Leisure Stations: These cars take road luxury to a new level

Luxury car manufacturers want their customers to feel comfortable. That’s a given. But some take it a step further – we’re talking relax pods on wheels.

For example, the extended-wheelbase Bentley Bentayga can save you a trip to an osteopath, while the Mercedes EQS SUV cheers you up with lights, animations and scents.

The Bentayga EWB offers seven inches more legroom, which is good news if passengers want to put their feet up and recline the rear seats at a 40-degree angle. Bentley no longer makes the sedan-like Mulsanne – instead, it’s assumed that VIPs want a really big and indulgent SUV.

The USP with the airline-style 22-way reclining rear seats (an £8,395 option on top of the car’s base price of £211,300) is that they’re designed to improve well-being. These smart chairs offer two exciting innovations that have never been seen before. The first is a fatigue-prevention system that makes micropostural adjustments to the occupants’ sitting positions – like a Pilates bed, if you will, but in the form of a chair.

State-of-the-art air cells enable complex rotational movements through the front cushions, lower back, lumbar and upper backrests to break dead space and revitalize muscles. There are six independent pressure zones and three intensity settings, allowing for 177 adjustments in a three-hour rotation.

The second seat innovation is a thermal comfort system in which the seats measure the body temperature and humidity of the occupants and provide optimum thermal comfort through heating and ventilation. To do this, the system uses a complex predictive algorithm to move air around the seats and dehumidify the passengers.

The occupants should come out better after each ride than they did before entering the over-long doors.

Mercedes has meanwhile moved away from medicine and opted for atmosphere and serenity with its fully electric EQS ​​SUV.

The £129,170 Mercedes has three ‘stimulating nature’ programs designed for power naps via the Burmester stereo: Forest Glade (birdsong and rustling leaves), Sound of the Sea (calming surf and squawking seagulls) and Summer Rain (raindrops) . and distant thunder). The sensory oasis these sound files create is enhanced by mood lighting and images of stars and the like that sweep across the dashboard screens.

This is particularly impressive with the MBUX Hyperscreen (extra cost € 7,995), which transforms the entire dashboard into a high-tech instrument panel consisting of three seamless screens. Never before has a car been so digitized. It has eight CPU cores, 24 GB RAM and 46.4 GB RAM per second.

The driver’s seat is electrically adjustable, the sunroof and shutters are activated, the air is ionized (the patented EQS air filter is the most effective in the industry), and the ambient lighting can be adjusted. Soothing tones and the starry sky fill the central dashboard, while the massage functions lull you to sleep.

At the end of the power nap program, the background noise changes with the massage program and the seat ventilation. The chair will automatically return to the upright position and the blinds will lower again. time to continue.

Say “Hey Mercedes” to voice activation and ask for “stimulation coach”. Tell the car how you feel and it will respond. For example, “I’m Stressed” activates the regenerative Joy program to soothe and calm the driver (or passenger) and improve the driver’s (or passenger’s) mood. Adding to the spa effect is the car’s built-in fragrance, with top notes of violet, orange, blackcurrant and raspberry.

In both cases, the Rolls-Royce Cullinan was compared. The scooter’s handling and finish are unquestionable, but when it comes to seating and comfort, Bentley and Mercedes lead the way (the Rolls still has the 2015 ‘star’ roof lights, but there’s no thermal seats or power naps with rainforest sounds ).

All that is missing is a Buddha, some yoga mats and a plunge pool decorated with candles. And relax…