SEDAN PLAYS TO ITS STRENGTH
The original four-door coupe is still an elegant stunner after all these years
When Mercedes-Benz launched the swoopy CLS sedan in 2004, who would have guessed it had created a whole new class of vehicle?
Sure, the naysayers snickered at this four-seat luxury conveyance with the nonsensical moniker (four-door coupe), fastback profile, compromised rear accommodations and elevated sticker price. Nonetheless, sometimes form wins over function, and this particular brand of automotive vanity has swept through the auto-verse like a hurricane, affecting both cars and SUVs, reaching from Hyundai and Ford to Jaguar and BMW.
While there is an all-new 2017 E-Class sedan, the CLS (for now) carries forward based on the outgoing 2016 E-Class. No questioning its esthetics: Our 2016 CLS 400 4Matic tester in Iridium Silver Metallic sashays down the road with supermodel looks. The CLS received a few tweaks last year — “diamond” grill, restyled headlights and a new rear bumper — and for 2016 we see fresh 18-inch 10-spoke wheels. The test specimen rolls on $750 19-inch AMG multi-spoke units.
With a starting price of $77,100, the CLS 400 4Matic comes reasonably well-equipped, but don’t think you’re getting away with buying just a base model. As is the case with all posh Swabian hardware, upgrade packages call. The $5,950 Premium Package could be considered mandatory, adding such “necessities” as a heated steering wheel, heated rear seats, proximity key with push-button start, adaptive headlights, upgraded Harman/Kardon audio and surround-view camera, among other doodads. This tester also has the $1,500 Sport Package that includes stronger brakes, five-spoke AMG 18-inch wheels, a sports suspension and a multi-contour driver’s seat with inflatable bolsters and massage. Best not to sing the praises of the wee pneumatic gnomes pummeling your backside too loud; your significant other will wonder why only the driver gets this treatment. The $2,700 Intelligent Drive Package adds active blind-spot assistance and lane keeping, Distronic Plus adaptive cruise with steering assist, crosstraffic assist and autonomous emergency braking.
The lane-keeping assist can be downright aggressive. It read the road wrong a couple of times, jamming on the brakes when it thought … well, I don’t know what it thought. I know what I thought, and it’s not printable.
The Distronic Plus with steering assist gives a few moments of real hands-and-feet-off autonomous driving if conditions allow. Somewhat useful for the stop and go traffic crawl, but really mostly just a party trick.
For those not needing the big V-8 wallop of the 402-horsepower CLS 550 or thunderous 577-hp CLS 63 AMG, the CLS 400 still feels plenty sprightly, thanks to its 3.0-litre twin-turbo V-6 that makes 329 h.p. and 354 pound-feet of torque from 1,400 r.p.m. Here it is bolted to a sevenspeed automatic transmission with paddle shifters.
This V-6 doesn’t really inspire with its sound or willingness to rev — unlike BMW’s 3.0-L turbo straight six — but what it lacks in character, it makes up for in fuel economy. My week ended up at 10.5 L/100 km after a pretty even mix of highway and in town cruising.
This Benz’s interior is gorgeous, done up in Crystal Grey leather that plays beautifully into its ethos of a four-door luxury conveyance. The light hue screams, “Adults only. No kids or dogs allowed.” Tolerances are tight, and the metal accents and dark ash wood trim look fabulous. Front and centre is an infotainment screen that perches atop the centre console. Perhaps not the most elegant solution, but seems in keeping with our iPad-obsessed culture.
Mercedes’ COMAND interface uses a rotary control for navigating functions, and there is a scattering of buttons for quick access to radio presets and the like. As with any of these multi-layered systems there’s a learning curve, but once under your fingers it all makes sense.
As always there is a price for vanity. The rear-door openings are small, headroom is limited, and you really have to duck to get in. Still, once settled in the nicely contoured back seats it is mighty cosseting if you’re not too tall.
While the 2016 CLS is hardly a sport sedan, it cuts a pretty sharp path when pressed. The steering is quick and alert, and the chassis feels buttoned down. Even on the 19-inch wheels and with its optional sports suspension, the ride is suitably quiet and compliant. You won’t be playing F1-guy with the paddle shifters, however; the response is lazy.
Ah, who are we kidding here? This is a Mercedes premium luxury sedan — er, four-door coupe — and it is tailored to do exactly what you’d expect of it.
Benz plays to its strengths. Yes, the CLS four-door-coupe may not be the class-of-one it was a decade ago but it’s still the original, and it holds court with quiet elegance, confidence, a sense of occasion and yes, unassailable beauty.