2010 Mercedes-Benz CL-Class Review

High performance, sybaritic luxury coupe.

Introduction

Dating back to the early 1950s, the Mercedes-Benz CL is and always has been an expensive and exclusive coupe. The CL-Class has evolved significantly with the times, but the fundamental mission of these coupes remains the same: High-performance and maximum luxury in a gloriously stylish package. These are cars in which aesthetics purposely trump practicality.

Pounding the point home is the CL's hardtop design: As with all of its predecessors since 1958, there is no central B-pillar aft of the doors to break the sleek lines of the body. With the windows down, the look is sexy and the view out is panoramic, recalling cars of the Fifties and Sixties when hardtops were in vogue.

Where the current CL breaks most from tradition is in its sheer excess. Pricey and pretty as they were, the big Mercedes coupes of the Fifties, Sixties, and even Seventies were compact compared to contemporary U.S. cars, and were powered by relatively small-displacement engines. The current CL-Class qualifies as truly massive, in size, weight, and horsepower.

The 2010 Mercedes-Benz CL-Class carries over largely unchanged. The most significant change for 2010 is the option of Splitview, wherein the central dashboard screen can convey one full-size image to the driver and another, different image to the passenger simultaneously. Also new for 2010 CL-Class are integrated Bluetooth, HD radio, USB and SD card slots, 4GB music storage, voice-recognition of complete words, Zagat guide in the navigation, larger outside mirrors and upgraded ambient lighting.

The Mercedes-Benz CL550 4MATIC features a powerful 382-horsepower 5.5-liter V8. The Mercedes CL600 packs an insanely powerful 510-hp twin turbocharged 5.5-liter V12 with 612 pound-feet of torque (220 more than the CL550). There are also two AMG versions: The ridiculously powerful CL63 with its 518-hp 6.2-liter V8, and the preposterously powerful CL65 with its 604-hp (738 lb-ft) 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12. We're running out of superlatives to describe the performance of these engines.

Like its predecessors, the current Mercedes CL manages to be sporty without being a true sports car. Securing the right exterior proportions meant making the CL shorter than the S-Class, upon which it is based. This results in a close-coupled, intimate interior, the kind historically associated with coupes from time immemorial. We'd call the rear passenger area cramped for adults, though similar luxury 2+2 coupes (Aston Martin DB9, BMW M6, Bentley Continental, Ferrari 612) actually have less room. The CL is for being seen in or bringing petite friends. If you want practicality in a big Mercedes, buy an S-Class sedan.

In the front seats, the CL is a car that is as wonderful to be in as to be seen in. Its interior is sumptuous and inviting, dressed in the finest materials and tailored to perfection. Burled walnut, supple leather, brushed aluminum and designer-quality knobs and switches are everywhere you look and touch. The standard equipment list bulges with luxury items no one actually needs but almost anyone would love to have, from a harman/kardon 600-watt, 11-speaker audio system to soft ambient mood lighting. Through the Mercedes COMAND central computer interface, many dozens of settings for seats, climate, sound, lighting, navigation and much more can be customized to your personal preferences.

The CL offers a breathtaking array of safety technology as standard equipment: Nine airbags, dynamic stability control, traction control, anti-lock brakes, automatic brake drying, seatbelt pre-tensioners, and automatic window closers, to name a few items.

In short, the CL is ultra-luxurious, sexy, technologically advanced and very stylish with excellent all-around driving capabilities. With its occasional rear seating for two, it's roomier than a sports car but tighter than a sedan. We think the CL will be extremely appealing to a relative few drivers who fall in love with it and can afford the luxury of choosing stylish lines over day-to-day practicality.

Lineup

The 2010 Mercedes-Benz CL-Class consists of four models: The CL550 4MATIC ($110,400) has a 382-horsepower 5.5-liter V8. The CL600 ($154,400) packs a 510-horsepower twin-turbocharged 5.5-liter V12. The CL63 AMG ($145,200) has a 6.2-liter V8 that develops 518 horsepower. And the CL65 AMG ($207,970) has 604 horsepower and a stupendous 738 pound-feet of torque from a 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12. All are subject to the federally imposed Gas Guzzler Tax, ranging $1,300 to $3,000.

Standard CL equipment is comprehensive. The seats, doors and instrument panel are all leather covered, and burled walnut wood trim is used liberally. The front seats are 14-way adjustable and heated, and have a three-setting memory capability that also sets the electrically telescoping-and-tilting steering wheel and side mirrors. The audio system is a harman/kardon Logic7 surround sound with 11 speakers and a six-disc in-dash changer, memory card slot and auxiliary inputs. Sirius satellite radio is standard. There's a power sunroof overhead and a power rear-window sunblind in the rear parcel shelf. Doors have power assist closing mechanisms, and the trunk-lid is electrically powered. The Mercedes COMAND system, a centralized computer interface with a dash-mounted flat panel screen, is also standard. It enables access to many of the car's accessories including navigation, phone, climate controls, and other customizable features (exterior courtesy lights, seat settings and voice command setup). Bi-Xenon headlights are standard, too, as is Parktronic, a distance sensing parking aid hidden behind the bumpers.

The CL550 4MATIC Premium 2 Package ($3,430) includes heated and ventilated front seats, a keyless entry system, multi-adjustable front seats fitted with pneumatic chambers that adjust cushion firmness and lumbar support, a night vision system with an in-dash screen, and a rear backup camera. Options include a heated steering wheel ($480), Splitview ($700), Diamond White metallic paint ($795), illuminated door sills ($700). A Sport Package adds special aerodynamic pieces and larger, and 19-inch wheels ($5,800) or 20-inch wheels ($6,550). Or choose 19-inch ($1,250) or 20-inch ($2,000) wheels by themselves. The Distronic Plus dual-radar system ($2,850) provides active cruise control, blind spot assist, and parking guidance.

The CL600 includes virtually everything as standard equipment, including Active Body Control suspension and Distronic Plus. Only the 19 or 20-inch wheels, Diamond White paint, illuminated door sills, Splitview and some dealer accessories are optional.

The CL63 AMG adds distinct bodywork and higher-performance brakes, suspension, wheels and tires along with its hand-made V8. Options include the Distronic Plus package, Premium 2 package ($2,160), Diamond White paint, Splitview, and an AMG Performance package ($7,180) that raises the top speed limiter from 155 to 186 mph and adds forged twin-spoke wheels.

CL65 AMG models are fully equipped, with only Splitview and Diamond White paint as extra.

Designo features, lavish finishes and colors are available to personalize the cars to taste.

Safety features on all CL models include a pair of two-stage front airbags, a driver's-side knee airbag, two front side airbags, two rear side airbags, and side head-curtain airbags for front and rear passengers. There are seatbelt pre-tensioners for the front passengers' belts. Windows and sunroof close automatically if the car detects an impending collision. Also standard: ABS with electronic brake-force distribution and automatic wet-weather drying, dynamic stability control, traction control, and Distronic cruise control. Optional safety equipment includes Distronic Plus distance-sensing cruise control with Parking Guidance and Blind Spot Assist.

Walkaround

There are high expectations for cars in the CL's rarefied league, which consists of a very few automobiles and includes the BMW 6 Series and Bentley Continental GT. Ultra-luxury coupes are a statement of style and panache, capability and quality, and they ought to look as expensive as they are. Mercedes has been making range-topping coupes for many years, and it knows the game. The CL's styling does not disappoint.

From nose to tail, the CL is something out of the ordinary. Seen from the front, it's instantly identifiable as a Mercedes-Benz from its three-slat grille, long a staple of Benz sport models and SUVs. The famous three pointed star emblem is front and center and as large as a dinner plate, just to be sure you don't mistake the CL for any other brand. As if you could.

At 200 inches long, this is a large car, and its size gives it presence. It has substantial mass too, though the front fenders, hood and door skins are aluminum and the trunk-lid is composite.

