Mercedes CLS-Class
Chic ! The sportiness of a coupé with the practical features of a saloon.
The challenge taken on by Mercedes was to combine the elegance and sportiness of a coupé with the practical features of a saloon. A challenge won hands down !
The first car to bear the Mercedes name was born in 1901. Since then, innovation has always been a vital concern, as shown by a few significant dates : 1934 and the 540 K roadster, 1954 and the 300 SL with butterfly doors, 1982 and the Mercedes-Benz 190, 1997 and the A-Class. The 21st century will certainly remember the 4-door CLS which ensures easy access to the rear passenger seats. To be precise, there are no less than 829 millimetres between the front and back seats. Today, the CLS range has two variations, the CLS 350 and 500. The first offers a 6-cylinder engine which, together with the 7G-Tronic automatic transmission, provides an amazing double-act in terms of acceler-ation and fuel consumption. Just seven seconds from 0 to 100 km/hr, and no more than 10.1 litres per 100 kilometres. As for the CLS 500, it boasts an 8-cylinder engine which has already shown its mettle in the S-Class and SL roadster. Even more aggressive, it accelerates from 0 to 100 km/hr in 6.1 seconds. In terms of design, the latitude allowed by a coupé is always important ! The result is dynamism and spaciousness, power and elegance, good looks and practicality. A model which in fact has a rather special allure : a sporty overhang at front and rear for a long, sleek silhouette, in strong contrast with the low line of the roof. The front is a mix of new and familiar features. New, the headlights, which give a new “face” : familiar, the radiator grill with its four horizontal bars and central star.
Powerful and robust
The CLS’s bodywork features light components : high-resistance steel and aluminium. The passenger compartment, designed to handle all types of accidents, ensures effective protection. For example, the front airbags have two trigger threshholds depending on the seriousness of the impact. The aim is to reduce the constraints upon the occupants in the event of severe collisions and optimize safety functions in the case of accidents at intermediary speeds. What better than Pre-Safe could represent the ideal concept of preventive protection ? The driver’s and passenger’s seat-belts are tightened in anticipation, the passenger seat can be repositioned on approach and the sunroof closes automatically. We’re therefore talking about a vehicle endowed with certain “reflexes”. Still on the subject of safety, take a look at the Airmatic DC pneumatic suspension system, which comes as standard on the CLS 500 and stands for “Dual Control”. Here, you are confronted by a perfected version of the pneumatic suspension principle, already proposed by Mercedes since 1998 on the S-Class. As from now, shock absorption is handled by the ADS II (adaptive shock absorption), and suspension by the torque rods with rubber gaiters filled with compressed air. Another major step in evolution as seen by Mercedes is the Sensotronic Brake Control (SBC) which will stabilize a vehicle just about to swerve, detect an emergency braking situation and, in rainy weather, eliminate the film of water which develops on the brake disks. CLS 350 from 57,400 €, CLS 500 from 70,700 €.
By Cécile Olivéro - photos : press.
