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2014 Mercedes S-Class coupe revealed | video


galleryMercedes-Benz has revealed the two-door coupe version of its flagship S-Class, featuring everything from Swarovski crystal blinged headlights to world-first technology that lets it 'bank' on corners.

The crystals are an extra option -- 17 for the daytime running lights and 30 for the indicator lights in each cluster -- that combine with the standard LED light clusters.

The 'curve tilting' system allows the car to lean into bends in the same way a motorcycle would "reducing the lateral acceleration acting on the vehicle's occupants," the press statement says, adding that it improves ride comfort particularly on country roads. By which they mean European country roads rather than the rutted goat tracks with which some parts of Australia are blessed.

Integrated into the vehicle's 'Magic Body Control' and 'Active Body Control' systems that monitor the road ahead and adjust the suspension in preparation, the tilt tech works to counter the laws of physics by leaning the vehicle almost instantaneously up to 2.5 degrees. The new system uses cameras to scan up to 15 metres ahead and calculate when and how far to tilt.

Apart from the bedazzled headlight clusters, the styling is largely a toned-down version of the coupe concept that was unveiled in Frankfurt last September, with a face set off by an imposing grille and sleek roof line.

Under the bonnet in S500 form is a twin-turbocharged 4.6-litre V8 engine developing 335kW of power and 700Nm of torque, driving the rear wheels. More versions will join the line-up after the unveiling, paralleling the sedan with an S63 carrying a 430kW/900Nm 5.5-litre turbo V8, while an AMG variant is also in the works.

The S-Class Coupe is expected to arrive in Australia in the final quarter of this year, and while pricing has not yet been confirmed, it's unlikely to move too far from the CL-Class coupe it replaces as the S sedan's companion.

"We don't expect there will a significant change in pricing (from the CL-Class which opens  with the $336,500 CL500)," Mercedes-Benz Australia spokesman David McCarthy says, adding that there could be some increase on the usually single-figure annual sales.

"There'll be some uplift in volume -- there always is," he says. Plus CL buyers are some of our most loyal. After the launch of the last one, a customer stopped by Mercedes-Benz Express to drop his three-year-old CL off before a flight, saw the new one sitting there and bought it the next day."

McCarthy says the Australian range will over time grow to four variants. "We will of have V12 models in Australia -- there are customers that, no matter how good the V8 is, will always want the V12.

"So the S500 will be followed by the AMG, the S600 and S65 -- we're not bringing the 65 in the sedan but we will with the coupe.  The time frame is probably a bit stretched out for them to arrive, and at this stage don't know definitely what it will be

And the Mercedes-Benz Australia is keen on getting the new curve tilt technology here as an option. "If it's available to us, we will have it. This is what our technology is about -- improving your life. If live is a matter of degrees, in the case of the S-Class coupe it's actually 2.5 degrees to make a difference.

"And having seen the car in the flesh, it's ... gorgeous isn't the right word, nor is stunning. It's just ...right."

Watch the desktop version of the 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe trailer video here.

 

This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott