Launch drive: Mercedes-Benz CL

If ever personal aspiration were to manifest, perhaps the Mercedes Benz CL class would qualify as the result. Now in its twelfth year, the model range has come to represent the discerning choice of many buyers thanks to its near perfect balance of performance, luxury and style. Now, for 2011, Mercedes Benz have facelifted the CL, but far more importantly chosen it to debut some radical new and improved engine developments as well as integrated technology components they have been brewing in the AMG and BlueEFFICIENCY labs. Appropriately just days short of Daimler’s 125th anniversary of filing the automobile patent, Mercedes-Benz SA shared with us the fruits of their latest labour.

The new CL-Class range does not look incredibly different from its predecessor, which is not a bad thing at all. Mercedes’ new design theme has already adopted a radically changed, more aggressive and athletic look, which still looks fresh in its current guise. The CL’s shape especially manages to capture the essence of what a coupe should be – long, sleek, classy and bulging with intent in the right places. To this end, Mercedes-Benz insists that the CL is not merely a sedan with two doors lopped off; it is a car built for an entirely different driver and purpose.

On the outside, the 2011 CL sports some redesigned headlamp clusters, LED running lights in the front grille, new bumper covers and modernised taillights. Depending on your chosen CL flavour, the alloy wheels, chrome trim and badging adornments are also revised and present. All variants share the same body panels and all of them,

regardless of trim and wheel choice, look great. However, it’s under the hood where the hard work is evident in the new CL; most notably, the CL500, and the V8 CL63 AMG.

The CL500’s engine, a 4.6-litre V8 churning out 320kW and 700Nm of torque, has made a trip to the BlueEFFICIENCY school of fuel optimisation and now features start-stop technology, high pressure direct injection (with multiple injection and firing events per cycle), energy regenerative braking and an intelligent thermal control setup which dynamically controls the oil pump depending on driving conditions. What these all add up to (besides 35kW and 170Nm more than its 6.0-litre predecessor) is an impressive European Driving Cycle consumption of 9.5-litres/100km, equating to 224g/km while still hurtling from 0 to 100km/h in 4.9 seconds.

This engine, in the CL500, was the first car in the lineup I drove and the figures truly do the car justice. For all the BlueEFFICIENCY additives, there is absolutely no indication that it is a sports coupe which has been compromised for the sake of fuel efficiency, as should be the case with that mountain of torque. The CL500 moves effortlessly off the line (in second gear when in Comfort mode, a further fuel saving measure) and will carry you effortlessly on to its 250km/h limited top speed. However, stand on the loud pedal and brace yourself – downshifts were impressively quick and the kick from the 18-inch rear wheels when doing so howling good fun. The Mercedes-Benz engineers have concentrated on massively widening the available torque spread across the new V8’s rev

range, so all 700Nm seem instantly on tap, making overtaking (and generally being a hooligan) an exhilarating experience.

As expected, the braking setup, with its various ESP, ABS and assorted stability aids, performed as it should on such a car, flinging the horizon back into view when needed. The steering system on the CL range features variable assist, making it softer and less direct at higher speeds (and vice versa), which will appeal to many of its target market but which I found a bit unnerving as it became a bit ‘dead’ when cracking along at a good pace. Everything else performed superbly and the usual clutch of CL luxuries and handling/safety technology (active lane assist, active blind spot assist, and active body leveling for crosswinds and enthusiastic cornering are the latest additions) made my trip a pleasure. Most surprisingly, even after a good bout of my ‘test-condition’ driving, the consumption figure was just 10.9 litres, which is far less than expected. On the way, I tested the CL’s active lane assist, which applies gentle braking and tactile steering feedback should you inadvertently stray out of your lane, as well as blind-spot assist, which warns you via a symbol in the wing mirrors when an approaching vehicle may not be visible.

The interior of the CL500 is a great place to be, this version in black cross-stitched leather with onyx marble-look inlays, complemented by high quality chrome finishes. The 4-portion electric seats with memory function, automatic bolstering through corners and various heating, cooling and massage settings offer plenty of options for driving positions and comfort. Space for the front occupants (usually the coupe’s focus) is ample, although taller rear passengers, while not cramped, may suffer slightly in the legroom department, but the seats are very comfortable and offer excellent support and bolstering. The instrument cluster is Mercedes-Benz’s new digital screen display hooked up to the various infotainment accessories and multifunction steering wheel, which allows for a multitude of messages and information to be shown without looking over to the centre console.

As usual, here is where you find the CL’s information, entertainment and comfort controls, in front of the dual-layer, air-conditioned armrest/binnacle. The silver finish and ‘clicky’ feel of the air conditioner and radio switches was slightly bargain-bin compared to the rest of the ensemble, but did their jobs as expected. All functions are relayed to the large, easily legible COMAND LCD screen, which is easily navigated with the iDrive-style stalk. However, Mercedes-Benz have included a nifty, but awkward, mobile phone unit in the car, mounted just in front of and above the armrest that hovers above, and subsequently obscures, the COMAND stalk a little bit. Considering the car comes with Bluetooth as standard, I’d choose to omit this option entirely, as even matched to the car’s interior trim, it still looks a bit “bolted on” and gets in the way sometimes.

