Top-down cruiser that is true to its name
FUTURE MODELS/ There’s a larger, wider and safer convertible E-Class on its way, writes Michael Taylor
Afull range of petrol and diesel engines, more seating for four adults and a host of semi-autonomous driving tech will be the headline acts of Mercedes-Benz’s new convertible E-Class.
The E-Class cabrio has grown larger in every significant dimension over its predecessor, with Benz focused on delivering greater cabin comfort. At 4,826mm, it will be a full 123mm longer than the outgoing generation as it becomes the fifth version of an E-Class range that includes the sedan, estate, AllTerrain soft-roader (not planned for SA) and the coupe.
It will finally become a proper four-seater thanks to adopting the same wheelbase as the coupe, which slices 660mm off the sedan’s figure.
Its folding roof is made from multilayered, sound-absorbing cloth and can fold into or out of its boot-mounted cubby hole in 20 seconds.
PASSION
“The passion for extraordinary vehicles, which we share with our customers, is reflected in our new E-Class cabriolet in a unique way,” says Daimler’s board member for MercedesBenz Cars marketing and sales, Britta Seeger. “It is a car that lets people enjoy comfort and luxury in the open air.”
While Benz is gloating about the cabriolet being the latest in a long line of such things, it will really only be the second proper convertible E-Class (the other being the 1990s W124). The outgoing model is, in reality, a rebodied version of the smaller C-Class, which explains why the incoming model will be so much bigger.
Benz has tried to turn the model into a full four-seater, adding more than 100mm to the rear legroom and 20mm to the rear elbow room. It will also weigh between 1,755kg and up to 1,965kg, depending on the powertrain, with development sources admitting the reinforcing of the coupe’s body structure will add between 100kg and 120kg to the convertible.
The majority of the body structure will be made from either sheet steel or die-cast aluminium, with the front quarter panels, bonnet and bootlid all made from aluminium.
The lightest of the coupes, running a base 2.0l turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine with 135kW and 300Nm, is 1,655kg, while the heaviest runs a 3.0l, twin-turbo petrolpowered V6 with 245kW and 480Nm. Both those engines are certain starters in the cabriolet, along with the 180kW/370Nm version of the 2.0l four found in the E300. There will also be a four-cylinder turbodiesel.
All models will mate their engines to a nine-speed automatic transmission driving the rear wheels though, for the first time, the model will score 4Matic all-wheel drive in the pricier, more powerful models.
Unlike the coupe, there are no plans to hand the cabriolet’s blueprints over to AMG for a hot-shot version, because it’s more of a cruising car than a hard-charging one.
The E-Class Cabriolet will arrive in SA in the second half of 2017, priced at a slight uptick from the current model, though Benz has yet to confirm a figure.
A lot of the added cost will be spent on extra size and interior technical oomph, including wireless smartphone charging, connectivity and the ability to use a smartphone as a de facto key to open, close and start it.
A close visual relative of the smooth-sided coupe, the cabriolet has only one major area where it’s smaller than its predecessor. Its luggage capacity with the roof up is 385l, which is five fewer than the outgoing car had, though its 310l of topless boot capacity is 10 more.
It’s considerably larger in every other area, with a 113mm stretch in the wheelbase, 67mm and 68mm wider front and rear tracks respectively and the car itself is 74mm wider.
Inside, the cabriolet will carry over the coupe’s gorgeous new interior, replete with six jet thrust-style air vents up front and two more in the rear. The long-hated foot-operated park brake will finally be confined to history, too, while there will be a 50:50 split in the rear seats.
It will use twin high-resolution 12.3-inch display screens and head-up display as options, while it has a vent to blow hot air on the front passengers’ necks while the roof is down, and the Air Cap, which extends the top of the windscreen frame’s panel forward to push the air over the open cabin area.
THE MAJORITY OF THE BODY STRUCTURE WILL BE MADE FROM SHEET STEEL OR DIE-CAST ALUMINIUM
The windscreen will benefit from the new Magic Vision Control, a fancy German way of saying they’ve developed the SL’s wiper system to jet water precisely in front of the twin wiper blades and Benz guarantees no water will be left on the screen to block forward visibility.