SKY
Kraftwagen König
Ohhhh, I´m really surprised, a british mag not being able to shut it´s mouth in a review to say X british car is better.
CLS-Class (C218) [First drives] New Mercedes Benz CLS (C218) First Drives - Autocar etc...
- Thread starter martinbo
- Start date
The C218 Mercedes-Benz CLS is the second generation of the Mercedes CLS-Class range of four-door coupé sedans. It is succeeded by the CLS (C257). Body styles: C218 (4-door coupé), X218 (5-door shooting brake). Production: January 2011 – December 2017
Ohhhh, I´m really surprised, a british mag not being able to shut it´s mouth in a review to say X british car is better.
Human
You. The Road. Nothing else.
Mercedes CLS 350 - Auto Express
Luxury Merc mixes performance and economy to great effect
Read more: Mercedes CLS 350 | First Drives | Auto Express
Luxury Merc mixes performance and economy to great effect
Few cars blend high-end style, practicality and desirability like the Mercedes CLS. Imitators – from the Audi A7 to the VW Passat CC – don’t come close.
Agreed
The big Merc boasts space to seat four adults in comfort and a generous boot, yet it also drives with the crisp responsiveness of a coupé like the CLK.
A recent nip and tuck has worked wonders at the front, making the CLS appear much bolder. In our eyes, there is a question mark over changes to the profile but, on the road, there’s no doubt that the revised model turns heads.
It’s a similar story inside, where surfaces are lavished with leather and chrome. It’s glitzy, in a way that cars such as the firm’s own E-Class or the Audi A6 aren’t. There’s also an updated LCD dash, which replaces the monochrome display seen in the rest of the Mercedes line-up.
The driving position places you close to the floor, and the frameless electric windows automatically wind closed as you shut the door to block out the noise of the outside world.
Fitted with a powerful 3.0-litre V6 diesel, our CLS 350 CDI promises to be the pick of the range in terms of balancing performance and fuel economy. Claimed combined consumption is an impressive 47mpg, and top speed is limited to 155mph. The 0-62mph sprint takes only 6.2 seconds, thanks in part to the powerplant’s massive 650Nm of torque.
The sporty, leather-trimmed seats grip you firmly – our car had the £1,310 optional side bolsters that inflate and deflate as you drive around corners – and the CLS feels every inch the sporty coupé.
Steering is light yet accurate, and the automatic gearbox swaps between its seven ratios quickly and smoothly under full throttle.
Paddles mounted behind the steering wheel allow you to take charge of gearchanges and make more of the driving experience. On top of that, our model was fitted with adjustable air-suspension and AMG-style wheels, which offer plenty of grip through corners. And when you want to stop, the CLS is fitted with reassuringly powerful brakes. Most impressive of all, however, is the model’s
mighty in-gear acceleration.
In fact, negatives are hard to come by – until you start to focus on price. Fully laden, our top-spec diesel tipped the scales at an eye-watering £77,500. Even without the extras, it costs £52,993.
For that amount of money, we were expecting a little more. The dash, for example, seems to lack the depth of material quality exhibited by rival Audi.
And while there is no questioning how well this car is put together, we thought details such as the chrome plates on the end of the door trims looked a little out of place.
These are small criticisms but, at this price, still significant. As Mercedes itself says, it’s the best, or nothing..
Read more: Mercedes CLS 350 | First Drives | Auto Express
Attachments
Mr. Mercedes
Premium
I find it interesting that Autocars test found the interior noise levels so low, lower than a Rolls Royce Ghost in fact, which is consistent with the other subjective reviews that have praised the CLS's exemplary refinement. Yet a German publication (which I can't recall off the top of my head) produced results where the CLS was a few decibels louder than the A7 in almost every situation. 
I’m inclined to push aside the latter result, because if there’s one thing MB has been working on to be top of the class its NVH.
The interior is sublime. It walks the middle path between the E-s teutonic austerirty and the A6 and A6’s deliberate flamboyance, perfectly.