The front end stretches wide and sweeps back into a pair of prominent flared front wheel openings, a design element derived from the S-Class sedans with which the CL shares its underpinnings. Its 73.7-inch width makes it look solidly planted and substantial. There's surprisingly little chrome up front in typical Mercedes understatement. But it's still a knockout first impression. Projector beam headlights and hidden radar and parking sensors add the final bit of modernity to the nose.

It's the sweep of the roof that makes the CL's compelling style statement. The top arcs dramatically over the side glass and down into the C-pillar without the interruption of a B-pillar, the central support post most cars have between front and rear side windows. The roofline is sleek. And this is a true hardtop; you can drop the large side windows down for a panoramic view and an open-air feeling. Handsomely wrought chrome trim framing the large side-window opening emphasizes both its shape and the absence of the second pillar. In profile, the CL is gorgeous and sporty.

Even as it drives away, the CL keeps your attention. The rear window's horseshoe-like shape is especially intriguing, like a canopy pulled taut over a frame and not seen anywhere else in the automotive kingdom. Below the rear window the tail tapers gracefully into a pair of large taillights and a taut trunk lid wearing a subtle built-in rear spoiler at its top edge. Sedans don't look like this, and that's just the point.

Outside of the model nomenclature on the deck lid and wheels, the CL550 4MATIC and CL600 models are essentially identical from the outside.

The AMG models can be identified by distinctive grilles, wherein the Mercedes star is supported by four chrome bars over black mesh, and by their more muscular-looking front bumper with large air intakes housing round, chrome-ringed fog lights. Contoured side skirts carry the aggressive lines of the front bumper to the rear, where four oval exhaust outlets punctuate the black air diffuser set into the unique rear apron. Front fender badges read 6.3 AMG on the CL63 AMG and V12 Biturbo on the CL65 AMG. Both roll on 20-inch, five-spoke alloy wheels, but with a slimmer-looking forged twin-spoke design on the CL65 AMG.

Interior

Pulling open the door is the moment of truth in an ultra-luxury coupe. Buyers in this class are expecting sumptuousness, high-end materials and sophisticated design that convey the promise of being coddled. Everyone who looked inside our test cars uttered an involuntary wow. It's beautifully designed, richly appointed and finished with a fanatical attention to detail. And the sheer number of luxury features is almost overwhelming, another sign that the big sticker price delivers something extraordinary.

Ensconced in the driver's seat, you immediately register the raked-back windshield and low roofline pressing down from above; it's a narrow viewing port by sedan standards but outward visibility is superior to most Grand Tourers and 2+2s. The CL is just 2.2 inches lower than an S-Class sedan, but it feels much lower than that.

The surroundings are a sybarite's delight. There's almost nowhere your hand falls that you're not touching either glove-soft leather, burled walnut, brushed aluminum or chrome. The instrument panel cover is stitched in leather, as are the door panels and seats, buckets front and rear. The steering wheel is silky leather or wood with leather grips at the nine and three o'clock positions. It houses buttons in front for the phone and COMAND system, and switches behind the top spokes for manually shifting the transmission (aluminum on AMG models).

The exterior's curvilinear theme is repeated in the interior. The center console curves gently into the center stack, and the interior front door panels arc outward subtly at the elbow area, the shape accented by delicate chrome accent strips. The door armrests are an artful combination of burled walnut stacked with leather covered padding. At night, soft ambient, adjustable light glows from tiny hidden light strips in the doors' upper sections and across the middle of the dash. The only plastic pieces of note are the speaker covers in the lower front corner of the doors, where you hardly notice them.

The walnut trimmed center stack contains a thin row of easy-to-operate brushed aluminum climate control switches, a hidden compartment for the CD changer and a pair of vents flanking a square analog clock that looks like it could double as Patek Phillipe wristwatch; on AMG models it is an IWC Ingenieur timepiece.

