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After three days, beauty is just as boring as virtue.
So said Bernard Shaw
So three days. Fortunately, the encounter with the freshly made CLS only lasted two days. Two days between London and Goodwood. Walked in the footsteps of the CLS, torn between the beauty of the four-door coupé and the newly strengthened virtues. Although I still like the Shooting Brake version a little better.
The multi-coupe
First exit in the new CLS
The design of the CLS has always been something special. A big pinch of luxury, a touch of elitist renunciation and a lot of class. These were the ingredients from which Mercedes created the first CLS generation. The basic recipe was not changed in the second generation. Take a decent business limousine, put on the hat of a coupé and keep the four doors. The result is probably the most beautiful interpretation of the GT idea. With the facelift of the second CLS generation, the recipe is again not touched and the changes to the external shape are only for experts to sift. It seems that Bernard Shaw's “three days” for this automobile will never end. To be on the safe side, the CLS has now acquired other virtues. So - should the day come and the beauty of the four-door limousine has given way to dreary everyday life - then at least the inner values can convince.
More light, more gears, more engines
Mercedes already offered an LED light in its predecessor. (In the current S-Class and the still current E-Class, Mercedes has also expanded the LED technology to include technology that allows oncoming traffic to be faded out using its own high beam. Or a vehicle driving ahead.) But among the German premium manufacturers an amazing competition for the best light has emerged and the Swabians want, at all Laser Light penis debate, at least among the best when it comes to serial lighting. And so they connect their high beam assistant (camera module in the windshield) with an LED battery of 24 LEDs inside the two light modules, 8 more - which you can see when you look closely into the headlights under small prompter hoods - and 4 LEDs in the dynamic, movable outer light module. The Stuttgart-based company pack the whole thing in a neat headlight and give it an additional glowing eyelash. This “light torch” serves as parking light, daytime running light, turn signal and “welcome light”. Well then. The front looks good. Tidy around the nose, with slightly chubby cheeks under the headlights.
But how does it shine?
The streets around Brooklands are a great test track by night. Not because the night in England is darker than ours. At night, it is indeed dark everywhere (Sic!). But because the slight peaks, the wavy and changing road surface and the, frequently hanging in the street Ästwerk the country roads seem even darker and scary. The narrow streets allow you to beg as much as additional light as a motorist. For the first time, Mercedes-Benz is now offering an LED headlamp in the new CLS, which will be launched with a total of 36 LEDs. The 36 “Light emitting diods”Work cleverly with each other in the various lighting situations. With this extensive structure, Mercedes-Benz has implemented both dynamic cornering lights, i.e. shining into the bends while driving, and static cornering lights, which are also used as “roundabout illumination”, as well as a motorway light, a kind of fog light for poor visibility and a differentiating high beam. The inner light module with its 24 LED elements behind a matrix can also be dimmed in 255 steps in terms of thickness and now manages without moving mechanical components (see. S-Class and E-Class Mopf). With the new technology can hide multiple vehicles, without having to forego a decent main beam. On the highway, it also allows a high beam that hides trucks on the opposite lane. Just a differentiating high beam. Thus, the increase in the maximum range of the high beam (485 meter) can be used in everyday life on the highway.
And now, is it any good?
Oh, it's hard to tell. One thing is clear: the carpet of light that the elaborate LED headlights put on the street is brilliant white. The illumination in width and length is impressive - but the entire carpet is not free from stains. Technicians speak of “slight inhomogeneities” in the light distribution, I say: I see spots. Unfortunately, the LED predecessors in the E and S-Class were already able to do that. Since you could not drive the CLS models alone (yourself) through the night in England, a final assessment is left out. Light still has a different effect on the driver than on the front passenger. A first test at night, longer and on routes that you already know will have to follow.
More gears
It took a while, but now Mercedes is bragging about a new nine-speed automatic. As it should be for “Daimler”, developed and built in-house. With the facelift of the CLS, the new 9-speed gearbox is being added to the range for the first time in a series with a wider choice of engines. So far, the 9-speed automatic was only available for the E-Class with 350 diesel (Driving report follows the days!). If you are interested in a CLS with four-wheel drive, you first have to resort to the 7 automatic transmission.
In the facelift CLS Mercedes combines the new torque converter with the V8 engine (CLS 500), with the CLS 400 (Stratified charge bi-turbo V6), the CLS 350 BlueTEC, the CLS 250 BlueTEC and the new entry-level engine, the CLS 220 BlueTEC, and with it the most ingenious CLS of all time.
Because the “only” 170 hp four-cylinder diesel with double charging is also the cheapest version to enter the four-door coupé class. With a base price of € 54.085,50, there is enough play money left over to give in to the temptations of the price list. And the driver also earns an A + in CO² efficiency.
The wide spread of the gears enables an extremely low-speed driving style. The 400 Nm of the smallest diesel offer enough power to drive the coupé over the crests of the London hinterland. And in contrast to the CLS AMG 63 (Show photos in the article CLS 63 AMG S), the small diesel and a sensible wheel-tire combination retain real suspension comfort. Where the heavily motorized CLS variants, with splendid tire dimensions, sometimes roll wooden, the accountant motorization does not bother its occupants with the condition of the road. And the NEDC standard consumption of 4.6 liters (combined) does not only impress Greenpeace members.
More engines
Three diesel engines with power from 170 PS to 252 PS are available. And two gasoline with 333 PS (V6 CLS 400) and 408 PS (CLS 500). Above it ranks the CLS 63 AMG. I have already tried to describe its elemental power in the past (Driving report CLS 63 AMG).
More CLS - more conclusion
I can only partially agree with Bernard Shaw. Beauty has never bored me. For me, the CLS and especially the CLS Shooting Brake are still one of the most beautiful cars from Mercedes-Benz. While the first generation turned the car world upside down as a four-door coupé, the CLS Shooting Brake brought another horizon expansion - a combi coupé - unthinkable before.
With the facelift of the current CLS, it continues to gain in character, even if the visual adjustments are only visible to the initiated. However, the 9 automatic transmission and the multi-beam LED light are new virtues for the well-known Schönling.
Photos: Mercedes-Benz / Andreas Lindlahr | Disclosure: Mercedes-Benz has covered the costs of the trip.