Braking Bag
The braking bag featured on the ESV concept and will go into production on the new S-Class as one of the headline-making technologies.
The airbag is incorporated into the vehicle floor underneath the front bumper and is deployed if sensors detect an imminent, unavoidable impact.
It lifts the S-Class’s nose to serve two useful purposes: to increase friction with the road surface to reduce the car’s impact speed as well as creating a more optimal impact point that would otherwise be affected by the car pitching forward under braking.
Magic Body Control
Mercedes is starting to employ the word ‘Magic’ as a more engaging nomenclature for some of its most sophisticated technological features. It was first used on the latest-generation Mercedes-Benz SLK roadster, where an optional roof called Magic Sky Roof could go from shaded to transparent at the touch of the button through the simple but clever manipulation of magnetised particles.
Magic Body Control is an advanced evolution of the Active Body Control suspension found on current Mercedes models such as the outgoing S-Class and related CL coupe.
But where Active Body Control uses hydraulic pistons on the vehicle’s coil springs to ‘react’ to the road surface, Magic Body Control will proactively prepare the suspension for lumps and bumps by ‘reading’ the road ahead via a camera mounted at the top of the windscreen.
The camera can scan the road about five to 14 metres ahead, picking up irregularities as small as half an inch.
Seatbelt airbags
A further development of one of the most important life-saving features ever introduced to cars – seatbelts – the Mercedes-Benz S-Class will feature restraining lashes with airbags that inflate in the event of a crash.
The seatbelt airbags, which have been developed in conjunction with seatbelt specialist Autoliv, almost doubles in width to distribute crash forces over a wider area of the upper body to reduce injury potential.
The Belt Bag is said to be particularly effective in the rear seats, and of most benefit to older occupants whose ribcages are less flexible. Such airbags are being developed by other makers, though, including Ford, which will fit them to its next-generation Mondeo medium car also due in 2013.
Inverting seats
Mercedes-Benz engineers are also working on special front seats for the S-Class that will automatically pivot inwards towards the centre of the car in the event of a side impact. This safety feature is designed to further limit the chances of serious injury in a side impact, working in conjunction with side airbags.
The inverting seats may not make into initial production, however, as engineers are still working on the challenge of creating sufficiently strong seating mounts.
Efficiency
The most economical Mercedes-Benz S-Class currently is the S350 Bluetec diesel that has a combined rating of 7.0L/100km. The next-generation S-Class range, however, will feature one model that will have Toyota Prius hybrid-like fuel economy of less than 4.0 litres per 100km. This will be a truly staggering figure for a vehicle that weighs about two tonnes.