The new V6 is earning quite a bit of praise from journalists. Not in quite the same performance category as Audi's and BMW's turbo offerings, but exemplary in refinement with some deeply impressive fuel economy and emission stats. The turbo when it FINALLY makes an appearance will be a knockout.
I’m inclined to push aside the latter result, because if there’s one thing MB has been working on to be top of the class its NVH. The interior is sublime. It walks the middle path between the E-s teutonic austerirty and the A6 and A6’s deliberate flamboyance, perfectly.
The new V6 is earning quite a bit of praise from journalists. Not in quite the same performance category as Audi's and BMW's turbo offerings, but exemplary in refinement with some deeply impressive fuel economy and emission stats. The turbo when it FINALLY makes an appearance will be a knockout.
Nice to see Autocar mention how low the interior NVH is. Someone on a Message Board who drove the CLS and owns a W212 mentioned that the CLS let in a considerable amount more noise (wind, road, and ambient, etc.). It essentially makes sense as the CLS is a sportier version of the E, with frameless windows, aluminum doors and a poorer drag coefficient, but for some reason it still surprised me (I guess due to the price factor).
The White one in those pics looks damn hot though!
The White one in those pics looks damn hot though!
Shining Star
Chicane Challenger
First Drive: 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS550
Modern Art Meets Twin Turbochargers
Any time a journalist starts waxing poetic about automotive styling, you can practically hear designers' eyes spinning in their sockets. I've met plenty of automotive scribes with a master's degree in mechanical engineering, but I've yet to shake hands with one packing a design sheepskin. Granted, the average car buyer is better served by someone with an intimate knowledge of liquid thermodynamics and the finer points of suspension geometry. But then along comes something like the 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS550 and we simply don't have the vocabulary.
Stepping out for a smoke with the lead automotive artist from Mercedes' Advanced Design Studio, it's hard not to look at the second-generation CLS and start playing styling critic. The play between light and shadow; the sculpted rear haunches; the character line that rises then plummets from the headlamps, across the fenders and terminates in the rear doors. Who am I kidding? I'm of no station to make you endure endless, uneducated platitudes cribbed from the car-as-art schtick. I just know the new CLS looks damned good from any angle, particularly the the waning sunlight of California's Napa Valley.
But here's the kicker: The design is nearly seven years old.
"I started working on the [new] CLS in 2006," says Hubert Lee between puffs of a bummed American Spirit, "but how do you remake an icon?"
The 37-year-old designer (so what have you done with your life?) was tasked with pitching his design to the corporate heads in Germany. "It was stressful," Lee admits, conceding that designers always draw exaggerated concepts to ensure that some of their favorite elements make it to production. "You're lucky if you can get five-percent of your design into the final product."
Judging by the initial sketches and the CLS550 we just snagged the keys to, Lee and his Southern California design team have managed to get more than a fraction of the original design into production. Whereas the fascias of the latest SLK and SL look a bit tacked-on, the new face of Mercedes-Benz appears wholly integrated into the CLS. From our vantage point, its C-shaped foglamp surrounds, upright grille and mirror-filling Three-Pointed Star gel into the best iteration of M-B's corporate nose to date. The body looks milled from a solid chunk of steel and makes the still-beautiful departing model look positively dated by comparison. And that's just the outside.
The interior has evolved and, while it looks and feels like any other modern Mercedes cabin, it eschews some of the less-than-pleasing materials and layout from the last four-door coupe (M-B must have finally recouped the development costs of the original and poured the extra ducats into the interior).
Like the CLS63 AMG we sampled earlier this year, the 2012 CLS550 drops the old naturally aspirated V8 for a new twin-turbocharged engine that delivers more power and more torque, while reducing emissions and boosting fuel economy by some 15 percent to an estimated 16 miles per gallon in the city and 26 on the highway. Unfortunately, Mercedes' badge nomenclature will continue to baffle the mildly-informed car-spotter. Whereas the outgoing engine was a 5.5-liter V8, this new dual-turbo'd powerplant has slimmed down to 4.6-liters of displacement. Augmented by 12.9 psi of boost, it's good enough for 402 horsepower from 5,000 to 5,750 rpm and 443 pound-feet of torque between 1,800 and 4,750 rpm. While that might pale in comparison to the 518 hp and (sport-pack boosted) 590 lb-ft of the CLS63, it still delivers a healthy 0-60 mph time of 5.1 seconds when equipped with the standard seven-speed automatic gearbox. And after sampling both models back-to-back, the rear-drive CLS550 predictably comes across as the more relaxed, compliant daily driver.
