Test drive Mercedes Benz CLS class C218 since 2010 sedan

Door reception

More recently, looking at photographs of the new CLS, we reacted quite critically to the concept of a sedan compartment. It seemed that this concept was simply fed to the consumer, blinding his three -beam star. They make you believe what is not. And now this beauty stands under the windows of the editorial office. At dusk, covered with a layer of anti -headed reagents, the car really looks like a compartment. Well, rather on the sink, and then check what the idea of \u200b\u200bMercedes-Benz in the case.
 
I remember that in the photographs CLS made the impression of a car of an unusually stylish, elegant-rush and futuristic one. But in reality, it turned out that all these already complimentary grades should be raised in a square. There is no analogues of this stylized sedan (or vice versa?) In today's automobile world. This thing in itself, CLS with its breathtaking silhouette defeated Moscow on the spot, which, it would seem, no longer surprise. High fashion on wheels, a design masterpiece from a conservative German company.
 
Definitely, CLS is a timely and successful Mercedes -Benz response to competitors from BMW, who have recently been put at the forefront. A clear competitor CLS - compartment of the 6th series. Similar equipment and motors, a lot of electronics and price tags of about one order. However, the similarity ends, because, like the 6th series of BMW, CLS is the embodiment of the proprietary concept of Mercedes-Benz. Here the bet is not made on sports, but on comfort and luxury.
 
The donor for CLS was a modern E -class - the car was built on the platform of this sedan. However, guessing this is sacred, the general structural elements are somewhere deep inside. CLS below a relative for a good five centimeters, a very high window line, doors without a framework and a low landing seem to tell you - this is a real compartment, friend, you can doubt! Indeed, something I do not remember the sedan where my shoulder would be at the level of the windowsill! The gaze back only strengthens this impression: the salon is divided into two parts with a powerful tunnel, starting at the central console. Only two people can sit behind.
 
It would seem that the creators of the car added a compartment for two more doors for a reason. Surely the place behind - as in the sedan, and the landing is comfortable. Indeed, CLS and E -Class have the same wheelbase, and a bespectacled is far from the closest car.
 
However, landing after itself is puzzling. It is not clear where the centimeters went, but in the second row in the CLS there is not much space. If tall people are sitting in front, then the rear passengers will earn their feet in the backs of the seats, and their heads will be in a matter of millimeters from a spectacular rounded roof. The rear door windows resemble loopholes - only the top of the passengers can be seen outside. Like it or not - a compartment, but with a personal entrance for each of the four riders. Not otherwise than to make it more convenient to get out of the car at the door of fashionable nightstands and have fun, looking at what poses are taken by those guys who arrived at 645 Ci. In general, figured out. In fact - a sedan, according to the sensations - a compartment with a pronounced corresponding mood in external design and architecture of the salon.
 
Smart multi -contouring seats with good lateral support are equipped with built -in ventilation and massager and easily allow you to take a convenient pose, the necessary settings are immediately entered into memory. The steering wheel is, of course, in two planes using a small joystick below. The front panel is rich in wood; Her hoes smoothly turn into door trim, as if closing the space. Together with the clamped windows, this creates a very cozy atmosphere inside the car, gives rise to a feeling of peace and security. You sit in a capsule.
 
In the finish, the skin is generously used. It seems that almost every plastic element will be covered with it. There can be no reproaches in the cheapness of materials that are sometimes addressed to an E -class - everything is on the highest category. Round nozzles of the ventilation system create a kind of sports attitude, but the steering wheel is quite ordinary, four -spitz, dotted with numerous keys. In the center of the console - a standard size monitor surrounded by a scattering button. The menu of the multimedia center does not require special computer skills and is already familiar with other brand models. The Bose musical system is unlikely to insult the hearing of even a sophisticated music lover. Devices are read perfectly. In the center is a speedometer with a small window for information reports in real time: fuel consumption, distance traveled, temperature overboard, etc. Everything is at hand. Ergonomics is close to ideal. In order to complain about at least something, we will mention an ashtray that could open with a slightly greater impressiveness ... I must say that you begin to believe in the impeccability of this car almost at first glance.
 
