Mercedes-Benz E-Class VS Lamborghini Aventador
Mercedes-Benz E-Class
Likes
- Plenty of kit
- Subtle but stylish
- Cruising comfort
Dislikes
- Only one variant
- Could do with more power
- Price once optioned-up
Lamborghini Aventador
Likes
- Styling, so much styling
- That V12 engine, the pure speed rush of it
- The noise, absolutely bonkers
Dislikes
- Not being able to see anything behind you or beside you
- The price. You could have five great cars for this much
- The sheer mass, width and weight of it
Summary
Mercedes-Benz E-Class
It might not be as tribal as Ford vs Holden, but there’s a rivalry between BMW and Mercedes-Benz that occasionally becomes more obvious - the launch of the new Mercedes E-Class only months after the BMW 5 Series being one of those times.
But Mercedes has done something different. Instead of multiple variants and electric cars under the E-Class banner, Australia gets just one, the E300.
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Is it enough to tackle the big Bavarian sedan in the sales race? We attended the Australian launch just north of Melbourne to find out.
| Safety rating | |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | 2.0L turbo |
| Fuel Type | — |
| Fuel Efficiency | 2.2L/100km |
| Seating | 5 seats |
Lamborghini Aventador
Too fast, too loud, too crazy, too dangerous, too big. All of these are phrases a supercar lover would never think to utter when considering the sanity-defying existence of the new Lamborghini Aventador S, and yet exactly the kind of things any reasonable person might say after driving one, or even witnessing it in motion.
Too much, clearly, is never enough in La La Lambo world, and it's certainly true that if you desire a car that will puncture your eardrums while rupturing your spleen and bruising your heart, this is the perfect vehicle for you.
Five years after its launch, the Aventador has been updated and upgraded - with new rear-wheel steering, an allegedly improved gearbox, tweaked styling and a button that says EGO - and uprated, with even more power that it clearly wasn't crying out for.
We went to Phillip Island to drive it around a high-speed track covered in rain, mist and suicidal geese.
| Safety rating | — |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | 6.5L |
| Fuel Type | Premium Unleaded Petrol |
| Fuel Efficiency | 16.91L/100km |
| Seating | 2 seats |
Verdict
Mercedes-Benz E-Class7.6/10
The E-Class is stacked with kit, looks great, and is an effective and comfortable way to get around in built-up areas or across the countryside.
While it’s not the most dynamically engaging - it’s pipped by its Bavarian rival there - it offers more comfort-oriented features than most, and the cabin is a pleasant place to spend a day driving.
If you're disposed towards stumping up the asking price, the extra outlay for the 'Plus Package' will probably be most relevant to you if you’re covering long distances due to the Airmatic suspension.
Otherwise, even a simple-spec E300 provides a step up from what you might expect from an executive sedan.
Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with accommodation and meals provided.
Lamborghini Aventador6/10
The Lamborghini Aventador S is a hugely unnecessary car that probably wouldn't exist at all in any sane universe. Fortunately it's from Italy instead.
While it definitely has its flaws - it's simply too big, and too fast, to drive on public roads, and it's too heavy, and mental, to be a purist's track car - there is still something strangely charming about it.
It's the ridiculous design, those super-cool doors, the outrageous and deafening noises it makes, and what it does to your internal organs when you accelerate in it.
There are better, sharper and more affordable supercars than the Aventador S, but there are none that are anything like it.
Is the Aventador S your dream supercar, or would you prefer an F12 Berlinetta? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
Design
Mercedes-Benz E-Class
Evolution rather than revolution is obvious when it comes to the E-Class’ styling, but that’s in Mercedes’ best interests, because it’s still a good-looking thing, and being a bit subtle is warranted in the executive sedan game.
The biggest changes come in the headlights and tail-lights. Up-front there are now more than one million pixels in the LED headlights, which have adaptive high beam as standard and are more connected to the grille via black trim, as has been seen in EQ electric models.
Underneath, the bumper now features an AMG-style 'A-wing' apron as part of the 'AMG Line' exterior package as standard. A set of 20-inch AMG alloys are also included.
To the rear, and the digital tail-lights feature a Mercedes-Benz star motif, making its lighting signature now more recognisable from behind.
The German Rainbow is well-represented with mostly shades of grey, black, or white available, though 'Verde Silver Metallic' is a slightly retro green, and 'Nautic Blue Metallic' is a subtle and classy tone.
