The CLS is based on the underpinnings of the E-class, but there’s not much E-class visible when you cast your eye it. The CLS looks spectacular and is the most arresting design from Mercedes for many years.
Strangely, in an age when so much importance is put on a car’s visual impact as it comes towards you, the CLS is at its weakest when viewed from the front. The regular Merc grille and gaping mouth don’t prepare you for the rest of the car. It’s the swage line cut into the side that does it: running from the wide front wheelarch, it flows in a long arc to the tail. The curve is echoed by the bottom edge of the shallow side windows, whose small dimensions also emphasise the deep body sides. At the rear, the roof and sides flow downwards dramatically to create a long sweeping tail. However, the striking exterior clothes a conventional steel saloon car structure.
The three petrol engines available come from elsewhere in the Mercedes range (a diesel arrives in September). The CLS 500 tested here uses the familiar 4966cc V8 found in a variety of top-end Mercs. Good for 302bhp at 5600rpm and 339lb ft between 2700 and 4250rpm, the engine is mated to a seven-speed automatic gearbox, like the V6. Both variants are fast enough to require fitment of Mercedes’ usual 155mph speed limiter.
Standard on V8 models and optional on the V6 is an air suspension system called Airmatic DC. This features adaptive dampers and rubber bellows filled with compressed air in the struts. The system has three modes that control the suspension from comfort-oriented to sporty. In the firmest setting the body is automatically lowered by 15mm.
The CLS 500 has multi-link suspension all round with speed-sensitive rack-and-pinion steering. The brakes are governed by SBC, which is an electronic system that can pre-emptively prepare the brakes for an emergency stop. It will also dry the discs in heavy rain and stop the car rolling back during hill starts.
