If I had only known about the hybrid MB S400...

[rfernatt]

I could have saved the $14K and change I spent on the smart and instead purchased the relatively efficient S400 for $88K. What was I thinking!?!

The EPA lists the smart at only 36 combined city/highway because they tested the same 2,315 lb model that the Washington Post used for this article.

A hybrid that's more about style than the environment

Which is more fuel efficient? Is it the tiny Smart Fortwo, which weighs 2,315 pounds and gets a combined city-highway mileage of 36 miles per gallon with a 1-liter, 3-cylinder 70-horsepower engine sipping required premium gasoline along the way?

Or, is it this week's subject automobile -- the 2010 Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid, a nearly 2 1/2 -ton luxury tank, replete with all of the comforts and conveniences of the modern, high-end car, that has seats for five people and a trunk big enough to carry all of their stuff, that gets a combined 22.5 miles per gallon with a gas-electric propulsion system yielding a maximum 295 horsepower, with the gasoline part of that system also requiring premium fuel?

Daimler, which makes both cars, argues that the big S400 Hybrid is in many ways as fuel efficient, if not more so than the little Smart Fortwo.

The Smart Fortwo, which starts at $11,900 and gets 36 miles per gallon, is more economical than the S400 Hybrid, which starts at $87,950.

[Bill Marshall]

How did they find a smart fortwo that weighs 2315 pounds? Mine weighs 1810 pounds.

[mvaldes]

They must have a VERY big test driver!

[Big Panda]

Originally Posted by Bill Marshall

How did they find a smart fortwo that weighs 2315 pounds? Mine weighs 1810 pounds.

I think THIS guy was driving with HER in the passenger seat:

That should just about do it!

DAMNIT! I forgot to calculate in the smarts weight of about 1,800lbs. Oops, guess I'm OVER about 1,800lbs now.

[fpage77]

I still like the smart more than a Mercedes. The smart is full of character while the Mercedes screens I'm a follower and rich.

[The GMan]

2,315 is the GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating).

[vwW12]

He he.

The V12 S600 is rated 11/17 city/hwy
The V6 hybrid S400 is rated 19/26 city/hwy

The most credulous among journalists have ascribed much of the 8-MPG city mileage advantage of the S400 to its hybridness. But consider this:

The V12 S600 is 5.5 liters
The V6 hybrid S400 is 3.5 liters

How much of the savings arises from displacement and how much from the costly hybrid technology?

The fact is that MB-USA elects not to import S-class sedans with small engines. Case in point: Diana, Princess of Wales, died in an S280 (2.8 liter), at a time when the same S-series car could not be purchased stateside with less than a 3.2 liter engine.

The S280 was fit enough for a royal princess in Europe but not for Mercedes Benz USA or its customers.

Point being, if either Mercedes Benz USA or its clients actually gave a hoot about fuel economy, the smaller engine-displacement S class offered in Europe would have been offered here since decades ago. The 2010 smallest non-hybrid S-class in the US is a 5.5 liter V8, whereas in Europe the same car can be had with a 2.8 liter V6.

Make no mistake: the S400 is a corporate and consumer poseur car.

[pmolink]

Originally Posted by vwW12

Make no mistake: the S400 is a corporate and consumer poseur car.

I wish I could afford to pose that well.

The crazy thing is that Washington Post's automotive "jounalist" is comparing these two cars. It's like comparing a Gulfstream V to a Piper Cub. The article would go something like this:

"The Gulfstream weighs more, carries more people and stuff, and has considerably more oomph than the Piper. In short, the G5 does more work than the Cub. Costing only $57,857,236.63 more than the Piper, under the circumstance, the Gulfstream is a pretty good deal."

[mdfortwoguy]

Originally Posted by vwW12

He he.

The V12 S600 is rated 11/17 city/hwy
The V6 hybrid S400 is rated 19/26 city/hwy

The most credulous among journalists have ascribed much of the 8-MPG city mileage advantage of the S400 to its hybridness. But consider this:

The V12 S600 is 5.5 liters
The V6 hybrid S400 is 3.5 liters

How much of the savings arises from displacement and how much from the costly hybrid technology?

The fact is that MB-USA elects not to import S-class sedans with small engines. Case in point: Diana, Princess of Wales, died in an S280 (2.8 liter)

The princess rode in a car which in the USA was not then, and until the hybrid is still not now, offered with any less than a 5 liter V8.

Point being, if either Mercedes Benz USA or its clients actually gave a hoot about fuel economy, the smaller engine-displacement S class offered in Europe would have been offered here since decades ago.

Make no mistake: the S400 is a corporate and consumer poseur car.

Owning a Phaeton - you have to appreciate heft.

MB offered a 6 cylinder in the S class up until the end of the W140 (the heaviest S class to date), and they had a SWB S350 for 2006 in the states. The 6 cylinder models are *not* much more efficient than the 8 cylinder models - they have to work hard whereas the 8 cylinder models don't need to exert themselves. The twin turbo 12 is ridiculous... but oh God I want one.

I'm all for it though - I usually opt for the smallest engine in a car, but I like a high level of equipment. American consumers in general are not as progressive though.

[vwW12]

Originally Posted by mdfortwoguy

MB offered a 6 cylinder in the S class up until the end of the W140 (the heaviest S class to date), and they had a SWB S350 for 2006 in the states.

Right you are! My generalizations were too broad and my post edited accordingly. Thank you for the insight.

At the time Diana Spencer died in 1997 in a French 2.8 liter S, in the USA the smallest S-series engine was a 3.2. In the 2000's, 2006 is the only year an under-5 liter S was available: M-B USA launched a 3.5 liter "entry level" S which must not have fared well at all, because they got rid of it already in 2007.

In Europe the current S can be had with with a 2.8 liter gasoline engine. In the U.S. smallest non-hybrid S-class option is the 5.5 liter V8.