The daring ‘Manufaktur’ shade of 'Patagonia Red Metallic' is a $2500 option, as is 'Opalite White Bright' while 'Alpine Grey Solid' is $2900.
Lamborghini Aventador9/10
The lovely and loquacious Italians from Lamborghini showed us a revealing little sketch at the car's launch, which looked a little bit like a bad tattoo but said a lot about their design ethos. It featured mean-looking sharks and menacing cobras morphing with an outline of the Aventador, and was meant to represent the approach to further man-ing up the looks of this S version.
The shark fins are clearly evident in the new and even bigger front splitter, the cobra must be hiding under the engine cover somewhere, while the new rear exhaust shape is apparently modelled on the Space Shuttle.
There are a few touches of the classic Countach, apparently, and plenty of "aerospace" design, which means they've tried to make it look like a fighter jet.
The overall effect is about as over the top as Lady Gaga marrying Ivanka Trump, and yet because its a Lamborghini, you find yourself loving it anyway. Absurdity is their reality. And how could you not fall for any car with those doors?
The interior is not as classy feeling as a Ferrari, but it has a certain brash, flash-cash opulence to it that makes you smile as well.
Practicality
Mercedes-Benz E-Class
Inside, the E-Class should feel familiar to anyone who’s spent time in a recent Benz, though the Superscreen might be the main point of difference. It’s an immediately comfortable place, though, with a relatively visually busy cabin.
The seats and their adjustability mean most drivers and passengers, regardless of height and size, should feel supported (and ideally relaxed), while touch-points are mostly either leather upholstery or digital screens.
The steering wheel, also seen in plenty of other Mercedes models, is a bit of a let-down, however, with its haptic touch pads on a slightly busy two-tier layout. This millennial found it irritating, surely too will the usually older E-Class buyer.
There are a few other small annoyances, one being that the MBUX Assistant sometimes won’t hear a command, or that not everything seems to be able to be controlled by it. The climate control vent positions are electrically adjustable to certain pre-sets through the menu, but the MBUX Assistant isn’t able to do this for you.
And while the driver display and central multimedia screen are fairly user-friendly, it’s not always immediately apparent what the quickest way to find some information or a setting is.
Our test car was fitted with the 'Plus Package', which means four-zone climate control available to the rear seats, which my 180cm-tall self found spacious with plenty of headroom, kneeroom, and even a fair bit of room under the driver’s seat.
Behind the rear seats, there’s a generous 540 litres of boot space, exactly the same capacity as the previous generation E-Class.
Lamborghini Aventador2/10
Yes, the Aventador S is a car, and it will take you from Point A to Point B, although you might leave some of your life expectancy behind on every trip, but other than that, practicality is not a selling point.
It is 4.8m long, just over 2m wide and a mere 1.14m high, the giant Lambo is as thick across the hips as a Toyota LandCruiser, and as pleasant to climb in and out of as an iron lung.
It also burns slightly more fuel than a Space Shuttle launch and is virtually impossible to see out of, but owners won't care because every other car will be behind them somewhere, and they'll only be looking out for plate-glass windows to admire themselves in anyway.
There are no cupholders (although apparently you can option them) and there's virtually no room to store anything at all. None of this matters, of course, because if the people who buy an Aventador S want practicality they'll simply choose one of the other 20 cars in their personal fleet.
Price and features
Mercedes-Benz E-Class
While cross-shopping the E-Class and a BMW 5 Series would normally be relatively easy, the Merc’s $131,500 starting price, before on-road costs, puts it plenty north of the base 520i, the only petrol one available, at $114,900. The electric i5 eDrive40 starts from $155,900, more than $20K over the Mercedes.
But the E-Class is stacked with features as standard, and while there are a couple of option packs, Mercedes Australia has tried to streamline the most popular features and specifications into the E300.
Its $131,500 price gets you a tech-heavy sedan with Merc’s latest 'MBUX' system housed in a visually impressive, if perhaps unnecessary, 'Superscreen' dash.
The dual-screen set-up incorporates a main 14.4-inch central multimedia touchscreen and a 12.3-inch display for the passenger, allowing the driver to keep, for example, a map visible while a passenger sorts out media or comfort settings.
The system is also designed to avoid taking users through sub-menus, though can be bypassed by wireless Android Auto or Apple CarPlay.