The most modest (if this epithet is applies to us is applied to us) CLS-350th, dark cherry, in our opinion, not the most suitable car for this. The list of installed options included Airmatic DC air suspension, which provides amazing smoothness. It has three operating modes - standard and two sports, and in all three cases the car remains a true Mercedes -Benz, extremely comfortable. It seems that CLS does not rest on the wheels, but on the air pillow. He simply does not notice the majority of irregularities, does not graze even before the misfortune of the winter season - large pits with sharp edges that appear in abundance after the first frosts. All fluctuations go out in the bowels of the chassis.
 
Switching of the suspension to a sporting fret makes the reactions of the machine more clearly, and its character (in Sport II mode, for example) more collected. At the same time - no excessive amazing and unpleasant vertical accelerations. You can calmly give 60-80 km/h on a broken road, while others will be weaving no faster than 50. It seems that this car is nothing. Somehow I do not want to think that the service of this miracle of equipment can fly into a penny. Pneumatics allows you to change the clearance (plus or minus 3 cm), which is very useful in parking.
 
Another plus (or minus - to someone) suspension is a distorted sensation of speed. It seems much lower than real. Or maybe this is a merit of first -class sound insulation? Even in not the best winter weather on slippery coating, you can fly an arrow. It should be noted that the stabilization system proved to be in the best way in difficult conditions. It works unobtrusively - it seems that under the wheels it is not snow porridge, but simply wet asphalt. And only by turning off the ESP for a while, you can understand what colossal volume of work it does. I liked ABS. In the rolled snow and even the ice, CLS slows down confidently, being shod in unsolved rubber. ABS allows a short -term slippage of the wheels without interfering, as often happened in the case of less advanced systems, slow down on slippery coating.
 
But what about the notorious Fun to Drive? Here we evaluated CLS by strict standards of the coupe. As for the dynamic characteristics, they arranged us. Before the test there were some doubts about the agility of a two-ton car equipped with a 3.7-liter six, in practice they scattered to fluff. 270 horsepower is enough for this car. Yes, and the declared time accelerate from a place to 100 km/h - 7 sec. - It seemed quite plausible. Such an achievement of CLS is owed to a large extent the latest seven-speed gearbox 7G-Tronic. A seven -speed automatic - you still have to look for such a thing! It seems that the car is always ready to shoot confidently if you are aimed at an aggressive ride. Brown gear rates and frequent switching is the secret of success. But the driver does not notice the work that boils in the bowels of the transmission, for him this is a regular machine with smooth and quick switching. A smart box, of course, adapts to your driving manner. She is able to slip a few steps at a time (maximum four). And even in manual mode, the machine will insure you - switch up or down on your own, when necessary.
 
The steering with variable effort has a good feedback. The steering wheel is quite sharp - from the stop to the stop only two and a half turn. And managing CLS 350 is very pleasant - clear reactions, minimal rolls. However, some detachment of the driver from the car still takes place. Be that as it may, Mercedes remains Mercedes. CLS cannot offer the sensations that BMW 645 Ci gives. And do the driver of Mercedes-Benz need them? In addition, do not forget about the more energy -armed versions of the car - CLS 500 and CLS 55 AMG. They are probably able to spoil the blood of the Bavarian competitor. However, we will be fair, on a dry, heated asphalt, the impressions of the CLS aerobatics could be different. So we will wait for the summer.
 
Well, in general - take off the hat! A quick, comfortable, spectacular compartment in an ideological interpretation from Mercedes -Benz - we accept this approach and such a feed of a car to the consumer. Of course, the additional two doors are embarrassed. But in some angles they are not visible at all. And under a layer of anti -headed reagents too.
 
Text: Leonty Tyutelev
 
 
 

Source: Magazine Motor