MSRP: $72,400-97,950
Invoice: $67,335-91,095
2010
Mercedes-Benz CLS Class news, pictures, and information
Four-Door Coupe Is a Design Icon
The highly successful
Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class has spurred an
automotive industry trend toward more eye-catching four-door cars – vehicles that blur the line between coupe and sedan. After making its debut only four years ago as the world’s first four-door coupe, the
CLS coupe became an instant style icon.
A handsome, coupe-like car that boasts the comfort and convenience of four doors, the CLS features a high-tension convex curve to its body shape as part of its sleek, sensuous exterior lines. The expressive front end of the CLS is complemented by a dramatic two-lamella grille, and large outside mirrors feature integrated arrow-shaped turn signals. Twin-five-spoke 18-inch wheels emphasize the car’s powerful stance, while a rear bumper with trapezoidal dual exhaust pipes and arrow-shaped LED taillights complete the aggressive look.
Two CLS Models for 2010
For the 2010 model year, the CLS line includes the CLS550, powered by a DOHC four-valve-per-cylinder V8 engine producing 382-horsepower and 391 pound-feet of torque, and the high-performance CLS63 AMG, fitted with an AMG-designed 6.3-liter V8 that makes an astonishing 507 hp and 465 lb.-ft. of torque. All 2010 CLS models come with a new steering wheel covered in premium leather and a new monitoring system that shows individual tire pressures.
The stylish contours of the CLS continue throughout the interior, which is complemented by an abundance of leather and wood. A sporty three-spoke steering wheel frames three chronometer-type gauges and two LCD bar graphs in white with silver backgrounds. Four-zone climate control regulates temperature separately for each front and rear seat. The rear passengers even have their own digital control panel for setting a desired temperature and adjusting airflow.
A large COMAND central display in the console incorporates Bluetooth for hands-free cell phone operation, an in-dash six-disc CD /DVD player and voice control of audio and phone. The color display screen uses one set of easy-to-use controls for the audio system (includes AM/FM/ weatherband and CD), standard HD radioi, SIRIUS-XM satellite radio and optional GPS satellite navigation with SIRIUS-XM real-time traffic data..
A standard harman/kardon Logic 7 digital surround sound system provides a luxurious listening experience. The system converts every conventional stereo signal from the radio and CD / DVD player into surround sound with seven output channels, offering audio perfection for passengers, regardless of where they are sitting. The sound system includes a digital signal processor, has a total output of 510 watts and plays through 12 high-end speakers, including two speakers on the rear parcel shelf that produce the surround effect. The system even adjusts volume automatically to compensate for ambient driving noise. An optional Bang and Olufsen audio system is also available for the CLS63 AMG model.
The CLS offers optional heated and active ventilated seats, an option first introduced in the S-Class. Fans inside each of the front seats draw air from the footwell that flows evenly through the perforated leather upholstery so that seats heated by the summer sun can cool down quickly.
AMG Racing Success Spawns High-Power Production Engine
The Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG is powered by one of the most powerful naturally aspirated production V8s ever, also the first engine developed entirely by AMG. Built almost completely from a high-strength silicon-aluminum alloy, the 6.3-liter features four valves per cylinder, double overhead camshafts with variable valve timing, bucket tappets (rather than rocker arms), an 11.3-to 1 compression ratio and a variable intake manifold. AMG engineers designed the 6.3-liter engine block with an especially rigid bedplate with cast-in steel reinforcements at the main bearing, and a sturdy closed-deck layout beside the cylinder heads.
The cylinder bores feature a twin-wire-arc-sprayed (TWAS) coating, an innovative process that results in impressively low friction and running surfaces that are twice as hard as conventional cast-iron cylinders. Sharing no parts with Mercedes-Benz V8 engines, the 6.3 AMG engine revs freely to over 7,000 rpm, yet already produces nearly 90 percent of its peak torque at only 2,000 rpm.
Power is transmitted to the rear wheels of the CLS63 AMG via a seven-speed AMG Speedshift automatic transmission that can be shifted manually by either a conventional lever or Formula-1 style shift paddles on the AMG sport steering wheel. To give performance-minded drivers total control of shifting, its manual mode doesn’t make any automatic upshifts – even at max engine speed – or automatic downshifts, even under full load. AMG Speedshift provides 35% faster gear shifts and torque converter lockup from 1st gear.
The Super Model Gets a Hot Chassis
AMG engineers developed a sports suspension for the CLS63 AMG that’s based on the Mercedes-Benz Airmatic air suspension. The AMG-tuned Airmatic air suspension includes automatic level control that maintains ride height even when the car is loaded, and the driver can choose from three sport-comfort settings as well. For flatter cornering, the springs, shocks and stabilizer bars are stiffer than on the CLS550.
Speed-sensitive power steering ensures low steering effort for low speed maneuvers such as parallel parking but automatically reduces the steering assist above 60 mph to provide good road feel. To help handle all the power, the ESP system can apply the brakes on just one wheel to transfer torque to the wheels with better traction, achieving much the same effect as a limited-slip differential. Stronger driveshafts, heavy-duty rear suspension parts and a stronger differential housing with cooling fins complete the package.
