Summarize

 

At four thousand-two-hundred-and-ninety-six cubic centimetres, the Mercedes-Benz S430 is a big V8 by European manufacturing standards. Not quite the largest capacity V8 saloon you can purchase directly off South African showroom floors —  its S500 sibling is, but developing 208kW at 5600rpm, all in all, it’s a still a pretty potent piece of machinery.

Does all this translate into big performance? Yes Sir, it does!

What about a time of 6.5 seconds to 100km/h from standstill? Not bad compared to the factory-claimed 6.6. Then it gallops onwards to gobble up the quarter mile in 14.7 seconds – this without much fuss and bother. For those in the know, that standing quarter-mile time is awfully quick for any standard off the floor saloon, never mind that S430 bludgeons its way from 120 to 160km/h in 7.2 seconds, which is at the top end of the scale for saloon cars. 

Yet while its top V8 rivals have opted for quad-cam configurations with 4 or 5-valve combustion chamber layouts. Merc, instead, stuck to the more conservative single overhead cam set-up with just three valves. The S430 does feature ‘phase-shifted’ alternating dual ignition’ to change the spark sequence phase after each combustion stroke and reduce combustion noise. 

We can vouch for that – this engine is silent — V8s have that just-audible silenced Kalashnikov sub-machine gun echo as you accelerate, but this S430 must be one of the silkiest-feeling V8s around. Yet road holding and handling is as good as any of its big-gun rivals thanks to novel pneumatic-adaptive suspension air damping, which also means that the car can be raised or lowered by way of a button on the instrument panel as required, while S430 will lower itself at loftier velocities.

By far the most beautiful and striking saloon Merc has yet conceived, the big S is sleek, low and squat, it’s not the usual Merc-handsome look and when it comes to the cabin, there’s not much to fault. Integral wood trim sweeps on through the doors, while glorious leather seats can get back-massaging as an option.

Merc’s big bangers have always been tops of the limo pops, but this S430 has managed to break with the more sedate-looking S-Class cars of the past, making you want to explore its limits – even though it’s still a grand limo at heart. 

Hopefully Mercedes-Benz will continue this trend to produce cars that will tickle the fancy of the sport-minded driver too.

S430 may be in the cosmic price range at R573 000, but it will still top my Christmas shopping list, anytime! — Mario Lupini

 

LEGEND TEST:  2001 Mercedes-Benz S430

Engine: 208kW 400Nm 4296cc petrol V8

Drive:    5-speed automatic RWD

TESTED (February 2001):

0-60km/h                 4.41 sec

0-100km/h:              6.57 sec 

0-160km/h:                   15.93 sec

400m:                  14.7 sec @ 155km/h

80-120km/h:          4.59 sec

120-160 sec            7.25 sec

CLAIMED:

Vmax:                   250km/h

Fuel:                  12.5/100km

CO2:                300 g/km

NEW PRICE (2011): R573K 

NEW MODEL TODAY: R1.74M (S450)

RATED:                  85%