Mercedes-Benz S���dL With its futuristic technology, the updated S- Class can’t yet read your mind but it can boost your mood, writes

The S- ClaSS is the most thoughtful car that MercedesBenz produces, courtesy of Energizing Comfort Control, which aims to improve your mood and wellbeing. Leveraging the audio system, ventilation, perfume atomiser, massaging seats and ambient lighting, it can be set to one of six programs: Freshness, Warmth, Vitality, Joy, Comfort and Training.

If you want to kick off the day with some vigour, for example, the Vitality program scouts your music library for an uplifting tune while the seats apply a more vigorous back massage. But if you choose Comfort, it’ll be all about the most soothing of the 64 hues available in the ambient lighting, as well as relaxing seat movements and cruisy tunes.

Such frivolity is standard in S- Class vehicles with V8 engines or can be optioned on the sixcylinders, which are reverting to an inline configuration after two decades of Mercedes-Benz V6s.

The new-generation power plants kick off with the 3.0-litre diesel in the S350d and S400dL, the L denoting long wheelbase, which adds 130 millimetres between the front and back wheels and more rear leg room.

In the S400dL tested, the useful 250kW of power helps to shift the near 5.3-metrelong limousine to 100km/h in 5.4 seconds. But it’s the hearty 700Nm that gives the car its effortless character. Driving through a nine-speed automatic, even a brief brush of the throttle is rewarded with a forceful surge.

The engineers have injected some aural personality into an engine that claims to sip 5.5 litres of diesel per 100 kilometres. And that’s a testament to the attention to detail in a car that pampers the driver almost as much as the passengers.

The core of the S- Class remains supreme comfort, whether you’re in the driver’s seat or sprawling in the rear – the latter complete with two of the plushest headrests you’ll experience this side of an A380’s first-class cabin.

Key to its talent is supple air suspension that smothers all but the most jarring bumps, making for a sumptuous ride lit by 84 individual LEDs in each active headlight.

Inside is a mix of tradition and technology. A customisable 12.3-inch screen replaces the instruments and pairs with another that is reserved for infotainment functions. The central Comand controller isn’t the most logical with its menus and functionality but it packs plenty in.

Interspersed with the gadgets are natural materials such as leather and wood, the sorts of things you expect in a $222,500 limousine. And the prominent circular metalringed air vents reinforce the elegance of what is one of the most indulgent luxury cars on the market.