The first Mercedes-Benz CLS was met with a highly enthusiastic response from consumers. Its unique combination of sportiness and refined power, wrapped up in a svelte four-seater configuration set the bench mark, once again, for a Mercedes-Benz. A mark that BMW and Audi have been trying to catch up to with their 5-Series GT and A5 Sportback and A7, respectively.

How the CLS came about is that Mercedes-Benz announced some ten years ago that they wanted to make a premium car for every single buyer in the world. If you’re on a budget and want a small plastic car you can park front-on to the curb, they have the smart car for you. If you’re in the G8 and looking for something dripping with technology, an S-Class will do the job. If you want a coupe you have loads of Mercedes Benz’s to choose from. Seven in fact: The CLC, the C-Class Coupe, the SLK, the E-Class coupe, the SL, the CL, and the SLS of course. Aha, but the Germans sniffed out a gap even here. A coupe with the power of an atom bomb and two extra doors, so your G8 leader friends can come along for the ride as well… let’s just make the doors pillarless and, voila. Mercedes-Benz CLS was born.

It turned out to be such a phenomenon that one third of the buyers were ‘conquest’ buyers. No, that’s got nothing to do with the Corolla, it means they were snaffled from the clutches of those other two German companies. Mercedes-Benz believes with this new CLS they will conquest even more customers, and the majority of current CLS owners will upgrade to the new one as well. They kind of have to now, don’t they? The new one makes the old one look ever so slightly fossilised.

What Mercedes-Benz wanted to achieve was make the new CLS a more rational, as well as more emotional buying prospect. So they’ve widened it by 23 mm in the front and 30 mm in the rear, to make it more practical. The doors are now all lightweight aluminium to make the car lighter and sportier. There are 11 assistance systems helping you as you drive along. The new sculpted nose produces less drag, just 0.26 Cd. It now comes with nine, yes, count them, nine airbags. They found a way to fit two extra pelvis airbags. I don’t know where they are or what they do, but rest assured that your pelvis is now safer in a CLS.

New on-board technology includes an engine stop/start system fitted to all three models; this improves consumption by 8%. An active parking system that can parallel park the CLS by itself, new LED headlamps, and a new electro-mechanical ‘direct steering’ system that’s supposed to make the steering more direct, when it in fact does the exact opposite. In slow, urban driving it’s so light it feels like the steering rack is totally broken.

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he CLS 350 makes 225 kW and 370 Nm and will get you to 100 km/h in 6.1 seconds while only producing 159 g/km CO2 and consuming 6.8 L/100km. Seriously commendable figures for a normally aspirated 3.5-litre V6. This will set you back R793 000 at a starting price. We drove this vehicle first on the launch and were impressed with its effortless, planted handling that made it feel very nimble, even though it could have done with a bit more torque.

The jump up to the CLS 500 is rather substantial from there on: 300 kW and 600 Nm from its 4.6-litre, bi-turbo V8 with direct, piezo injectors: 0 – 100 km/h in 5.2 seconds, 210 g/km CO2 and fuel consumption of 9.0 L/100km, with prices starting at R996 000. By all intents and purposes these figures should qualify it as the CLS AMG model. But oh, no… brace yourself.

The R1 319 500, Mercedes-Benz CLS 63 AMG makes 386 kW & 700 Nm from its 5.5-litre bi-turbo V8, 0 – 100 km/h blitzes past in 4.4 seconds and you’ll be producing 231 g/km CO2 as you consume 9.9 L/100km. Yeah, right. We saw 17.8 L/100km on the trip computer when we returned the keys and believe me, there was a lot of steady motorway driving thrown into that figure. Rather bizarrely, buying the top dog AMG doesn’t even give you the full array of Mercedes madness at that price. For that you need to dip even deeper into the savings.

The AMG Performance Pack (not to be confused with the AMG Sports Pack, which is purely aesthetic) will set you back R82 000 and gives you an extra 24 kW and 100 Nm. But what’s the point of 100 Nm extra when you’re still limited to 250 km/h? Ah, Mercedes-Benz can sell you a ‘V-Max’ package that derestricts your AMG and gives a top speed of 300 km/h. For that privilege you must part with R24 000. To a mortal like me that sounds like a bit of a rip off, but Mercedes Benz say 90% of AMG model buyers have ticked the boxes on these two options. Why not I suppose… there’s no point invading France and only getting as far as Nice and not Paris, before turning back.

CLS models come with the 7G-Tronic automatic transmission, but the AMG gets a 7-speed ‘Speed Shift MCT’ transmission. This must have a huge struggle dealing with the hurricane under the bonnet, because it’s far from brilliant at changing gear. My stint in the CLS 63 AMG was something akin to watching an old Chinese kung-fu movie where the sound and the video had become out of sync. You bury your foot on the throttle and the car explodes forward on a cascade of noise (And that bi-turbo V8 does sound better than ever in the CLS), and as you snatch a gear change on the paddle, nothing happens, then a second later, way after the punch should’ve landed, the gears swap and you’re kicked in the kidneys again. Be in no doubt that the CLS 63 AMG is monstrously fast, but that slow shift action takes you out of the zone, makes you back off the pace. You feel it too, changing down, as you prepare the car into a corner. It could be faster, but then again the gearboxes have always been the Achilles heel of hugely powerful Mercedes-Benz AMG’s. This one is better, but by no means perfect.

However, I fear I may have become a little distracted by the AMG badging on the CLS 63 AMG. You see, having AMG badging on the Mercedes-Benz you’re driving is a bit like a movie with an R18 SNLV rating. You kind of totally change your perception of the movie before its even started and brace yourself for no holds barred blood, guts and pornography… totally forgetting to follow the plotline. It’s easy to fall into the same trap with an AMG Mercedes-Benz, and Mercedes-Benz is guilty of getting carried away by it too, mind you.

What Mercedes-Benz wanted to make in the CLS is a four door sedan with sporting, high speed refinement, something I’d like to imagine travelling 1st class on the Concorde may have been like. And to that end, one has to say, the CLS totally pulls it off.

Prices include a 2-year/ unlimited km warranty and 60 000km maintenance plan.

It will still be a while before you can get up, close and personal with the second generation of the Mercedes-Benz CLS, but thanks to a gallery of official photos that hit the web, there’s nothing left to show but the press release.

The new Mercedes CLS, previewed by the German carmaker’s Shooting Break Concept shown earlier this year, is more of an evolution of the current model than a completely new take on the four-door sports saloon theme.

Set to have its world premiere at the Paris Motor Show at the end of September, the new CLS will be offered with a variety of new engines including the company’s new 3.5-litre V6 producing 225 kW and 4.7-litre bi-turbocharged V8 with 315 kW.

The lineup will also include diesel options (depending on the market) while the range will be crowned with an AMG version powered by Mercedes new 5.5-litre twin-turbo V8 making at least 394 kW.

The 2011 CLS will be a direct rival for the all-new Audi A7 Sportback, Porsche Panamera, Maserati Quattroporte and in the very near future, for BMW’s Gran Coupe sports sedan also.

Adapted from CarScoop

The new CLS has been caught in front of more than one camera. The stunning four-door, four-seat coupe was snapped by spies at a photo shoot, where official photographers were taking pictures for press material surrounding the new car’s launch.

As you can see from the pictures, the CLS features a much more angular, aggressive nose than the car it replaces. The new face is even more sharply contoured than the Concept Shooting Break Mercedes debuted at the Beijing Motor Show earlier this year.

We can also see that the creased shoulder line, (which runs from the top of the front wheelarch backwards) and the dramatically flared rear wheel arches (which look similar to those of the Bentley Continental GT), have all made production.

The rear lights and trapezoidal exhausts also stand out, giving the rear of the car a more obviously sculpted appearance than the previous generation CLS.

This particular model is the CLS 350 CGI, equipped with the firm’s V-Generation 3,5-litre engine that produces 225 kW and 370 N.m of torque. It features Mercedes’ fuel-saving BlueEfficiency technology and is the engine that featured in the Shooting Break concept.