It also features a selfie camera mounted to the dash, which is disabled for the Australian market at present. Mercedes-Benz Australia hopes to change this soon.
Mercedes also plans to allow the MBUX system to learn what settings and functions will be most useful to the driver under certain conditions, but currently users are able to manually create so-called ‘Routines’ such as setting the climate control and seats to warm up if it’s below a certain temperature, and can even adjust the ambient lighting to a warmer colour.
More automation comes in the brand’s MBUX ‘Hey Mercedes’ system, which can now respond to commands without the driver needing to say “Hey Mercedes”.
Heated and vented front seats, leather upholstery, wireless phone charging, and a 17-speaker Burmester sound system with Dolby Atmos 4D sound are also standard - the latter being a clever feature that positions different elements of the audio, usually music, to give a 360-degree feeling, as well as turning bassier tones into a physical vibration via “tactile transducers” in each front seat’s backrest. Good for bassline junkies, then (apologies to Mr. Rascal).
With the $9400 'Plus Package', the E-Class also comes with 'Airmatic' suspension and rear-axle steering (which I’ll touch more on later), power-closing doors, 'Urban Guard' to monitor your vehicle while it’s parked, an illuminated grille up front, a more capable version of the MBUX 'Interior Assistant', four-zone climate control and Mercedes’ 'Digital Light' function, which uses the more-than one-million pixels in the headlights to project onto the road or surface in front of you when turning the car off or in driving situations to alert road users of potential danger.
A $6200 'Energising Package' adds multicontour front seats with comfort headrests, upgraded climate controls with 'Air-Balance' and fragrances, upgraded seat heating with armrest heating for the front occupants and heated seats for the rear.
Lamborghini Aventador7/10
On the one hand, the $788,914 price for this new S version of the Aventador (the S stands for "Something that is better" according to the Italians) is problematic, and slightly ridiculous, because it seems a lot to pay for a car that would have you shot on sight on suspicion of speeding by the Victorian Police and is about as well suited to Australian conditions as an igloo.
On the other hand, which is covered in thick gold rings with a fat Rolex attached to its wrist, it makes perfect sense, because its vast and silly size perfectly complements the very nature of the car, which is perhaps the biggest 'look at me, I'm rich' statement short of sky writing your bank balance.
The sort of person who buys a car like this, rather than the cheaper, far more sensible and, frankly, enjoyable Lamborghini Huracan, actually wants to pay a lot of money, because it's part of the fun.
Sure, that price only gets you two seats but they're very sexy ones, and truly grippy to sit in, which they need to be in a g-force monster like this.
There's only one spec for an S buyer, and it includes little treats like Apple CarPlay, but if you want the telemetry system, to record your lap times, it's an optional extra, at $3400.
The one feature every owner will want to show off, though - aside from the obvious ones like the scissor doors and 'Bombs-away!' starter - is the EGO button. This is basically a fourth setting to add to the car's existing Strada (Street in Italian), Sport and Corsa (Race) options, but confusingly, because it is entirely personalisable, it actually offers another 24 settings when you press it.
Sure, it's slightly pointless, but at least it's honest, because EGO is what this car is all about.
Each of those settings also changes the Aventador S's lush and wondrous Kombi dash screens (the Lamborghini-styled version of owner Audi's Virtual Cockpit), offering race-car like giant tachometers and even a graphic that shows you which way your wheels are pointing. Not that you'll have time to look at it when exploring your car's 350km/h top speed.
Under the bonnet
Mercedes-Benz E-Class
This lone E-Class variant is powered by a turbocharged 2.0-litre engine pumping out 190kW and 400Nm, assisted by a 48-volt battery system. Under EQ boost, an extra 17kW and 205Nm is available for a short time.
It’s hooked up to a nine-speed auto that drives the rear wheels, and it’s all pretty traditional… for 2024, that is.
Mercedes says the E300 is able to hit 100km/h in a respectable 6.3 seconds.
Lamborghini Aventador7/10
Let's start with the bad news, which is that the all-new seven-speed ISR (Independent Shifting Rods) gearbox that was supposed to fix the old-tech lurchiness of the Aventador's driveline is still so far off the pace of modern, dual-clutch transmissions that it's mildly embarrassing.
