With its high performance, smoothness of operation and pulling power, the diesel engine for the new S-Class is certainly turning (petrol) heads. But the engine has so many other positive attributes: it is responsible with fuel, for instance; has reduced nitric oxide emissions thanks to its innovative technologies; and is amazingly quiet.

The compression ratio has been sufficiently increased in the S 350 BlueTEC that it now has improved combustion and fewer particulate emissions. Thanks to the BlueTEC catalytic converter technology with exhaust gas aftertreatment and selective catalytic reduction, nitric oxides are converted to nitrogen and water vapour. As a result, untreated emissions have been reduced to an absolute minimum.

In addition, the systematic use of lightweight materials, tyres that have optimised rolling resistance and numerous aerodynamic measures all contribute to holistic vehicle efficiency. Impressive examples of this are the vehicle weight, which has been reduced by 95 kilograms, and the exemplary and highly-competitive Cd value of 0.24.