At the Detroit Motor Show, Mercedes-AMG unveiled their high performance take on the all-new CLS Coupe that recently premiered at last year’s L.A Motor Show. Called the CLS 53 4MATIC, it bridges the divide between the regular non-AMG variants and the top-tier 63-series cars from Affalterbach.
Visually, the CLS 53 doesn’t stray far from the base 4-door coupe, featuring only subtly more aggressive touches to distinguish it from the new Benz model. The most pronounced of which are the polished gunmetal wheels, quad exhausts, and slightly lowered stance.
The most significant change, though, being an AMG, is naturally its powertrain. Here’s marks the start of Mercedes-Benz purging their line-up of their somewhat ageing V6s in favour of their much newer and more sophisticated inline-6 unit - turbocharged and features 48V mild-hybrid tech.
The high voltage electrical architecture is fed by the new engine and its starter-generator, allowing the internal combustion process to be supplemented by an electric compressor that adds some 16kW and 250Nm with zero spool-up time, building up to a smooth transition with larger conventional exhaust-fed turbocharger to boost acceleration at higher RPMs.
Displacing 3.0-litres, the new engine is quoted as having a combined system output of 320kW and 520Nm, enabling the four-door coupe to reach 100km/h from rest in an impressive 4.5 seconds and up to a top speed of 270km/h (de-limited).
Mated to it is a mainstay of the Mercedes-Benz technical roster: their 9G-Tronic 9-speed automatic transmission. While it historically is not among the quickest of auto boxes out there, AMG has added some trick calibration work to have it perform more seamlessly with the new engine and mild-hybrid system as well as to execute faster shifts should the appropriate drive mode be selected.
Naturally, the interior has been lavished with AMG specific touches. There’s unique upholstery for the sportier part-leather/Alcantara seats, plenty of red highlights, and a smattering of either polished carbon fibre or silver glass fibre for the various trim inserts. Just like the standard CLS, the dashboard is dominated by the mega-wide screen (two 12.3-inch panels laid next to each other) that pulls double duty as the infotainment display and digital instrument cluster, but with some AMG-specific UI tweaks.
For more on Mercedes-AMG cars, check out our Showroom.