Credit Mercedes' continued propensity for making the best torque converter-equipped auto 'boxes on the market, the CLS550' seven-speed – even in Sport mode – is a more refined gearbox than the Speedshift MCT setup fitted to the CLS63. Shifts might not be neck-snappingly quick, but they're smooth and measured, and coupled with the nearly lagless turbo 4.6-liter, high-speed freeway runs and backroad blasts are effortlessly dispatched without sacrificing engagement.
The electromechanical, power-assisted speed-sensitive rack-and-pinion steering tightens up for the twisties and goes slack in parking lots, delivering just enough feel to inform your palms, while remaining staid and unencumbered when making small corrections on the highway. The same goes for the standard Airmatic semi-active suspension with adaptive damping, which, partnered with the three-link independent front suspension and multi-link rear, makes for a comfortable ride in all manner of conditions. And on the subject of all conditions, Benz's 4Matic all-wheel drive will be available, turning the CLS into an foul-weather flyer.
Body roll, dive and squat are all present but minimal, and the 14.2-inch front brakes with four-pot calipers (12.6-inch in the rear with single-pot stoppers) partnered with the standard 18-inch all-season rubber (sized 255/40 R18 on 8.5 x 18.0 wheels in front and 285/35 R18 on 9.5 x 18.0 out back) make deceleration a competent and composed affair. Sure, we'd like a little more communication through the wheel and from the slightly squishy brake pedal, but in the realm of a jaw-droppingly stylish sedan, the CLS continues to stand in a class of its own.
While nearly every automaker under the sun has taken the four-door coupe ball and run with it since the CLS' debut, the first round of would-be contenders still lack the presence and finesse of the original – let alone this thoroughly reworked 2012 model, which, we might add, comes to market with a new lower base price of $71,300.
Lee and his crew might have sweated remaking a modern-day aesthetic icon, but they've done one better: They've reestablished the CLS as the definitive slant-roof sedan. It's just too bad we skipped out on the Advanced Industrial Art class in college. We might have had the credibility to call it one of the best automotive designs of the 21st century.
Source:
2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS550 — Autoblog
HighestOfHigh
Cornering Kingpin
^Exactly...The sport package looks good, but the AMG is perfect.
donkeykong
Track Technician
It looks so good right there. The 63amg in person is on a whole other level though.
Soup
Premium
2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG First Test - Motor Trend
When faced with a day's drive back home, there are usually a few ways you can go. But when you're in a car like the 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG, there's really only one way -- the long way.
The road back from California's famed Napa wine country -- where Benz hosted another CLS-Class press inoculation -- to MT HQ in L.A. offers lots of tasty options. This time down I'd peel off Highway 101 at Gilroy heading southeast on Route 25. From the 25 I'd head east onto Route 198, cutting a swath through California's central valley farm country, then hook back onto the I-5 for the home stretch.
Routes 25 and 198 offer a wonderful mix of flat, wide-open straights and challenging kinks through practically deserted farm country. Only the stray car (and cow) heard the maniacal roar from the CLS63 AMG's all-new 5.5-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 hurtling at them under full throttle, with the massive three-pointed star, single-strake grille, and daytime LED running lights filling up the rear view -- fast.
The exterior of the new CLS63 is taut, athletic, and ready for action, with neat AMG touches including a carbon lip spoiler, more aggressive front fascia, and tasty exhaust tips nestled at each end of a black diffuser. Benz is quick to point out that design is the main reason buyers gravitate toward the CLS, and while one-upping the first-gen car's now iconic design was a tall order, lead designer Hubert Lee (he was that kid in your history class drawing cars) and his team have arguably pulled it off, depending upon your subjective outlook.
