Mercedes-Benz S320 CDI

Don’t just take my word for it. Adults and children alike have commented on the car, asked about its price (£55,432 with extras) and generally swooned at the first-class job carried out by the nice people at Mercedes-Benz who have provided us with this car for the next six months.

Among the admirers were two 10-year-old boys who told me this was exactly the car they wanted when they grow up.

And when they do grow up, I will go round to their houses and steal the caps off the tyre valves, just like they did to me, and see how they like it.

This is just a tiny hiccup in the busy early life of our latest long-termer, which is flying the flag for Mercedes-Benz and aiming to prove the manufacturer can still hold its own among the top flight of fleet providers, despite what detractors say.

Although this is a sector where volumes are relatively low, the competition is just as intense as in the lower-medium sector, with BMW, Audi, Jaguar, Lexus and Range Rover fighting for every sale. It is also a sector where cars rightly come under intense scrutiny from drivers, eager to ensure their or their employers’ money has been well spent.

From where I’ve been sitting, it certainly seems to have been well spent. The standard price of this car is £51,632, which covers a vast range of extras that will be reviewed in later tests, but include electric everything, heated everything and automatic everything.

We have added upgraded front seats with memory function, wood and leather trim on the gearshift and steering, upgraded 18in alloy wheels – which fill the wheelarches better than the standard 17in ones – bi-xenon headlamps and a boot-mounted CD changer.

The Euro IV-compliant 3.2-litre diesel engine has only just ticked over 1,000 miles, so I am still treating it gently, but it offers 204bhp, compared to 245bhp for the S350, 306bhp for the S500 and 500bhp for the S600 petrol models. However, in terms of torque, or pulling power, it throws out 369lb-ft from 1,800rpm, which dwarfs the S350’s 258lb-ft and the S500’s 339lb-ft, with only the S600 beating it.

As a result, although the S320 ‘only’ manages 62mph in 8.2 seconds – the slowest of the four – it almost matches the S500 for acceleration from 37-75mph, which is key overtaking territory.

Despite the power, the car only emits 209g/km of CO2 and achieves an official 36.7mpg, which I am not matching – I currently get 33mpg maximum and 30mpg more often than not. However, the engine has barely settled in here at Fleet News, so there is still time. A series of long trips have so far shown the S320 CDI to be a consummate performer, offering silent, comfortable motoring to soothe any stressed executive.

There are variable suspension settings as well as a sports setting on the five-speed automatic gearbox but, with such a new car, these have yet to be put to the test.

I will also be keen to put the Mercedes-Benz dealer experience to the test, starting with some new tyre valve caps. John Maslen

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