More details and the full official set of pictures will be made available ahead of the car’s debut at this October’s Paris Motor Show.

Adapted from AutoExpress

As BMW and Audi continue to offer more exciting niche models, such as the 5-Series Gran Turismo and A7, Mercedes-Benz is also said to be readying a shooting brake version of its next-generation CLS.

With coupe-styled looks and hatchback practicality, the shooting brake design offers more utility over the CLS sedan, a new variant of which is due for release later this year. The CLS shooting brake, expected to follow in early 2012, will not be a full station wagon or a true two-door shooting brake, but will instead offer four doors like the Mercedes-Benz’s 2008 Fascination Concept car (pictured).

Like its German rivals, Mercedes-Benz say the new vehicle is another way it plans to explore niche markets and attract younger buyers to the brand. The CLS will be powered by a similar range of diesel and petrol engines as those found in the current C-Class range. The new CLS shooting brake is expected to make its debut appearance at next month’s Beijing Motor Show.

Via CarAdvice

As it comes from the factory, the Mercedes-Benz CLS55 AMG leaves little to be desired. Aside from its revolutionary four door coupe like design and powerful hand built V8 under the hood, the AMG tuned CLS allows you to tackle every curve and blast down long stretches of open highway while bringing three of your closest friends along for the ride.

AMG’s design team does an excellent job making the CLS a proven performance machine, but as is often the case with aftermarket tuners, in this case MEC Design, there is no such thing as good enough.

So MEC started out by giving the CLS a new set of shoes in the form of MECxtreme III Edition alloys measuring 20 inches in diameter. Getting the stance just right, MEC incorporated an adjustable Electronic Lowering module that can raise the chassis over rough terrain and then slam it all the way down to the ground when you arrive at your destination.

At the rear MEC installed one of their sport tuned quad-tipped stainless-steel exhaust systems to add both a bit of style and sporting sound to the CLS. On the inside the driver grabs hold of a custom carbon fibre and leather wrapped steering wheel designed by MEC, to go along with the carbon trim kit that dresses up the rest of the interior.

Even though the Mercedes-Benz CLS55 AMG didn’t need any help from the aftermarket, owners should be glad that MEC gave it a shot anyway.

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Adapted from TopSpeed

A6? S8? No, this is the new Audi A7, a hatchback version of the next-generation A6 and Ingolstadt’s answer to the Mercedes CLS. Caught on test ahead of its 2010 debut, the new A7 will carry a price premium over its saloon sibling, and be marketed as a posher, sleeker A6, in much the same way that the A5 Sportback is positioned slightly above the A4 saloon.

The question is, does Audi really need an A6, A7, and A8? Apparently so, but don’t mock them: Mercedes has the E-class, CLS and S-class and no one complains about its bulging model range. So while the A4 and A6 are more mass-market, mainstream saloons, the A5 Sportback and A7 are designed to offer sexier (and less practical) alternatives; the A7 will be available with four seats, and a fifth may not even be offered as an option.

The A6 and A7 share their steel-reinforced aluminium platforms, and it’s the A7 that will arrive first – an unveiling is scheduled for mid-2010, with the new A6 saloon to follow in early 2011.

High-end models will come first with standard air suspension and there’ll be a choice of petrols (2.8 V6 FSI, supercharged 3.0 V6, 4.2 V8) and diesels (2.7 V6, 3.0 V6 with one or two turbos), mated to manual, automatic or dual-clutch gearboxes.

A hybrid version will reportedly follow in 2011, using the same electric motor and Sanyo battery pack that will appear on the Q5 hybrid next year. An S7 model is also on the cards, we may get an RS7, but there won’t be any four-cylinder variants unless Audi can hit its sales target of selling 40 000 A7′s per year.

Expect both the interior and exterior styling to mimic the Sportback concept that was unveiled at the 2009 Detroit auto show, the latest tech lifted from the new A8, and a £2 000 premium over the A6 when UK sales start towards the end of 2010. The A7 should be unveiled late next summer, and first appear at the Paris motor show, though there may be a surprise unveiling at the Moscow show.

Adapted from Car