Our test car came with the $7300 AMG sport package, which dials up an already mean twin-turbocharged mill to 550 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque -- all with no mpg penalty. Our advice? Do not hesitate -- check the sport package option. The outgoing 6.2-liter V-8 is a legendary mill and it will be missed, but underestimate the 5.5 at your peril.
The new hotness these days is less displacement, direct injection, and turbo boost, which equals more power and less guilt, and the 5.5 hits all those marks. If you're into getting more mpg out of your AMG, the new CLS63 nets an estimated 15 mpg city/23 highway, a hefty increase that will keep it from running with the gas-guzzler set. Another new mpg booster is the automaker's start/stop function, and the CLS63 is the first stateside Benz with the system. It's a little off-putting at first, especially when the 5.5 suddenly wakes up, but it becomes routine in no time.
Helping put all those ponies down to the pavement is AMG's Speedshift seven-speed transmission with its MCT (multi-clutch technology) system, which employs a start-up clutch in place of a conventional torque converter. Benz claims shifts come in little as 100 milliseconds when dialed up to the sharpest settings. You can further engage in the shifting experience through wonderfully placed and sized paddle shifters. We tried all four shift modes, including most notably the Sport+ setting, and with the exception of a few slight hiccups in the M paddle mode we experienced under hard up and downshifts, it's arguably the best-tuned automatic tranny in the business.
When our test squad hit the gas, they settled on Sport+ without paddle shifting (there's also a Race Start launch control feature) during the 0-60 and quarter-mile runs. Those millisecond shifts helped push the 4256-pound CLS63 to a rarified 0-to-60 time of 3.9 seconds, with the quarter coming in 12.1 seconds at 121.3 mph, both of which were several ticks quicker than the CLS550 we just had in for the same battery of tests (4.3 seconds to 60 and 12.8 sec at 110.6 mph in the quarter). Turbo lag? Bah. Power comes on immediately, and it's all there, all the time.
There were several long, flat stretches on both the 25 and 198, roads that cried out for terminal velocity blasts (with the AMG sport package 186 mph is a distinct possibility), but alas, these were public roads, although some flat-footed fun was had. Whenever the need to scrub speed did arise, the AMG calipers (six-piston front, four-piston rear) bit down on the $12,625 (!) optional carbon ceramic brake package (featuring 15.8-inch fronts and 14.2-inch rear discs). At the test track, the brakes clawed the CLS63 down from 60 mph in 113 feet. Interestingly, this was the only area where the new 550 (107 feet) outdid the 63. We're chalking it up to the 550's optional Pirelli PZero rubber and the surface (the 63 was tested at El Toro, where surfaces can be tricky, versus Fontana for the 550). Our advice, skip the carbons unless you're planning to take your 63 to your local circuit.
When taking the long way home, there should be plenty of curves in your path, and both the state routes obliged, providing ample opportunity to test the CLS63's underpinnings. Despite its E-Class midsize-sedan genesis, this car feels and behaves like a much smaller, more nimble machine. Turn in hard toward an apex and the CLS63's new electromechanical steering system, in conjunction with an AMG-tuned suspension highlighted by a steel coil spring setup at the front, Benz's Airmatic suspension at the rear, and sticky 19-inch ContiSportContacts tires contacting the asphalt, conspires to deliver excellent turn-in response, flat cornering, and a feeling of utter composure -- switchback after switchback. The numbers once again bear it out, with a MT figure-eight time of 25.1 sec @ 0.81 g (avg) and a .92 lateral g number.
After turning onto the I-5, it was time to pop it into C mode for some more relaxed cruising. The CLS 63 becomes a more than passable tourer when you want it to be, with eminently adjustable seats. The time on the 5 gave me a minute to admire the CLS63's amazing steering wheel -- a suede and leather-trimmed unit with flat spots both top and bottom. The rest of the cabin is swathed in top-shelf materials and other AMG-inspired touches, including piano black, carbon fiber, and brushed stainless steel trim.
