Mercedes-Benz CLS 2015

Can you believe the world’s first “four-door coupé” is ten years old? In times when dozens of cars are released every year, not to mention those only retouched, it has become each time harder to keep track of the market progress of any particular one. Nevertheless, since it will always be easy for buyers to be attracted to truly good products, there is no wonder how CLS managed to spend these years not only defending itself from posterior rivals as also prospering enough as to keep presenting the best of what Mercedes-Benz has to offer.

If you have always thought of facelifts as opportunities of altering a vehicle, this is one of the examples capable of proving you wrong. Deeper changes are usually applied for two different reasons, although it is not rare to see them together: one is to make an aging model attractive again, which is very useful in categories with too many competitors, and the other is to attempt correcting any important mistakes made during the car’s previous phase. But both of these are much more related to cheaper vehicles. When it comes to the luxury market, the involved variables are different, and so are the ways of dealing with them. Most upscale automakers dedicate huge efforts towards the image of their models, and this ends making everything different.

Even though press texts are often too optimistic, Mercedes-Benz is not lying at all when saying “Both the CLS Coupé and the CLS Shooting Brake have long since established themselves as style icons”. The first one founded what became a full-size automobile category and the second managed to ressurrect another one, which are not small. So the only way to perform tasks like these with success is to take care of the aforementioned image. And the most efficient way to perform this latter task is to avoid those deeper changes. The goal here is to perfection the car, rather than altering it. And if you started to wonder how many ways are there for this, it would not be a surprise if the answer tends to infinity.

Nevertheless, Mercedes is one of the automakers which have managed to execute each time more of those, and the refreshed CLS is a great example of that. The exterior styling was adapted to the automaker’s newest design language, which meant adopting elements like the typical “diamond” front grille and agressive side creases. The lights became darker at the rear, and received new LED lamps at the front as standard, just like those of E-Class. The cabin, in turn, presents new color options, a new 8” screen for the infotainment central (although its rotary knob still does not use C and S-Class’s touchpad) and more equipments and functions, like Multibeam: the front lamps adjust themselves to provide extra light on the road sides and to avoid dazzling oncoming drivers.

There are also some powertrain news. 7G-Tronic was replaced by a regular automatic gearbox, not an automated one, which features nine speeds and is called 9G-Tronic. Speaking of engines, two options were added: CLS 220 BlueTEC uses a twin-turbo 2.1L good for 170 hp of power and 40.8 kgfm of torque, whereas CLS 400 features a twin-turbo 3.5L V6 capable of 333 hp and 49 kgfm. The first one increases a diesel range which already offered 250 (204 hp and 51 kgfm) and 350 (258 hp and 63.2 kgfm), while the other belongs to the gasoline-burner team; this one is also composed by CLS 500, good for 408 hp and 61.2 kgfm. Besides, the 4Matic system will appear in more trim levels this time. The new CLS is expected to hit the streets next September.

CLS 63 AMG (10/07/2014)

Both four-door coupé and shooting brake received the facelift for their entire lineup at once. This means you are already able to start dreaming with their AMG variation, too. Their exclusive aerodynamic package brings much bigger lower air intakes, which try to look as if they were only one. Besides, the upper grille was redesigned, the rear bumper presents a pair of double exhaust pipes and the black-painted exclusive wheels look more agressive. The interior uses an exclusive black-and-chrome scheme combined to two different logos of the AMG division: the bigger one makes a three-dimensional appearance at the front headrests. However, as beautiful as these cars might be, everyone knows design does not take the entire attention here.

Under the hood lies an also renewed 5.5L twin-turbo engine, which, according to Mercedes-Benz, “ranks among the world's most efficient series-production eight-cylinder engines when it comes to peak output, torque and fuel consumption”. If you want more tangible data, try with the respective 557 hp, 73.5 kgfm and 10 kpl, the latter following the NEDC cycle. And if those still don’t look AMG enough for you, it’s always possible to take the S-Model variation: the same powertrain is paired to 4Matic and more tweaks, in order to reach 585 hp, 81.6 kgfm and 9.4 kpl. Besides, the first emits 231 g/100 km of CO₂ and the other 243. CLS 63 AMG is expected to arrive in United Kingdom starting at £ 86,000.