seat is an option). Each of your well-dressed passengers is provided the comfort of a leather seat all his or her own. The seating alone makes this more of a six-passenger luxury car than a minivan.

With ample headroom inside, the R-Class is not quite six-feet tall on the outside. Bowing to the pressure of America's SUV owners, the R-Class features a raised driver's seating position and a sloped nose to give a command-of-the-road viewpoint. From the helm, you'd think you were piloting any of the Mercedes-Benz senior luxury cars--if not for the better view.

All the luxury touches one expects from a Mercedes-Benz are here. A panorama sunroof stretches over all seats. In addition to covering the heated seats, leather wraps around the steering wheel. Hand-polished burl walnut trim highlights the console. The featured COMMAND infotainment system sits right in the middle of that console, combining the sound system, video controller, Bluetooth phone, and navigation.

Radio broadcasts through the standard FM and AM signals are enhanced with terrestrial HD Radio and satellite Sirius programming. Your iPod or MP3 player can be added to the system in addition to the included hard drive storage unit.

The in-dash six-disc changer (and additional one-disc player in the armrest) can handle both CDs and DVDs, which can play through the rear video monitors (along with the front monitor when the vehicle is parked). No matter what the source is, the sound emanates through excellent Harmon/Kardon speakers that include a rear-mounted subwoofer...catching every note of Don't Mess with the Zohan or Public Enemy.

With the 2011 restyle, the R-Class lineup was simplified to two models. I drove the R350 powered by a 3.5L DOHC V6 producing 268 horsepower.

Mated to the seven-speed automatic transmission and 4Matic all-wheel drive, the R350 has been rated at 15

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