The cabin is a smidge bigger than the outgoing CLS but not markedly so, and that's fine (backseat passengers be damned). It envelopes you with its swoopy coupe greenhouse, but doesn't make you feel claustrophobic like some other performance "coupes" (cough * camaro * cough). There are a few small callouts. The gauge work can be a bit hard to read, the center stack is still cold and button-heavy in spots, and the 7-inch Comand screen seemed a bit on the small side, especially when considering what the Germanic competition has begun to offer. Oh, and for the love of God, Benz, please switch the placement of the adaptive cruise control lever -- if I hit that one more time instead of the turn signals, arrrggggghhhh.
As you'd expect from a Benz in this price range, the CLS63's cabin is also chock full of the latest in Mercedes entertainment and safety tech, including a Super Nanny set of safety features such as attention assist, which went off on me right near the end of the drive -- yes, I was tired after 8 hours, what of it?
Bottom line, the CLS63 is a car that will have you looking for all manner of ways to take the long way home, so turn up the Supertramp and hit the gas...
When faced with a day's drive back home, there are usually a few ways you can go. But when you're in a car like the 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG, there's really only one way -- the long way.
The road back from California's famed Napa wine country -- where Benz hosted another CLS-Class press inoculation -- to MT HQ in L.A. offers lots of tasty options. This time down I'd peel off Highway 101 at Gilroy heading southeast on Route 25. From the 25 I'd head east onto Route 198, cutting a swath through California's central valley farm country, then hook back onto the I-5 for the home stretch.
Routes 25 and 198 offer a wonderful mix of flat, wide-open straights and challenging kinks through practically deserted farm country. Only the stray car (and cow) heard the maniacal roar from the CLS63 AMG's all-new 5.5-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 hurtling at them under full throttle, with the massive three-pointed star, single-strake grille, and daytime LED running lights filling up the rear view -- fast.
The exterior of the new CLS63 is taut, athletic, and ready for action, with neat AMG touches including a carbon lip spoiler, more aggressive front fascia, and tasty exhaust tips nestled at each end of a black diffuser. Benz is quick to point out that design is the main reason buyers gravitate toward the CLS, and while one-upping the first-gen car's now iconic design was a tall order, lead designer Hubert Lee (he was that kid in your history class drawing cars) and his team have arguably pulled it off, depending upon your subjective outlook.
Our test car came with the $7300 AMG sport package, which dials up an already mean twin-turbocharged mill to 550 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque -- all with no mpg penalty. Our advice? Do not hesitate -- check the sport package option. The outgoing 6.2-liter V-8 is a legendary mill and it will be missed, but underestimate the 5.5 at your peril.
The new hotness these days is less displacement, direct injection, and turbo boost, which equals more power and less guilt, and the 5.5 hits all those marks. If you're into getting more mpg out of your AMG, the new CLS63 nets an estimated 15 mpg city/23 highway, a hefty increase that will keep it from running with the gas-guzzler set. Another new mpg booster is the automaker's start/stop function, and the CLS63 is the first stateside Benz with the system. It's a little off-putting at first, especially when the 5.5 suddenly wakes up, but it becomes routine in no time.
Helping put all those ponies down to the pavement is AMG's Speedshift seven-speed transmission with its MCT (multi-clutch technology) system, which employs a start-up clutch in place of a conventional torque converter. Benz claims shifts come in little as 100 milliseconds when dialed up to the sharpest settings. You can further engage in the shifting experience through wonderfully placed and sized paddle shifters. We tried all four shift modes, including most notably the Sport+ setting, and with the exception of a few slight hiccups in the M paddle mode we experienced under hard up and downshifts, it's arguably the best-tuned automatic tranny in the business.
