German Car Forum

The awards just keep coming and coming. The new S550 received the Garners Top Safety Award from Popular Mechanics Magazine. Not only is it getting great reviews and awards, but is also selling like hot cakes. Below you can read the full article.

MONTVALE, N.J., Sept. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The new-generation 2007 Mercedes- Benz S-Class sedan, the company's latest flagship sedan and the successor to a long line of premium luxury vehicles, has won a coveted Automotive Excellence Award from POPULAR MECHANICS magazine, one of the largest and most trusted technology magazines that reaches more than 8.6 million readers each month. Chosen by the magazine's experienced team of automotive editors, the new S550 model won their Safety award, one of ten categories that comprise their Automotive Excellence Awards, which recognize exceptional 2007 model-year vehicles.

Don Chaikin, automotive editor, POPULAR MECHANICS, said, "With the changing environment and economy, automotive manufacturers have to provide consumers with innovative, cost-effective and better-performing vehicles in order to stay competitive in today's market. It's hard to find a model that doesn't have some great new feature, but our automotive team sought the best of the best for our readers and has singled out these ten models as our top- of-the-line picks."

PRE-SAFE, Distronic Plus and Much More

The new-generation S-Class sedan made its U.S. debut earlier this year with an impressive array of industry-leading safety features. First, the revolutionary PRE-SAFE system senses loss of control and automatically takes measures to protect occupants before a possible impact.

The new radar-based Distronic Plus cruise control can maintain a pre-set following distance behind the vehicle ahead and it is networked with other systems so that Brake Assist can be readied and PRE-SAFE measures can be triggered if the closing speed to the next vehicle is too great. Extensive testing suggests that these features will reduce rear collisions.

Infra-Red Night View Assist

Another innovative technology that made its debut on the 2007 S-Class is Night View Assist, a new option that can extend the driver's ability to see ahead to nearly 500 feet. An industry first, and in contrast to passive systems that rely only on thermal imaging, this active system bathes the road ahead with invisible infra-red light from two projector beams mounted in the headlights. An infra-red camera discreetly mounted in the windshield receives the reflected images and displays them in a high-resolution display in the instrument cluster.

The Industry's First Rapidly Flashing Brake Lights

The new-generation S600 and S65 AMG models are equipped with adaptive brake lights that can flash rapidly during emergency braking, a feature that's expected to reduce rear collisions. Another industry first from Mercedes, the rapidly flashing LED brake lights are triggered primarily by the car's Brake Assist system (standard on all Mercedes-Benz passenger vehicles since 1998), which automatically provides full-power braking assist whenever it senses faster-than-usual brake pedal application.

How the Winners Were Chosen

To determine the winners, POPULAR MECHANICS' automotive editors drove over 100 of the newest cars, trucks and sport-utility vehicles, amassing well over 100,000 miles in the process. The team, headed by Chaikin, is comprised of senior automotive editor Mike Allen, Detroit editor Jim Dunne and West Coast editor Ben Stewart, and collectively represents nearly 100 years of automotive editorial experience.

The complete report on the 2007 POPULAR MECHANICS Automotive Excellence Awards winners can be found in the October issue of POPULAR MECHANICS, on newsstands September 12, 2006 and online at www.popularmechanics.com.

Kudos!

well deserved..
its more or less the best car in the world..

I don't know about those flashing brake lights - if I wasn't a car enthusiast, if I didn't read up on the S-Class and its features, these flashing lights would either indicate a malfunction to me or it will distract me a lot. And although those lights getting my attention is all well and dandy, it wouldn't elicit an immediate braking response; rather, I would just stare at it and be bewildered for awhile before reacting.

Well desrved if Lexus got the award

^booooo be ashamed of yourself.. so called Germancarfan..lol

PS
I think it does help actually those light..i think they tested it on several ppl

The Award is given for "Innovation" not "Duplication."

LMAO.. jack.. so true

And it's only 6AM here...I am going to have a good day...:-)))

HAHA.. yeah man .. enjoy this day..looks like it will be a gr8 one

Lol..

S class deserves to be praised.

Well Lexus has some innovation but I agree it's mostly duplication, lol!