Well-heeled lovers of things that come in fours (like fluted crystal glasses, calfskin desk sets and certain types of entertainment in Nevada) take note: The Mercedes-Benz S-Class has a new 4MATIC permanent all-wheel drive system. AutoWeek reported earlier this year that the new version of the system, which Merc's been selling here since 1990, is the first built in-house, and that it'll add only 159 lbs to company's weightiest sedan, compared with 200 lbs for the system's previous generation. Two V8 models are on the list, the S 500 4MATIC and S 450 4MATIC (out now), and one V6 diesel (coming in December), the S 320 CDI 4MATIC.

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Coming Next Winter: Mercedes S-Class 4Matic [internal]

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