The original and still the best

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Friday, September 30, 2011

If I had a euro for every press release I’ve received from motor companies claiming to have invented a new market niche with their latest whiz-bang design, I would be a rich man.

Few of these claims are true as the cars are usually hideously cobbled-together affairs distinctive only for their ugliness. Few are ground-breaking.

In fairness to Mercedes, when the company unveiled the original CLS at the 2003

Frankfurt Motor Show, they surprised observers with a concept that was new. This concept was the four-door coupe and it has since been aped shamelessly by other manufacturers.

Only three of those pretenders have come close to the beautiful lines of the original CLS and they are immediate competitors, the Audi A7 and the BMW 5-Series GT.

The VW Passat CC, a truly good-looking car, is close in theme, but not in price or cachet.

If the original CLS was a trend-setter, it had downsides: if you were over 5’8”, getting into the sleek machine was an exercise in limbo dancing. You had to mind your head.

Otherwise, the CLS was a design tour de force and a beautiful car to drive.

The CLS is into its second generation and it is based on the underpinnings of the more staid E-Class, with which it shares platform and running gear.

Setting it apart from the E-Class, the CLS has been the subject of a severe weight-loss programme, such that many body panels have been lightened, while the doors, front wings, boot lid and parcel shelf have all been crafted from aluminium. Much of the suspension is also aluminium.

Mercedes says that all this lightness has allowed them to provide a car that is very strong and has excellent vehicle safety and I’d have to say that during my time with the car I found nothing that would make me disagree with their claims.

By comparison with the original car, which was stunning, the new model might not quite be as gob-smacking.

What with its flared front arches, bulked-up haunches and a rear-end look which prompts more ‘mmms’ than ‘ooohs’ it is possible to argue that this is not as good-looking a car as its predecessor. But then, that’s all subjective, isn’t it?

Whether or not this CLS impacts on you visually, one thing that cannot be denied is that it is a really good car to drive.

We tested the 350 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY version — which incorporates a raft of environmentally-responsible additions — and the three-litre turbodiesel is a fine unit to live with.

This V6 engine outputs some 195 kW (261 bhp) and a whopping 620 Nm of torque, at between 1,600 and 2,400 rpm.

Top speed is electronically limited to 250 kph and the 0-100 kph dash is achieved in an impressive 6.2 seconds.

The combined cycle fuel consumption is just 6.0 l/100km and the CO 2 emission level is 159 g/km — again over the combined cycle.

Allied to a seven-speed auto gearbox, the engine is tractable, fast and yet economic at the same time and when you tie it in with the sophistication of the two-phase passive damper system, you have a machine that is equally at home as a cruiser or a muscular cross-country bruiser.

The tester was fitted with 19” multi-spoke light alloys, and, unlike some other machines, this did not upset the inherent balance and poise of the car and I have to say that I found the ride comfort to be excellent, even on roads where it might not be, and the grip levels and overall handling feel to be very driver-friendly.

Its overall stability and sophistication stand it out.

In terms of the driver and passengers, access has been improved to the front seats and a bruised forehead is not necessarily part of the deal unless you’re an NBA player.

Sure, it does take a little dexterity to get in and out of the rear seats if you’re a six-footer, but once you are in there, the feeling of luxury is hard to ignore.

Equipping levels are good, but if you want stuff like the ambient interior lights and the Harman Kandon sound system, you are really going to pile on the shekels its going to cost.

Indeed, the tester — equipped as it was with a good deal of extra goodies — was more than 17K dearer than the base model.

But the overall refinement of the CLS is hard to ignore and it is hard not to be impressed by the quality feel of this car; from every point of view, this is a vehicle anyone would be pleased to spend time in.

And it is perhaps interesting to note that for a car which is supposed to be more dynamic than anything else, it is refinement that is its strongest card.

The bottom line is that the CLS is still a standard bearer for Mercedes in this four-door coupe segment; and that is the way it should be too — they invented the niche after all; they really did.