Mercedes-Benz CLS Spearheads Industry Design Trend

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 as the world's first four-door coupe, the CLS coupe became an instant style icon.

Two CLS Models for 2011

For the 2011 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. The 2011 CLS550 now comes with standard sport styling, which includes AMG wheels, lower door sills and deeper aprons at the front and rear.

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 sensuous exterior lines. The expressive front end of the CLS is complemented by a two-lamella grille and contoured outside mirrors incorporating arrow-shaped turn signals.

Eye-catching 18-inch wheels emphasize the car's powerful stance, while a rear bumper with trapezoidal dual chrome exhaust pipes and arrow-shaped LED taillights complete the aggressive look.

The stylish contours of the CLS continue throughout the interior, which is complemented by an abundance of leather and wood. A sport steering wheel covered in premium leather frames three chronometer-type gauges and two LCD bar graphs in white with silver backgrounds. A monitoring system shows individual tire pressures. Four-zone climate control regulates temperature separately for each front and rear seat, with a separate digital control panel in the rear for setting the 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 radio, GPS navigation and SIRIUS satellite radio with 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 AMG high-performance audio system is also available for the CLS63 AMG model.

The CLS offers optional heated and active ventilated seats, an feature 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.

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 other 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.

AMG Speedshift

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 more control, 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 percent 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 standard Mercedes-Benz AIRMATIC air suspension. The AMG-tuned AIRMATIC 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 air 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 components 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 14.2-inch discs and six-piston calipers up front and 13.0-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 AMG 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.