To make sure the CLS63 AMG stops as fast as it goes, giant vented and perforated disc brakes all around feature 14-inch discs and six-piston calipers up front and 13-inch discs with four-piston calipers at the rear. Staggered 19-inch wheels with 8 ½ and 9 ½ inch widths carry 255 / 35 tires in front and 285 / 30 at the rear.
A 186-MPH Option
The CLS63 AMG can be ordered with an optional Performance Package that allows a 186-mph top speed instead of the usual 155-mph speed limiter. Other features in the package include an AMG track-calibrated Airmatic sport suspension with stiffer spring rates, 19-inch forged alloy wheels, larger front discs (15.4-inch diameter) with two-piece construction, a limited-slip rear differential and a leather / Alcantara-wrapped AMG sport steering wheel.
About AMG
AMG has been a subsidiary of Daimler AG since 1999 and is located near Stuttgart in Affalterbach, Germany. AMG develops each of its models, from the engine and driveline to suspension, brakes, chassis and aerodynamics. The technicians at Mercedes-AMG assemble every engine by hand, ensuring precision tolerances. Individual workmanship and skill are paramount – each technician is responsible for a complete engine, an approach that has been labelled, ‘One Man, One Engine.’ When the job is done, a plaque signed by the technician is affixed to the engine as a symbol of the personal pride and care taken with each engine. Each engine is produced and tested at AMG’s headquarters in Affalterbach, and AMG models are assembled at the main Mercedes-Benz vehicle assembly plants.
Source – Mercedes-Benz
This year Mercedes-Benz is celebrating the one hundredth birthday of the Mercedes three-pointed star and the Benz emblem with an exclusive edition of the flagship CL-Class Coupe. This anniversary model shines with an extensive package of appointments and exquisite details. These include an elegant paint finish from the designo collection, the AMG Sports package, premium leather, black piano lacquer trim and beautifully executed emblems of the original trademarks inset into the center console. These are accurate reproductions of the emblems that Daimler Motorengesellschaft and Benz & Cie registered as trademarks one hundred years ago, forming the basis for the Mercedes star. With this special edition, Mercedes-Benz is adding even more individuality to the luxury coupé, and showing that even the best can still be perfected. Available with standard 4MATIC all-wheel-drive, a limited number of the special ’100 Years of Mercedes-Benz Edition’ model goes on sale in the U.S. during the summer of 2009.
The histories of the Mercedes star and the Benz laurel wreath began independently of each other: on June 24, 1909 Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft officially registered the design of the Mercedes star, and on August 6th Benz & Cie. registered the letters ‘Benz’, enclosed by a laurel wreath, as a trademark with the Imperial Patent Office. The fact that both vehicle makers registered their new trademarks in the summer of 1909 appears in retrospect as a parallel to the year 1886. That was the year when, again independently of each other, Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz invented the automobile. Twenty-three years later the two companies, competitors at the time, created new brand symbols which promptly appeared as a badge and device on their respective vehicles.
On February 18, 1925 – more than a year prior to the merger of Daimler and Benz on June 28, 1926 – the two brands registered the new joint logo: Daimler’s Mercedes star set within Benz’s laurel wreath.
The CL-Class has been acknowledged as a masterpiece of automobile engineering since its inception. It combines the comfort of a prestigious luxury sedan with the athleticism of a sports car, with a captivating design and trailblazing high-tech features. With its exclusive appointments, the special ’100 Years of Mercedes-Benz Edition’ underlines the special status of the CL-Class.
The crowning highlights of the anniversary edition are the historic trademarks dating from 1909 in gilded plate brass, which are inset into the center console. Together with the designo metallic graphite paint finish these accentuate the model’s exquisitely luxurious character. Sporty visual touches are provided by the AMG Sports package with muscular front and rear aprons, side skirts and sports pedals of brushed stainless steel with black rubber studs, plus painted brake callipers with Mercedes-Benz lettering. The anniversary edition also includes high-sheen 20-inch 5 twin-spoke AMG light-alloy wheels painted in titanium grey, which are only available for this special CL-Class model. They are shod with 255/35 R 20 tires.
The interior is fitted with exquisite, partly hand-stitched Sahara Beige premium leather. The high-quality wood/leather steering wheel harmonizes with the interior trim in shining black piano lacquer.
The 382-hp special CL550 4MATIC ’100 Years of Mercedes-Benz Edition’ is equipped with all the new features of model year 2010. These include new exterior mirrors with larger lenses, an eye-catching indicator design in LED technology and improved aerodynamics and an upgraded telematics generation with a further development of COMAND system. An SD card slot in the center console, a USB interface in the glove compartment and a universal Media Interface for connecting mobile audio devices are also included. Finally, all components of the Premium 2 package are included as standard equipment.
