried by the front tires. Lay into the Maxima on a road like California’s Angeles Crest Highway and, despite excellent body control, this sedan never comes alive, it just understeers—inescapable, grinding, shuddering understeer. The solution is to slow down. But sports sedans shouldn’t ask for a breather.

It turns out, though, that the Maxima is actually a credible luxury car. The front and rear seats are spacious and soothingly comfortable. Touches of fake suede, diamond-patterned stitching, and metallic trim are welcome embellishments. At night, ambient lighting subtly illuminates the instrument-panel trim and doors. The simple and elegant round gauges have a seven-inch multi­colored screen between them to display information and route guidance (navigation is standard on all Maximas). An eight-inch touch screen on the driver-oriented center console can be also be ­controlled by the knob behind the shifter. It’s quiet inside, too. At a steady 70 mph we measured 66 decibels, and a full-throttle whack only produces 74 dBA. Indeed, it’s quieter than the Mercedes-Benz S550, the epitome of luxury.

Nissan clearly worked on turning down the volume on its mainstay V-6. To combat the big six’s former predilection to buzz like the coffee grinder at Starbucks, there is a new oil pan to stiffen the bottom of the block. A Bose noise-cancelling audio system and acoustically laminated windshield glass and front windows work to mute other errant sounds that might reach the cabin.

According to Nissan, 61 percent of the V-6’s parts are redesigned. Among them are the valves and the intake manifold. From those new parts comes a boost of 10 horsepower for a total of 300. We’re a bit surprised at the lack of direct injection, but the V-6 doesn’t need it to return 22 mpg city and 30 highway in the EPA cycle. We achieved only 18 mpg, but that included a demanding strafe over the San Gabriel Mountains.

The revised engine isn’t just quiet and efficient, it’s also able to move the relatively light 3545-pound SR from zero to 60 mph in 5.9 seconds. But again, speed alone does not a sports sedan make. Accelerate at normal traffic pace and the transmission provides a smooth stream of calm progress. With a strong 261 pound-feet of torque there is enough grunt at low rpm that the CVT doesn’t have to rev the engine mercilessly.

Nissan has programmed the transmission to act like a conventional automatic, shifting through preset ratios when the accelerator is held beyond three-eighths of its travel. But despite the programming, a more efficient chain, and lower-viscosity oil, every big hit of the throttle results in a delay of power delivery as the engine feels like it has to churn up the transmission’s butter before providing acceleration. Even CVTs that pretend to have gears aren’t sporty.

We actually preferred the slightly softer Platinum trim level to this SR. Without the latter’s sporting pretensions, the Maxima comes across as sophisticated, luxurious, and refined. On 18-inch wheels and the non-SR chassis, the Maxima is still taut for its class, but the ride remains relaxed. So while the adjective sport may not apply here, the adjective luxury definitely does. Asking the ­Maxima to be a sports sedan is like asking Caitlyn Jenner to get back into her decathlon shorts. It just ain’t gonna happen.

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2016 Mercedes-Maybach S600

 Overwhelm the senses or starve them. Connect the driver so completely with the car that he has to duck to avoid the crankshaft throws, or isolate the cabin so absolutely that its occupants feel cleansed by its serenity. Constant stimulation or sensory deprivation? When engineering an expensive car, a path must be chosen.

But the 2016 Mercedes-Maybach S600 charts a difficult middle course. It’s not a frantic supercar, nor is it a numb isolation chamber on four wheels. Instead, it indulges each of the five senses in considered doses.

Of course, the new Maybach isn’t a car for people who merely have their names on parking spaces. It’s a $190,275, 523-hp, twin-turbo V-12–powered leviathan for the titans who have their names on buildings, especially in China.

After all, even billionaires in America like to consider themselves “middle-class.” Many drive Ford F-150s and drink an occasional Coors. The Maybach is embarrassingly opulent, even by the standards of most American one-percenters, and that’s why only about 10 percent of the freshly reimagined Maybach subbrand’s S-class production will make it over here.

Chinese culture, on the other hand, has a lingering caste system, and the nouveau gentry expect to be driven in regal comfort while they drink chilled Cristal from the optional sterling-silver champagne flutes. Mercedes expects that 50 percent of new Maybachs will head there.

Let’s check out the Maybach S600, one sense at a time.

Sight

Look closely at the details as you take in all eighteen feet.

Most of the new Maybach’s mechanical substance is identical to the standard S600’s. During assembly, an additional steel panel gets welded to the floorpan, and new extended aluminum rear quarters and a longer roof are bonded to the structure. With an 8.1-inch wheelbase stretch, and the addition of chrome B-pillars and small windows behind the doors, the result is massive-looking, but with a lavish, provocative profile.

