COUPE PUTS THE CLASS IN E-CLASS
This all-new Mercedes-Benz two-door impresses with bountiful style and splendid performance
BA R CELONA, S P AIN Next to sports cars, a two-door sporty coupe has to be one of the more indulgent automotive purchases one can make. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, especially if said coupe is a reward after years of driving prudent, family-style transportation. Invariably stylish and often generous in the power department, the coupe was once an admired status symbol. It might still be, though the never-ending consumer demand for sport utes and crossovers is diverting sales from a number of automobile segments.
While coupes aren’t yet approaching extinction, the segment, not particularly large to begin with in Canada, is feeling the change. That said, it’s a golden time for those in the market for something upscale and lively, certainly if it’s a new Mercedes-Benz E-Class coupe that’s being considered.
Totally revised for the 2018 model year, it looks, at least at first glance and to those who are not diehard Benz aficionados, not all that different externally from its predecessor. Upon further inspection, however, there are myriad detail changes, primarily centered on the front and rear fascias, hood and side sills. The side windows are now frameless with no B-pillar to spoil the view.
It’s the cabin, though, that receives the full effect of the redesign; it’s quite chic. While the entry-level E’s instrumentation combines a rather typical cluster featuring two round dials in a seven-inch colour display, along with an 8.4-inch central display screen, optional (part of the Premium Package) are two high-resolution 12.3-inch displays merged under a single lens to produce a “widescreen cockpit,” similar in concept to Audi’s virtual cockpit.
Positioned in the driver’s direct field of vision, the Mercedes instrument cluster shows virtual instruments that can be selected in three different styles — Classic, Sport and Progressive — depending on which information and views the driver considers important. Très cool! As are the air vents, now taking on the look of a turbine engine.
Then there’s the Touch Control buttons in the steering wheel, which allow drivers to control the instrument cluster and multimedia system using finger swipes without having to take their hands off the steering wheel. Additional controls come in the form of a touchpad with a controller in the centre console, which can also recognize handwriting, plus the Linguatronic voice-control system.
None of this matters a bit if the driving experience is less than ideal. Fortunately, Mercedes has this covered as well. The coupe that Canada is getting is the E 400 4Matic, a pleasing blend of sport, performance, luxury and tech wrapped in aerodynamic sheet metal.
The two-door is longer, wider and higher than the previous E 400 coupe for greater room and comfort. While it retains the 329-horsepower, twin-turbo 3.0-litre V-6 from the 2017 model, the sevenspeed automatic transmission has been swapped out for a new ninespeed autobox for improved acceleration and fuel economy.
The day’s driving route had us leaving the airport in Barcelona and hugging the Catalonian coastline of Costa Brava via multi-lane highway before turning inland and exploring twisting back roads, then heading back down the highway to Lloret de Mar. Soon after, we turned northeast again for another session of twisting tarmac and then back to the coast before making a hard left at Calonge and finishing up inland in Caldes de Malavella.
Considering it’s a grand tourer and not an out-and-out sports car, the E 400 4Matic more than acquits itself. Power, while not explosive, is plentiful enough for most situations, such as getting around slow-moving tractor trailers, depending on which transmission mode is selected (courtesy of the standard Dynamic Select setup). Comfort and Eco made the coupe feel lethargic, while Sport+ could cause the nine-speed to shift abruptly. Sport, my co-driver and I both felt, seemed the best compromise of aggressiveness and smoothness. Individual mode, on the other hand, allows drivers to configure their own preferences.
The coupe comes standard with “direct control” suspension and is tuned for comfort, with an amplitude-dependent damping system. However, the tester was fitted with the optional Dynamic Body Control suspension with adjustable damping. Like the direct-control setup, it is set 15 millimetres lower than on the sedan. Three modes are available — Comfort, Sport and Sport+ — offering a range of adjustments. For the smooth and twisting back roads Sport was good but Sport+ was better, the latter imbuing the coupe with slight, very controllable understeer in the more extreme corners and little in the way of body roll. The grip afforded by the 4Matic all-wheel drive system inspired confidence.
As much as the drive showcased the E 400 in a very positive light, the route, which included a multitude of roundabouts, did expose a flaw in the navigation system’s route guidance. Namely, the disembodied voice was too slow to react to the various exits off the roundabouts, requiring either a route correction or a 180 to get back on track.
Of greater concern, at least if one is planning to use the rear seats, is the validity of Mercedes’ claim that the coupe is a full-fledged four-seater. I can attest that a sixfooter will find adequate if not bountiful legroom, though the sloping roofline means headroom is at a premium. And, while getting into the back seat is OK (gravity, you know), there is no dignified way to exit.
Accounting for less than 20 per cent of the total E-Class lineup, the coupe, in the grand scheme of things, is small potatoes for Mercedes, selling maybe 400 to 500 a year. As a halo vehicle within the EClass model range, it holds greater importance.
“It condenses contemporary luxury, agile sportiness and hightech engineering into an automotive personality with esprit, offering exclusive, refined driving pleasure.” OK, that’s Thomas Weber, member of the Daimler AG Board of Management, and he’s expected to say that. Still, is any crossover, high-end or otherwise, going to get that kind of enthusiastic welcome from an exec? For individualists without the need for a two-box suburban mall assault vehicle, yet with a clear-cut sense of style and purpose: your driving reward is on its way.
Look for it in showrooms by early summer. Mercedes Canada has yet to announce pricing.
It condenses contemporary luxury, agile sportiness and high-tech engineering into an automotive personality with esprit.