The S-Class, in one paragraph
The Mercedes-Benz S-Class is the Toronto black car fleet's flagship sedan — the long-wheelbase S 580 4MATIC or S 500 4MATIC the fleets buy, with a rear seat built for two (the executive rear package's reclining seats, leg rests, tablets and pillows), an AIRMATIC air suspension that is the smoothest ride in the fleet, double glazing and active noise cancellation that make it the quietest, a trunk of about 540 litres (two large bags and two carry-ons — the luggage capacity article), 4MATIC all-wheel drive on the winter tires article's tires for the winter, and a fare a step above the standard sedan on the engine. It is the executive's day, the airport run for one or two with hand luggage, the hotel arrival, the wedding couple's photograph and the date night; the sedan vs SUV article says when the bags make it an Escalade instead, and the fleet page shows the fleet's.
Every sedan in the trade is compared to the S-Class because the S-Class set the standard: Mercedes built it as the car in which the owner sits in the back, and every generation since the 1970s has been designed around the rear seat — the legroom, the recline, the silence, the ride — before the front. A Toronto fleet buys an S-Class for the passenger who notices, and assigns it to the bookings where the noticing matters: the CEO's day, the client's arrival, the couple's photograph, the anniversary. This guide covers the models the fleets run, the rear seat, the ride, the silence, the trunk, the winter, the S-Class against its rivals and the Maybach above it, the fare, the bookings, the fleet's age rule, the chauffeur who drives it, and a worked S-Class day.
The models the fleets run
The current generation (W223, from 2021) in the long wheelbase — 5.29 metres, a 3.22-metre wheelbase, 10 centimetres more rear legroom than the standard — as the S 500 4MATIC (the 3.0-litre inline-six with the 48-volt mild hybrid, 429 horsepower, the fleet's economical choice) or the S 580 4MATIC (the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 with the mild hybrid, 496 horsepower, the fleet's flagship), both with 4MATIC all-wheel drive as standard in Canada; the previous generation (W222, 2014 to 2020) in the fleets that keep it to the fleet maintenance article's five-year rule; the S 580e plug-in hybrid (100 kilometres electric — the hybrid and electric article) in the fleets that charge; and the Mercedes-Maybach S 580 (the extended wheelbase, the executive rear seats as standard, the two-tone paint) in a few fleets for the bookings that want it. The fleet page shows which.
The rear seat
The long-wheelbase S-Class's rear seat is the car's reason: 1,090 millimetres of legroom, seats that recline to 43.5 degrees with the executive rear package (the right-hand seat with a leg rest that rises from the front passenger seat's back, the "chauffeur package" that folds the front passenger seat forward), heated, ventilated and massaging cushions, the neck and shoulder heating, two 11.6-inch tablets on the front seatbacks, a removable tablet in the centre armrest that controls the climate, the seats, the blinds, the lighting and the audio, the rear sunshades and the side blinds, wireless charging, the rear-seat wireless headphones, and the pillows on the headrests; a passenger on the red-eye article's dawn run sleeps flat, and the roadshow article's executive works on the tablet. Three adults fit; two are the design.
The ride
AIRMATIC air suspension with adaptive damping on every S-Class, and the E-Active Body Control (the 48-volt hydraulic system that reads the road with a stereo camera and lifts each wheel before the bump) on the S 580 with the option: the Gardiner's expansion joints disappear, the DVP's patches are a murmur, the Yorkville corners are level, and a glass of water on the armrest stays full at 120 on the 401; the sedan vs SUV article says no SUV in the fleet matches it and the Navigator vs Escalade article says the Navigator comes closest. Rear-axle steering (up to 10 degrees on the option) turns the 5.3-metre car in a Distillery lane.
The silence
Double-glazed acoustic glass all round, the active noise cancellation through the Burmester speakers (the system cancels the road's drone), the foam-filled body cavities, the underbody panels and the engine's mild-hybrid silence at idle make the S-Class the quietest cabin in the fleet — 60 decibels at 100 km/h, a library — and the privacy and discretion article's call in the back seat is not heard in the front through the optional partition-free cabin's distance and the chauffeur's discretion. The in-car amenities article's water, chargers and Wi-Fi are in the armrest and the Burmester 4D audio (the seat-mounted resonators) is the concert.
The trunk
About 540 litres (the plug-in hybrid's battery takes 100 of them — the S 580e is a one-bag car): two large 28-inch checked bags and two carry-ons, or three large with nothing else, and the luggage capacity article's table; a golf bag lies across the trunk with one large bag beside it; the ski bag needs the Escalade; the families with luggage article's stroller and three checked bags need the SUV. The S-Class is the car for one or two with a trip's hand luggage or a week's bags, and dispatch upgrades the bag-heavy booking to the SUV and says so.
The winter
4MATIC all-wheel drive (a rear-biased split that sends power forward on slip), the winter tires article's tires from November to April, the air suspension's raised setting (+30 millimetres for the snowbank at the curb), the heated windscreen washer, the heated everything, and the E-Active Body Control's "curve" function that leans into a bend — the S-Class handles a plowed Toronto road in a February storm as well as any sedan, and the winter driving article says the SUV wins only on the unplowed crescent and the Pearson winter storm article's slush lane; the defensive driving article's chauffeur drives it with the same buffers.