However, on the standard S600’s multispoke wheels, the Maybach also looks anonymous. It’s the dazzling, optional Maybach-exclusive 20-inchers that bring the necessary eyeball wallop. Like silver Tiffany serving bowls embedded into a polished set of E-T slot mags, the Maybach wheels visually lower the car’s center of gravity and give it a frisson of futurism. They’re encased in 245/40 front and 275/35 rear Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 run-flat tires with square shoulders and steamroller tread patterns. It’s all very master of the universe–type stuff.

So forget the individual media screens in the rear lounge, don’t bother with the seven possible colors of ambient interior lighting you can choose from, and don’t look up through the standard pano­ram­ic sunroof; the visual feast lies under each fender.

Touch

Take off your shoes. Now take off your socks. That's real sheep.

All the Maybach’s stretch translates into additional legroom for the two occupants in back, who are seated in thrones that look as if they were pulled from an executive jet. With separate power controls, pillow-style headrests, extendable legrests, and a perfectly coddling shape, they’re as good for napping as any bed in your house. Six-footers won’t be able to tap the front seatbacks with their feet.

Add the rear-seat comfort package—it really should be called the insanely comfortable rear-seat package—and a hot-stone-massage system is included. It’s the best thing you can touch in automobiledom, though it doesn’t offer a happy ending.
Save for a few controls, there isn’t a ­surface that the rear-seat passengers can caress, pet, or stroke that didn’t once moo. Unless they go barefoot. Then, their toes sink into plush, sheepskin floor mats. Those used to go baa.

Sound

Listen carefully and you'll hear nothing.

Mercedes claims that the Maybach S600’s rear passengers sit in the quietest space in any car. Even the seatbelts’ inertial reels are sealed to reduce the offensive noise of their operation.

Silence isn’t always a virtue, though, so every Maybach carries either a Burmester surround-sound system or the even higher-end 3-D surround-sound system that faithfully replicates orchestral music and has tweeters that pop out and rotate when in use. But the Maybach’s most engaging sound is heard mostly by the driver. Pressing the start button initiates an ignition sequence that whirs the big 6.0-liter twin-turbo V-12 to life as if the ground plugs had been pulled and fuel pumps started on a moon-bound Saturn V rocket.

Unfortunately, as with other S600s, the Maybach also uses the eco stop-start system that shuts off the engine at every stop. And it gets annoying hearing the engine rumble back to life every few minutes in traffic. The system can be turned off but defaults back to on every time you restart. An eco mode in such a staggeringly large and thirsty land yacht is a feint galling enough to insult the intelligence of its buyers.

Smell

The odor of money, masquerading as agar.

Modern processed leather just doesn’t deliver much olfactory satisfaction. So, as with the other S-class machines, the Maybach uses Mercedes’ Air Balance system of air ionization and filtration, with the addition of a fragrance. In the Maybach’s case, the ­fragrance is a special concoction of precious and expensive Agarwood essence.

The Agar tree is native to Southeast Asia, and its heartwood resin has been used for centuries in perfume and incense. It makes the cabin smell like the nicest candle shop in Guangzhou. Maybach buyers in China will love it.

Taste

Eating inside is encouraged. Other matters of taste are less clear.

Don’t lick the Maybach, but in-car dining is encouraged.  Airplane-style aluminum fold-out tables are optional, as is a refrigerated compartment big enough to hold three bottles of champagne—or a two-liter bottle of  Dr. Pepper and two roast-beef-and-provolone subs from Jersey Mike’s.

The problem with that $1100 refrigerator isn’t that it doesn’t keep things cold (it does), but that it extends deep into the trunk, sucking up about 20 percent of the usable storage space. Imagine unloading your Gulfstream and finding that there’s not enough room in the Maybach’s trunk for that cord of Agarwood you picked up during an Indonesian stopover.

The Sixth Sense

Remote but not intangible soul.

Mercedes’ S-class is already one of the best cars in the world, and moving up to the Maybach amplifies most of its virtues. In particular, the V-12 that can seem like coldblooded overkill in the S-class feels easygoing in the 523-hp Maybach, and shifts of the seven-speed automatic transmission are somehow both firm and virtually unnoticeable.

Meanwhile the coordinated operation of the Magic Body Control suspension and Road Surface Scan forward-looking-camera system gives the Maybach the most even-tempered ride of any sedan. The distant steering feel present in other S-class sedans somehow feels appropriate in the stretched Maybach.

Mercedes plans to apply the Maybach treatment to other products, including (it’s rumored) the large GL SUV.  A super-deluxe SUV such as that one could find more takers in the United States than this monstrous sedan.  And there should be a stretched E-class Maybach for the junior executives in China and here as well.

Now, please excuse us as we crawl in back, enjoy our massages and exquisitely chilled subs, and take the mother of all naps

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