When our test squad hit the gas, they settled on Sport+ without paddle shifting (there's also a Race Start launch control feature) during the 0-60 and quarter-mile runs. Those millisecond shifts helped push the 4256-pound CLS63 to a rarified 0-to-60 time of 3.9 seconds, with the quarter coming in 12.1 seconds at 121.3 mph, both of which were several ticks quicker than the CLS550 we just had in for the same battery of tests (4.3 seconds to 60 and 12.8 sec at 110.6 mph in the quarter). Turbo lag? Bah. Power comes on immediately, and it's all there, all the time.
There were several long, flat stretches on both the 25 and 198, roads that cried out for terminal velocity blasts (with the AMG sport package 186 mph is a distinct possibility), but alas, these were public roads, although some flat-footed fun was had. Whenever the need to scrub speed did arise, the AMG calipers (six-piston front, four-piston rear) bit down on the $12,625 (!) optional carbon ceramic brake package (featuring 15.8-inch fronts and 14.2-inch rear discs). At the test track, the brakes clawed the CLS63 down from 60 mph in 113 feet. Interestingly, this was the only area where the new 550 (107 feet) outdid the 63. We're chalking it up to the 550's optional Pirelli PZero rubber and the surface (the 63 was tested at El Toro, where surfaces can be tricky, versus Fontana for the 550). Our advice, skip the carbons unless you're planning to take your 63 to your local circuit.
When taking the long way home, there should be plenty of curves in your path, and both the state routes obliged, providing ample opportunity to test the CLS63's underpinnings. Despite its E-Class midsize-sedan genesis, this car feels and behaves like a much smaller, more nimble machine. Turn in hard toward an apex and the CLS63's new electromechanical steering system, in conjunction with an AMG-tuned suspension highlighted by a steel coil spring setup at the front, Benz's Airmatic suspension at the rear, and sticky 19-inch ContiSportContacts tires contacting the asphalt, conspires to deliver excellent turn-in response, flat cornering, and a feeling of utter composure -- switchback after switchback. The numbers once again bear it out, with a MT figure-eight time of 25.1 sec @ 0.81 g (avg) and a .92 lateral g number.
After turning onto the I-5, it was time to pop it into C mode for some more relaxed cruising. The CLS 63 becomes a more than passable tourer when you want it to be, with eminently adjustable seats. The time on the 5 gave me a minute to admire the CLS63's amazing steering wheel -- a suede and leather-trimmed unit with flat spots both top and bottom. The rest of the cabin is swathed in top-shelf materials and other AMG-inspired touches, including piano black, carbon fiber, and brushed stainless steel trim.
The cabin is a smidge bigger than the outgoing CLS but not markedly so, and that's fine (backseat passengers be damned). It envelopes you with its swoopy coupe greenhouse, but doesn't make you feel claustrophobic like some other performance "coupes" (cough * camaro * cough). There are a few small callouts. The gauge work can be a bit hard to read, the center stack is still cold and button-heavy in spots, and the 7-inch Comand screen seemed a bit on the small side, especially when considering what the Germanic competition has begun to offer. Oh, and for the love of God, Benz, please switch the placement of the adaptive cruise control lever -- if I hit that one more time instead of the turn signals, arrrggggghhhh.
As you'd expect from a Benz in this price range, the CLS63's cabin is also chock full of the latest in Mercedes entertainment and safety tech, including a Super Nanny set of safety features such as attention assist, which went off on me right near the end of the drive -- yes, I was tired after 8 hours, what of it?
Bottom line, the CLS63 is a car that will have you looking for all manner of ways to take the long way home, so turn up the Supertramp and hit the gas...
Zafiro
Supreme Roadmaster
Only in america, only in america these things happen.
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Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz Group AG is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany.
Established in 1926, Mercedes-Benz Group produces consumer luxury
vehicles and light commercial vehicles badged as Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-AMG,
and Mercedes-Maybach.
Its origin lies in Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft's 1901 Mercedes
and Carl Benz's 1886 Benz Patent-Motorwagen, which is widely regarded
as the first internal combustion engine in a self-propelled automobile.
The slogan for the brand is "the best or nothing".
Official website: Mercedes-Benz (Global), Mercedes-Benz (USA)
Official website: Mercedes-Benz (Global), Mercedes-Benz (USA)
