Matt Watson from carwow drove in parallel on the track the new Mercedes EQS 450+ and Mercedes S 500 and the result is surprising. See who won by watching the next video.
At first glance this confrontation seems unbalanced. The Mercedes S 500 has a e 6-cylinder inline 3 liter turbo engine that develops 435 HP and 520 Nm and weighs 2065 kg. Power is transmitted to all four wheels via a 9-speed automatic transmission.
On the other hand, the Mercedes EQS 450+ has a single electric motor located at the rear axle that develops 333 HP and 568 Nm and has only rear-wheel drive. Also, the Mercedes EQS 450+ looks disadvantaged and has a high kerbweight of 2480 kg, 415 kg more than the S 500 due to the very large 107.8 kWh battery (net capacity).
Therefore, all the technical data show a clear advantage for the Mercedes S 500. But here is what happened on the track. The Mercedes EQS 450+ was 0.2 seconds faster on the track than the Mercedes S 500: 51.7 seconds compared to 51.9 seconds.
How was that possible? Matt Watson explains: “The steeringf EQS is more responsive, EQS is more agile in corners, tilts less and is less understeer”.
The behavior of the two cars is the most edifying if we look at how they go through the ouble S on the track. Watch the Mercedes S 500 at 2:41 and the Mercedes EQS 450+ at 5:17. EQS has a smaller roll, and the steering responds faster to double lane change.
In a straight line, however, the Mercedes S 500 was a little faster. In this case, the lower weight and all-wheel drive helped to gain a small advantage. Thus, from 0 to 60 mph, Mercedes accelerated in 5.55 seconds compared to 5.86 s for the Mercedes EQS 450+ and 1/4 mile was covered by the S-Class in 13.69 seconds compared to 14, 30 seconds for EQS.
Instead, the electric limousine brakes better from 100 km/h stopping after 41 meters compared to 45 meters for the S 500.