Moving up, the CL600 (and CL65) remain largely unchanged engine-wise; since both continue to use the biturbo V12 layout, their revisions have focused mainly around ECU tweaks. The CL600 continues to use a 5.5-litre mill, with output raised slightly to 380kW and 830Nm of torque from a low 1800r/min, which allows it to propel from zero to 100km/h in 4.6 seconds via a 5-speed auto transmission. Some added efficiency tweaks now make it Euro 5 emissions compliant , although it still asks for around 15.6-litres/km in the combined driving cycle. On the cosmetics side, the CL600 has a unique double-louvre grille, grey Alcantara headliner, chrome accents and V12 badging to distinguish itself from other variants

Another car on the menu shares the CL600’s V12 engine, but only after being locked up in an AMG dungeon for a bit, where it is fed a strict diet of jalapenos and tequila whilst being prodded daily with a big stick. The resulting CL65 AMG delivers 463kW and 1000Nm of torque from its 6.0-litre engine, good for a 4.4 second 100km/h dash

and limited to 310km/h. To put this into perspective, those outputs are more than a Lamborghini Gallardo or Ferrari 458 Italia and have the same power as a 599, but with 400Nm more torque!

The CL65 is an exercise in brutality when it comes from acceleration all the way up to where I got it (270km/h), before running out of road (and bravery), but weighing in at just over two and a half tonnes and with that huge V12 revving away, it feels naturally planted, safe and stable. On the inside, the only difference I noticed was the V12 badging and the SPLITVIEW COMAND display which is an amazing (optional extra in the CL500) screen technology which allows the driver and front passenger to perfectly view and control two different images on the same screen due to their altering angles. It works brilliantly and allowed my passenger to watch a movie (using the DVD player, or read from the 7.2GB built in multimedia hard drive or SD card reader) while I glanced at the GPS marker moving way too rapidly across the maps.

I have to admit, while driving a R2.5 million breathtaking homage to power, sophistication and technology is something I can now tick off my bucketlist, I kept chewing on the feeling that if I were to choose a CL, I’d take the CL500 I’d driven just moments before (with a few options such as SPLITVIEW and AMG wheels) and put the leftover million or so back in the bank. The V12 is phenomenal but the entry level 500 was clearly lighter, more nimble and agile and even sounded as good, since the CL65 has a somewhat muted (but symphonic) exhaust and engine tone. Add to that less than half the fuel thirst, a completely new engine design and almost identical interior features, the entry level CL is not the poor rich man’s choice, it’s the thinking, logical rich man’s choice. Until you climb in the new CL63 and you’re once again tempted to the dark side of the R2M mark…

Mercedes’ flagship engine, this biturbo 5.5-litre V8 with 400kW and 800Nm (add the optional performance pack for 420kW and 900Nm), is absolutely superb – and so it should be. This engine is their latest swan song and is destined for fitment into various future models thanks to its tunability towards their range of SUVs, grand tourers and supercars alike. Mercedes-Benz have committed themselves to a project they term “Performance 2015”, which will reduce its overall fleet emission levels by 30% during 2012 and a further 20% by 2015, while still matching or improving performance levels. If anything is testament to how far engine efficiency has come over the last five years and how far it will go for the next five, this is it.

Being an AMG offspring, all the right chrome trim, badging and large 20-inch alloys are present on the CL63. The exhaust note on this car is epic, aggressively barking at pullaway to 100km/h in 4.5 seconds and howling like Axl Rose with hornets in his leather pants when at full highway tilt, a limited 250km/h. The V8 tachometre flies all the way to 6000r/min in sports mode via the special AMG Speedshift MCT 7-speed transmission, a multiclutch arrangement which drops and upshifts beautifully, each time reminding you of the cacophony of exhaust notes you’re leaving behind. Of course, this will impact the impressive claimed fuel consumption figures of 10.5l/100km and 244g/km.

The CL63 is without doubt a sports car, with extremely responsive power, stiffened suspension components and overall the most aggressive CL package. It is incredibly rewarding to drive fast and enthusiastically where the opportunity arises. Inside the car, various bespoke AMG trim options exist alongside pretty much every option available, but once again, don’t differ greatly from the CL500 in the must-have, non-optional feature stakes.

Overall, the new CL range is incredibly impressive. The V12 engines may however be a getting left behind in the economy race and may be relegated to those buyers who insist on ‘that V12 feeling’. But the showstopper, that new V8 with BlueEFFICIENCY power and efficiency components, overshadows it. It’s going to take something phenomenal to topple the CL63 off the ‘best luxury sports coupe’ list, but if I were spending my money on a CL to drive every day, I would take the CL500. It’s everything anyone could ever want from a car in this segment, with no compromise in expected power, luxury or efficiency. But hey, it’s not my chequebook…

- Kevin Willemse