It’s just so sleek.
German carmaker Mercedes-Benz has announced that its sleek & stylish CLS four-dour coupe has finally arrived on our shores, and is perhaps the best way to spend as much as $180k on fast, beautiful transport for yourself and 3-4 others. It’ll arrive in Australia first as a CLS450 4Matic, though a more affordable CLS350 and powerful CLS53 AMG 4Matic+ will be arriving in due course.
The range kicks off with the CLS350, the only rear-driven model of the trio. With a 2.0-litre biturbo 4-pot under the bonnet knocking out 220kW and 400Nm, the CLS350 also has an additional 150Nm on tap (at full throttle) thanks to the EQ Boost mild-hybrid system that is sandwiched in the 9-speed automatic gearbox.
Thankfully for the $136,900 asking price, the ‘entry-level’ CLS350 is anything but entry-level. You get things like air-suspension as standard, along with dual 12.3-inch LCD screens up front taking care of both instrumentation & infotainment duties. You also get things like Apple & Android smartphone mirroring, a 13-speaker high-fidelity audio system, DAB+ digital radio, LED ambient lighting, and heated memory seats.
You also get a bevy of advanced driver assistance systems all as standard. There’s AEB, blind spot monitoring, lane-keep assist, driver drowsiness monitoring, adaptive cruise control, and a 360º view camera. Those keen to bling-up their CLS can opt for the Edition 1 pack for $7.9k, that adds on 20-inch alloys in black, a ‘diamond’ grille, blacked-out exterior trim pieces, and even an IWC Schaffhausen clock on the dash.
Step up to the CLS40 4Matic for $155,529 and you get, for starters, a much brawnier engine. You’ll find lurking beneath the hood of a 450 a 3.0-litre inline-6 petrol mill, making a whopping 270kW and 500Nm, though the EQ Boost electric starter motor will provide an additional 250Nm when absolutely needed. Power goes through a 9-speed auto still, but it gets channelled to all-four wheels.
You also gain things like a sports exhaust (we approve), tow-away protection, a larger 80L fuel tank, massaging seats, and an improved LED interior ambient lighting package. You also get something called ‘Energising Comfort Control’ which, in short, uses the climate control, the LED ambient lighting, and the massaging seats together to give you an ‘energising’ experience when you’re en route.
But if you get ‘energised’ in a car by having fun with it, then you’ll have to fork out $179,529 for the pleasure of bringing home an AMG CLS53 4Matic+. This car makes available 320kW of power and 520Nm of twist, with 250Nm extra torque on tap thanks to the EQ Boost electric starter motor. A nine-speed automatic still does transmission duties, but the 4Matic+ system does a better job of moving torque around between all-four wheels, though it does try and mimic a rear-drive bias whenever driving conditions are ideal.
Between the AMG and vanilla models, there are number of unique exterior features. There’s an AMG performance exhaust that really sounds the business, while the car runs on 20-inch alloys. Inside, there are things like AMG seats and a sports steering wheel among other items, though all in all it goes a long way to make you feel rather special.
At present, the sole CLS variant in showrooms is the CLS450 4Matic, but the cheaper CLS350 and the manic CLS53 AMG will arrive in Q4 2019.
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