East Hampton Airport | John F Kennedy Airport | Macarthur ISP Islip Airport | LaGuardia Airport LGA | Newark Airport New Jersey EWR

Click to View Larger Picture

Also Try our other Luxury Rentals and Sports Cars

The new 2007 S-class says to hell with all that. To start, it's larger than today's car in every dimension. The long-wheelbase model-the only one we'll get in the States-is 1.7 inches longer, 0.7 inch wider, and 1.1 inches taller. The already-huge cabin has grown even more spacious, and the trunk is roomier as well.

because the S-Class' adaptive cruise control system comes with a short-range radar. While many other cars on the market can automatically follow a lead car, the lack of short-range radar means you can't activate the laser cruise until you're going 20 mph; in the new S-Class, adaptive cruise control can start at zero mph. This means that if you're stopped at a traffic light, and a car is in front of you, all you have to do is pull a lever and the S-Class will hold down the brakes for you, then accelerate when the lead car starts moving. Then it will brake when necessary. You could drive the length of Fifth Avenue with your feet on the dashboard; all you have to do is steer. This is one reason why the new S-Class is the perfect car for executives, whether they prefer to drive or be driven. In fact, it probably makes more sense for that audience than BMW's similarly priced M5 sedan, which has 500 hp and feels like an exotic sports car (we have heard at least one Wall Street type say she plans to blow next year's bonus on the $82,000 M5). A reader describes the issue aptly: "BMWs are a hoot on the race track. But if you are a high-powered executive, you will probably be stuck in heavy traffic in New York or Chicago or Atlanta. The [M5's] sequential manual transmission is not happy in a less-than-perfect world, where up shifts happen around 2,300 rpm and not above 6,000 rpm." We adore the M5, but its power does indeed peak at 7,750 rpm, and its torque at 6,100 rpm. This high-revving beast might get depressed in stop-and-go traffic, where the S-Class excels. The 382-hp V-8 of the S550 we tested has its power peak at 6,000 rpm (lower than the M5 but still high), but its torque peaks anywhere from 2,800 rpm to 4,000 rpm, and 75% of the torque is available at 1,000 rpm. This gives the S550 the pulling power of a diesel truck, and makes you feel like you're commanding something monstrous, even in the morning rush hour. Mercedes pulled out all the stops in making this S-Class the most luxurious, sophisticated and exciting version ever. It is far more sexy and rich on the inside than its venerable predecessor