Change gear at speed in this vicious V12 and you're in for a kind of stop-motion, Wallace and Gromit experience. There's no doubt you can feel the aggression of the shifts, but they do remind you of a long-past time when upshifts meant a short break between rushes of acceleration, rather than the seamless shove you now get from a Ferrari (or even a Golf GTI).
Your gear changes can be so violent that they knock the breath out of you, but it could be argued that this merely suits the personality of the car, which in turn reflects the absurdity of its manic engine.
Power has, somehow, been raised by 30kW to an astronomical 544kW at a deafening and ballistic 8400rpm. Lamborghini says the new tune gives even more torque at higher revs, but its maximum figure of 690Nm is actually less than Ferrari's V8-powered 488, which has 760Nm.
The difference is turbochargers, of course, a limp-wristed affectation of a technology that Lamborghini still eschews.
They will tell you it's all about the way the car performs and accelerates, and with a 0-100km/h time of 2.9 seconds (not even a whisker faster than the standard Aventador, which shows you how difficult those times are to improve on), a 0-200km/h dash of just 8.8 seconds, and 0-300 in 24.2, it does do these things well.
What it's really about, though, is the operatic purity and visceral violence of the way the engine sounds, and with its all-new muffler and exhaust system, the S really does take big, shouty showiness to new levels.
Indeed, I would venture this is the loudest road car my ears have ever been assaulted by (a Porsche 918 is louder, but it's really a race car with a rego sticker). Under acceleration it is as eyebrow-liltingly loud as the front row of an AC/DC concert back in the 1990s, but it is the series of explosions you get on the overrun when fear pushes your foot off the throttle that are truly astounding. It sounds like someone throwing steel rubbish bins full of grenades into a cement mixer.
Crazy? Yes. Unnecessary? Yes, but it is wonderful.
It's possible that, as some of my colleagues claimed they could notice, the S is more instantly ballistic when you press the accelerator than the normal Aventador, but frankly that's like comparing being shot with different guns. Let's just say it's a hugely violent, chest-beating engine. And I love it.
Efficiency
Mercedes-Benz E-Class
Mercedes claims the E-Class drinks 7.2L/100km on the combined cycle, and though we weren’t able to test that properly at the pump on the launch program, the trip computer showed up to 9.4L/100km after some quite spirited driving, which gradually averaged out to about 8.6L/100km in the afternoon once some more calm, E-Class-appropriate distance had been covered.
With its 50L fuel tank, the E-Class should theoretically be able to cover 694km on a single tank if the 7.2L/100km is achieved, though realistically it would be much less, 550-600km depending on driving style.
Lamborghini Aventador3/10
Yes, it sure does consume fuel. Quite a lot, with claimed figures of 26.2L/100km on the urban cycle, and a combined urban/highway figure of 16.9L/100km. Frankly, you'd be lucky if you kept it under 30.0L/100km. It's thirsty work to drive.
Driving
Mercedes-Benz E-Class
While the E-Class has taken fairly sizeable steps in terms of its tech, it remains a fairly traditional car from behind the wheel, save for a few small changes like its mild-hybrid system and rear-wheel steering.
It’s still a petrol-powered rear-drive sedan, and it feels built more for eating up highway kilometres than it does tackling twisty turns. But that’s okay, because it will still do the latter.
Comfort is the main focus, clearly, for the E300, and the big Merc does it well. We weren’t offered a car without Airmatic air suspension on the launch, but the E-Class doesn’t seem like it would be particularly rough without it.
With it, however, large bumps and minor road annoyances only make their way into the cabin in the sense that you’re aware of them, but not bothered by them.
That slight dulling of feedback does extend to the steering wheel however, where, despite the rear-wheel steering making the car more nimble, the feedback to the driver is less encouraging of eager driving.
While 190kW on paper doesn’t seem like enough, the E-Class makes do with its meagre engine quite well - and even though it can seem like it’s working a bit too hard at times, the E-Class’ natural state isn’t responding to a planted foot, so it’s unlikely to be a daily bother.
Engine noise, as well as wind and road noise are suitably dulled by the E300’s NVH fitout, too.
The tuning of its drive modes, in particular Comfort and Sport, seemed well-judged on our drive loop, with the option to set the 'Individual' mode to a custom configuration, most elements in Comfort while the drivetrain is set to Sport is particularly helpful when on gentle, high-speed country roads.