Living in this car is every bit as satisfying as looking at it. The center console is home to a push-and-slide-and-turn mouse-type knob that is the main interface to the COMAND system and its thin-film transistor (TFT) display. The screen is housed in a hooded binnacle to the right of the driver's gauges, which also are TFT technology.

For cars equipped with the optional night vision system, the large speedometer in front of the driver transitions to a second viewing screen whenever the system is activated. Several other buttons arrayed around the mouse control the suspension's sport and comfort modes, transmission operation modes, the sound system and a short-cut to the dynamic seat adjustments.

Between the steering wheel buttons and mouse, you're afforded several paths of access to the multiple layers of the CL's navigation, seating, climate control and sound systems. You can set your preferences for everything from radio stations to auxiliary lighting. You can program the voice control to recognize your particular intonations. You can input travel information and requests. And you can access, activate or cancel dozens of other systems, including radar distance sensing, daytime running lamps, tire pressure monitoring, and much, much more.

At times we wished it were easier to access some of the systems through COMAND; it took several steps where one touch of a conventional button would have worked more directly. But for the sheer number of systems and adjustments, hundreds of different buttons and switches would be more difficult. One has to allow for some acclimation period before judging the system, and that we never needed consult the owner's manual is a good sign. We found using the COMAND system while underway mildly distracting, but once set it up your use will be limited because much of your requests can be done with steering wheel buttons (with the info appearing inside the speedometer directly ahead) or by voice.

At least you'll never want for aural entertainment. The harman/kardon system's 600-watt performance through its 11 speakers is purely angelic. And the navigation works about as well as any we've encountered, with an easy-to-read rolling map and good graphics. The screen is adjustable for angle and brightness separately from other instruments.

The CL's front seat comfort is beyond reproach. The front cabin offers all the legroom, width and headroom anyone but an NBA forward could need. The power front seats are wonderful; the width and pocketing of the cushions provide just the right amount of support to the back and under the thighs, and, with the full range of adjustments available, almost anyone can get comfortable. Even the length of the front-seat lower cushions is adjustable for just the right amount of thigh support. Most CL are equipped with the optional active ventilated seats, which contain several small fans to circulate cool or warmed air through the perforated leather seat covering. Pneumatic bladders built into the seats can be programmed to adjust the firmness of upper and lower side bolsters, back rest, and shoulder area, as well as lumbar support firmness and location. The seats also offer a massage feature; it's quite nice, actually, and virtually eliminates fatigue. We preferred the fast and vigorous setting; imagine a soft rolling pin making its way from your lumbar region to upper back. The programming is controlled through the COMAND interface using clearly marked pictograms.

The seats can be programmed to automatically inflate upper and lower bolsters to varying degrees when the car turns a corner to provide the driver and passenger with extra lateral support. This brings the support of a sport seat for spirited driving without the big bolsters some find confining, to a luxurious armchair one slides in and out of.

The CL interior's only real negative is rear seat room, and that only compared to sedans this size. Though the rear buckets are as handsome and almost as comfortable as the front (they lack any adjustability), this is a not a place to spend much time for anyone over, say five-foot-six. Despite its full-size 116.3-inch wheelbase (albeit 8.2 inches less than that of the commodious S-Class sedan), the CL's dramatic dimensions mean rear legroom in the small-car range. Plant a six-foot driver behind the wheel and a six-foot rear-seat passenger's knees are jammed against the front seatbacks. And most people will be able to handle the tight rear quarters for local trips to the mall. But this is not the car to take on a cross-country jaunt with four average-sized adults.

Oddly, that lack of four-adult room may be one of the CL's strongest luxury statements: It's a large car that can afford to ignore the everyday requirement of passenger-carrying practicality. Need more space? Take another car. This is apparently okay in this class: The Bentley Continental GT, BMW 6 Series, Aston Martin DB9 and Ferrari Scaglietti all have even less room in back.

Cargo room is just the opposite. The trunk is deep, commodious and finished in a handsome gray carpet. Under the trunk floor is a shallow but still useful cargo tray, and under that a full-sized spare. Liftover height is about average, and the electric powered opening-and-closing feature is always appreciated.