The S-Class against its rivals
The BMW 7 Series (the i7 electric and the 760i — the rear "theatre screen," the executive lounge seat, a firmer ride, a louder cabin): the fleets that run BMW dealers' cars; the S-Class rides softer and is quieter. The Lexus LS (the 500h hybrid — the reliability, the Kiriko glass, a smaller rear seat): the fleets that prize the service record; the S-Class has the room. The Genesis G90 (the value, the rear seat that matches the S-Class's recline, the quiet — a rising fleet choice): the S-Class has the badge and the ride. The Cadillac CT6 (discontinued; the fleets that kept it): the S-Class has everything. The Audi A8: rare in Toronto fleets. The what makes a car a black car article says all are black cars; the sedan vs SUV article says the S-Class is the sedan the fleet names.
The Maybach above it
The Mercedes-Maybach S 580 — 18 centimetres longer than the long-wheelbase S-Class, the executive rear seats with the leg rests as standard, the two-tone paint, the reclining "first-class" rear compartment with the folding tables, the champagne flutes in the console (the stag and bachelorette article's licence rules apply), the electric rear doors, the 5.47 metres of car — is in a few Toronto fleets for the private aviation client, the head of state, the TIFF talent and the wedding that wants it; the fare is above the S-Class's and the engine quotes it on request.
The fare
A step above the standard sedan's — the how much does a black car cost article works the standard sedan, the S-Class and the SUV for a Pearson run and an hourly day, the engine prices "executive sedan" and "S-Class" for the date in the fleets that separate them, and the what is included article's inclusions are the same; a fleet that runs only S-Classes as its sedans prices them as the sedan, and the fleet page says which.
The bookings
The executive's day — the airport, the office, the meetings, the dinner — in the car built for it; the airport run for one or two with hand luggage, met at Door A (meet and greet); the hotel arrival at the Four Seasons', the Hazelton's, the Ritz's porte-cochère; the visiting client's itinerary; the wedding couple's photograph and the elopement's day; the date night and the proposal; the private jet's ramp; the funeral's widow; the TIFF red carpet; and the red-eye's reclined sleep.
The fleet's age rule
The fleet maintenance article's five-year rule applies — an S-Class at 60,000 kilometres a year is retired at five years or 300,000, whichever first, because the air suspension's struts, the mild hybrid's battery and the leather's wear are past a flagship's standard after that — and the vehicle cleaning article's detail between trips keeps the rear seat's leather and the piano-black trim as new; a passenger who steps into a fleet S-Class should find a car that smells of leather and nothing else.
The chauffeur who drives it
An S-Class chauffeur is a chauffeur (how chauffeurs are vetted) with the flagship's habits: the rear seat set to the passenger's profile before the pickup (the recline, the temperature, the lighting), the front passenger seat folded forward for the leg rest, the door held and closed (the soft-close does the last centimetre), the silence unless spoken to (the privacy and discretion article), the Financial District hotels guide's porte-cochères by heart, the air suspension raised for the Yorkville laneway's lip, and the a day in the life article's standard for the car the fleet is judged by.
A worked S-Class day
A New York fund's managing partner, a Wednesday in October: the 8:05 a.m. arrival at Terminal 1 on the Billy Bishop vs Pearson article's Pearson flight (one carry-on and a garment bag — the trunk's easy load), the S 580 at Door A with the chauffeur's sign, the rear seat pre-set (the partner's assistant had sent the preferences — 21 degrees, the recline, the Burmester off), the Gardiner's silence for the calls, the Four Seasons' porte-cochère for the bag, a Bay Street tower for the 10 a.m. (the King Street curb), the S-Class on the hourly through the day — three meetings, a Yorkville lunch, a 4 p.m. at a Mississauga office on the 407, a Canoe dinner on the 54th floor — and the 10 p.m. return to the Four Seasons. Fourteen hours, one car, one chauffeur, one passenger who worked, slept and dined in the back and noticed nothing about the driving, which was the point.
S-Class quick reference
| Element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Models | Long-wheelbase S 500 4MATIC (inline-six mild hybrid) or S 580 4MATIC (V8 mild hybrid); S 580e plug-in in charging fleets; Maybach S 580 in a few |
| Length / wheelbase | 5.29 m / 3.22 m (Maybach 5.47 m) |
| Rear seat | 1,090 mm legroom; recline to 43.5° with the executive package; leg rest; heated/ventilated/massaging; two 11.6-in tablets; the armrest tablet; blinds; pillows |
| Ride | AIRMATIC air suspension; E-Active Body Control on the S 580 option; rear-axle steering |
| Silence | Double acoustic glass; active noise cancellation; ~60 dB at 100 km/h; Burmester 4D |
| Trunk | ~540 L — 2 large + 2 carry-on, or 3 large (the S 580e ~440 L) |
| Winter | 4MATIC AWD; winter tires Nov–Apr; +30 mm ride height; heated everything |
| Rivals | 7 Series (firmer, louder), LS (smaller rear), G90 (the value), CT6 (gone) |
| Fare | A step above the standard sedan in fleets that separate them; the same inclusions |
| Age rule | Retired at 5 years or 300,000 km |
Booking an S-Class
The fleet page shows the fleet's; the engine quotes "S-Class" for the date; the corporate car service page, the Pearson page and the hourly chauffeur page book it for the day, the run and the hour; send the rear-seat preferences and the chauffeur sets them before the pickup. Ask for the Maybach if the booking wants it.
Who should book the flagship
The S-Class is the right car when the passenger will notice — the executive who has ridden in one in London and Frankfurt and expects it in Toronto, the client the host wants to impress at the Pearson curb, the couple whose wedding photograph is the car's door, the anniversary that is a tenth, the private aviation passenger stepping off a Gulfstream — and the wrong car when the bags are four, the party is five, or the street is unplowed, where the Escalade is the answer and the sedan vs SUV article explains why. A booker who does not need the flagship books the executive sedan and saves the step; a booker who does asks for it by name on the engine and dispatch holds it.
