2019 Mercedes-Benz CLS-class: Pretty Again, and Powered by an Inline-Six
It was the introduction of the first Mercedes-Benz CLS-class 13 years ago that vaulted the term “four-door coupe” into our collective vocabulary, for better or worse. That car’s arcing roof and shoulder line gave it the appearance of an elegant, four-wheeled airfoil, albeit one slightly melted at each end. Then the second-generation car arrived for 2012 with a similar roofline but a brutalist, squared-off rear that couldn’t match the original car’s delicate aesthetic flow. Now the third-generation CLS-class has arrived. It has the now-signature arced roof, regains a prettier tail, and . . . has a brutalist front end that looks angry about something.
We’re not sure why Mercedes keeps playing hot potato with styling experimentation from one end of the CLS to the other, but at least this latest model once again can stop onlookers in their tracks. There is a hammerhead shark swimming through the front-end design, with the headlights canted inward and bluntly framing the low, wide grille. The effect is not unlike that of Mercedes-AMG’s GT sports car, though here the grille leans forward more aggressively. The car’s tail has been lifted and smoothed, and is garnished by jaunty trapezoidal taillights.
As before, the swoopy four-door is based on the mainstream E-class sedan. The two share their 115.7-inch wheelbase, but the CLS is lower, wider, and longer. Where the 2019 CLS breaks new ground is in its adventurously sculpted interior and the all-new inline-six engine that, at least for now, isn’t shared with the E-class just yet. Oh, and it’s also a hybrid.
Get Inline
The powertrain consists of Mercedes-Benz’s new turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six, a 48-volt electrical system, and an electric motor sandwiched between the engine and transmission. These components combine to produce 362 horsepower and 364 lb-ft of torque, though the electric motor can pile on an additional 21 horses and 184 lb-ft during brief “boost” periods. The electric motor also is capable of powering the CLS alone—in short spurts—and it enables engine stop-start capability. Overall, it’s quite a change from the previous model’s all-V-8 lineup.
This represents the American market’s first brush with the hybridized inline-six, a setup that is expected to proliferate throughout Mercedes-Benz’s lineup and replace the twin-turbocharged V-6 engines available in everything from the C-class up to the S-class. For the CLS, the engine earns the 450 badge; non-AMG CLS models are thus christened with the CLS450 label. Buyers can choose between rear-wheel drive or 4Matic all-wheel drive, and every CLS450 will have a nine-speed automatic transmission.
A more powerful, range-topping AMG version of the CLS is anticipated to debut at the 2018 Detroit auto show in January. Dubbed CLS53, it will be powered by an enhanced version of the new inline-six hybrid powertrain making around 430 horsepower. If you want a sleek four-door with eight cylinders, you’ll need to wait for Mercedes-AMG’s four-door GT.
Ambient Coup
Inside, the CLS diverges gently from the E-class on which it is based. The dashboard undulates expressively around the center stack and features a two-tiered layout. On the lower half sit four central air vents, while the top half houses a 12.3-inch central display shared with the E-class as well as two larger outboard air vents. Those air-delivery binnacles sport turbine-like vanes—the E-class’s pieces have more traditional horizontal slats—and are visually amplified by their linkage to the CLS’s interior ambient lighting. At night, in addition to the usual backlit interior bits such as the door panels, the curvature of the dashboard, and the center console area, the air vents’ circumferences light up in whichever of the system’s 64 colors you’ve chosen.
The options list includes the same 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster offered on the E-class as well as a head-up display, wireless phone charging, two separate Burmester audio systems, tri-zone automatic climate control, massaging seats, an air-spring suspension, and an electric trunk actuator. The same bundle of active-safety features—adaptive cruise control, self-steering lane-keeping assist, blind-spot monitoring, and more—introduced in the latest E-class (and updated and enhanced for the 2018 S-class) is available, too.
Standard equipment is generous, as it should be given that the starting price is likely to land in the upper $70K range. (The 2017 CLS starts at $75,845—versus $53,945 for a four-cylinder 2018 E300, or $72,595 for a turbo-six-cylinder Mercedes-AMG E43.) Leather seats, those illuminated air vents, the E-class’s touch-sensitive steering-wheel-mounted infotainment control pads, navigation, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a proximity key with push-button ignition, 19-inch wheels, and full-LED exterior lighting are included. Excited early customers can opt for an Edition 1 model that includes black-painted thin-spoke wheels, a diamond-pattern grille, a black leather interior with copper-colored stitching and trim accents, special floor mats, and an IWC analog dashboard clock.
Of greater value is the modicum of practicality that Mercedes added to its vanity vixen: a third seat between the outboard rear chairs (making the CLS a five-seater, just like BMW’s similar 6-series Gran Coupe) and a rear seat backrest divided into 40/20/40 split-folding sections. We’ve sat in the back of the new CLS, and while the low roof still presents more of a challenge to ingress and egress than does the E-class’s upright greenhouse, the aft quarters are more spacious than before. So it has the looks, it has the tech, and now it has a bit more usefulness. The 2019 CLS450 makes a great first impression—and, let’s face it, first impressions are what this car is all about.