Driving Impression

The Mercedes-Benz CL is a swift and smooth ride to be sure, but we'd stop short of calling it a sports coupe. It's simply too large and too luxurious. But it is rewarding to drive for just those reasons and makes a superb Grand Touring machine.

You start the CL with a touch of a big aluminum button to the right of the steering column. We still wonder why being able to keep the key in your pocket makes this a better solution. Then drop it into gear with a column-mounted electronic shift lever similar to the kind BMW is now using. Purists may feel it's an odd and un-sporty throwback to have a shifter moved off of the center console and on to the steering column, but it works well and frees up space.

The 5.5-liter all-aluminum 32-valve V8 is velvety smooth and nearly silent, until you prod it. With 382 hp on tap it rushes the car to speed with a muted, purposeful growl. The seven-speed automatic gearbox shifts imperceptibly in town, smoothly at full throttle and never gets caught in the wrong gear in traffic. Quiet, smooth, sophisticated: This is the way the powertrain in a high-end luxury automobile should behave.

Having a gasoline-fired engine this powerful pulling a vehicle this heavy does create a gas mileage penalty, or two actually. The first is real-world fuel economy: The EPA mileage rating is 14/21 mpg, City/Highway. And that figure triggers the federal Gas Guzzler Tax at purchase, $1300 in this case.

If there's one word that describes the CL road experience, it's silken. On smooth surfaces it feels as if it's riding on glass. Some vibration or road harshness must be penetrating the hushed cabin, but it just doesn't feel like it. The sportier BMW 6 Series coupes register bumps harder and reveal surface imperfections far more acutely. In the Benz, the smaller road irregularities get glossed over. Over larger bumps the ride is less supple than you might expect, almost firm, but not enough to inspire the driver to attack the curves.

The steering has a ball-of-silk feel, less sharp than in the BMW and more relaxed in its responses. Though the steering effort rises with road speed, the feeling remains comfortable, smooth and luxuriously isolated rather than sports-car sharp. This is a car that works its way down a winding road with grace and stability, and the active suspension keeps it cornering quite flat. But the CL doesn't communicate the sense of the road or give you the urge to get aggressive in the way that great sports sedans do.

On the highway, the CL's German DNA is fully in evidence. It has a commanding, solid feel and is dead stable even at extra-legal speed. It's in these upper speed ranges that you notice that wind noise has hardly increased at all. This is autobahn breeding at work.

We found that, in normal driving, the CL's brakes were confident, effortless and luxuriously insulated. The brake pedal action is progressive and direct. You won't find a smoother set of brakes anywhere. In hard braking the system feels powerful and was free of any fade. Decelerations from even high speed were calm, quiet and drama-free, with not a bit of vibration or noise transferred through the brake pedal or into the cabin. Again, thank the requirements of German autobahn driving.

Using the optional Distronic Plus distance sensing cruise control is an eerie and fascinating experience. The radar-based distance monitoring system automatically slows the CL, using the brakes if necessary, as you close the gap on the car in front. That distance can be set between a hundred and several hundred feet. When the system detects the lane ahead is clear again, it accelerates back to your pre-set speed. All the driver needs do is steer, an odd sensation to say the least. The system works beautifully in light Interstate traffic and reasonably well in moderately denser intra-urban highway environments, though it sometimes annoyed us by slowing sooner for a car up ahead than an average driver would in most circumstances.

There's more to Distronic Plus than active cruise control. The system is tied into a comprehensive in-car safety network. It will sound an alarm if the driver is gaining too fast on the car ahead, meanwhile priming the Brake Assist Plus system to apply full emergency braking as soon as the driver presses on the brake pedal, no matter how lightly it's applied. If the driver doesn't respond to the distance alarm, the system will apply up to 40 percent of total braking capacity automatically to slow the car down.