If you do start to approach the limits of the big sedan’s capability, it’ll let you know fairly early on. The heavy E-Class isn’t prone to sudden lurching or poor handling, and isn’t much phased by mid-corner bumps.
It’s not as dynamically engaging as some rivals, particularly the 5 Series, but it does appear to be a better provider of cross-country comfort.
Lamborghini Aventador8/10
Piloting an Aventador around city streets is a challenge, partly because it's like trying to hold a four-metre high, 400kg Rottweiler on a leash, but mainly because it's stupidly wide and you can't see anything from the driver's seat.
Lamborghini has tried to improve the experience of driving it at low speeds with a new rear-wheel steering system, that turns the rear wheels in the opposite direction to the fronts at low speeds, effectively shortening the wheelbase and making it almost liveable in car parks, but then turns them in the same direction as the fronts at higher speeds, for better turn-in and handling.
This was the first time I've ever been fortunate, or perhaps mad, enough to drive an Aventador on a race track, and a fast one at that in Phillip Island, which was covered in a fairly typical Arctic storm front, with enough standing water to attract large, suicidal geese to several corner apexes, including the one at the top of the straight, where the big Lambo was hitting 230km/h before we'd even passed the pits (it had dried out a bit, briefly, for that lap).
With open spaces in front of you, this car delivers the kind of acceleration that forces all the air out of your body, or perhaps you just forget to breathe because your brain is too busy freaking out. It's an invigorating sensation, but not without fear, a bit like jumping out of a plane, and equally addictive.
All that rocket thrust really is its party trick, though, because as mentioned the gear shifts are a bit of a shambles, and the sheer size, and 1575kg weight, of the thing makes it feel like a handful around tight corners.
It's very good around a track for what it is, but what it is is too heavy and too big for circuit driving. Again, you'd have to think a Huracan would be more fun, and would scare you less.
But then it did strike me, on my last lap, as I attempted to find some saliva in my dry mouth, that there's something wonderfully old school, and traditionally Lamborghini, about a supercar that genuinely frightens and intimidates you when you try to push it.
I can't imagine buying one myself, but I can imagine why a certain kind of enthusiast would want to.
Safety
Mercedes-Benz E-Class
ANCAP hasn’t had a go at crash-testing the E-Class yet, and it might not given the relatively small number that will be sold here compared to volume models, but Mercedes’ track record with safety is pretty stellar, and it’s extremely rare for a Mercedes to not cop the maximum five stars.
In the new E300 there are 11 airbags - plenty for a sedan. Mercedes lists front airbags, knee bags and pelvic/thorax airbags for the driver and front passenger, side bags for the rear and a front centre airbag.
It also comes with a fairly extensive suite of safety tech, including the usual ABS, lane-keep assist, blind spot monitoring and surround-view parking cameras.
But on top of that, there’s also ‘Evasive Steering Assist’, semi-automated cruise control with sign recognition, distance assist for following leading vehicles and can even project light arrows onto the road if leaving your lane, when 'Digital Lights' are optioned.
The E-Class also has a function if an imminent collision is detected in which it can, depending on the type of collision, take occupant protection measures. In the case of a side-on collision, the E-Class can “move an affected front occupant towards the centre of the car” before impact.
Lamborghini Aventador7/10
You're not getting AEB in a car like this, as the sensors would ugly up the front of the car, and there's nowhere to fit them. But you do get a 'passive pedestrian protection system', which is nice.
Some markets get a driver's knee airbag, but sadly we don't, so you have to put up with just four airbags in total, and a collapsible steering column.
Ownership
Mercedes-Benz E-Class
The E-Class comes with Mercedes’ fairly industry standard five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty, though Mercedes-Benz Australia was unable to confirm exact servicing pricing on the launch.
It does however list pricing for the E-Class on its website for a three-service pack at $3325, four at $4535, and five at $6800, the latter averaging out to $1360 each.
This could increase with the new generation car, and Mercedes doesn’t list estimated serving pricing for new E-Classes yet in its booking system (I checked with one of the test cars).
Servicing intervals are every 12 months or 25,000km, whichever comes first.
Lamborghini Aventador5/10
You can have a five-year warranty with your Italian supercar, but it will cost you $22,200. Or you can have one for four years for $11,600. Both of those seem like a lot of money, but it's the big jump in year five I'd be worried about.