The Distronic Plus system includes Blind Spot Assistance, with additional sensors in the rear bumper that detect other vehicles approaching in those hard-to-see, over-the-shoulder-and-behind zones to either side. If you signal a lane change or begin to steer from your lane, an arrow lights up in the appropriate side mirror, green for all-clear, yellow for caution.

The parking guidance system has an enhanced function that scans the size of a parallel parking space and determines if the CL will fit. As before, shifting into reverse activates the camera, and grid lines appear on the speedometer to help guide you into the parking space.

The infrared night vision systems actively projects infrared light from the headlamps. An infra-red camera discreetly mounted in the windshield receives the reflected images and displays them in a high-resolution display in the instrument cluster. The result is akin to a highly detailed black-and-white video image.

Meanwhile, if a frontal crash is imminent, the Pre-Safe Brake system takes action: It tightens the front seat belts milliseconds before impact, moves the front passenger seat to its safest position, inflates pneumatic chambers in the seats, closes the side windows to add support for the side-curtain airbags (and to keep occupants' arms inside the vehicle), initiates partial braking to slow the vehicle and will even close the sunroof.

The CL600 comes with a twin-turbocharged V12 that delivers vastly increased power and even greater smoothness than the CL550. The CL600 produces 510 horsepower and 612 pound-feet of torque, an astounding 56 percent increase over the CL550 and the primary reason it has a five-speed automatic (the seven-speed can't handle it). The V12 is so smooth and quiet in stop-and-go traffic it almost feels like the car is powered by an electric motor. Yet awe-inspiring acceleration is just a push of the pedal away: Mercedes quotes a 0-60 time of 4.5 seconds for the CL600, smack in the middle of the range for Corvettes, Porsches, and Ferraris. There's so much low-end power on tap that the tires would spin wildly if not for the traction control systems working overtime. Highway acceleration feels like a DVD on fast-forward. We don't know why anyone would actually need this much power in a CL, but it is amazing to experience it. Nearly all of what we reported on the CL550 and its multitudinous systems is true of the CL600, which includes virtually all of them as standard.

A CL63 comes with a 6.2-liter V8 that produces 518 horsepower at 6800 rpm and 465 pound-feet of torque at 5200. This is not simply a larger version of the CL550 engine, but a unique unit sharing no parts with any other Mercedes-Benz V8. Like the CL550 engine, it features four valves per cylinder, variable valve timing, and a variable intake manifold; but its higher-rpm valve system relies on bucket tappets rather than the finger type. This engine does it best work and makes the most pleasant sounds at higher rpm, but with such abundant output it can be driven sedately and still maintain a brisk pace. With an AMG Speedshift seven-speed automatic the CL63 accelerates as quickly as the CL600 and has a higher limited top speed.

The CL65 is powered by a 6.0-liter twin-turbocharged and intercooled V12 that produces 604 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque, for a claimed rocket ride from 0-60 mph in just 4.2 seconds. The car is faster than that implies because it hasn't the traction for full-throttle starts and once moving it gathers speed like it has five first gears, the buttery-smooth engine merely whirring away effortlessly.

The AMG models use the same active suspension as the other CLs, but it's tuned for flatter cornering and tighter control of body motion, and stability and traction-control functions are upgraded for the additional power. A button on the center console allows the driver to choose among three different shift programs, Sport, Comfort, or Manual, that fine-tune accelerator pedal response and spring and shock absorber settings. While both CL AMG models are quick and competent, the CL63 is by far the most driver-oriented CL, no surprise given it's the lightest and most responsive.

The AMG models also feature large composite brake discs (15.4-inch diameter in front, 14.4-inch in the rear), to slow them in a hurry, converting all that speed to heat in mere moments. The front discs are not only vented but cross-drilled. Twin sliding calipers on the front brakes combine the performance of a large fixed caliper with the reduced heat transfer of a floating caliper. Providing room for those big binders are 20-inch alloy wheels, 8.5 inches wide in front and 9.5 inches at the rear, wearing low-profile 255/35 front and 275/35 rear tires. Mercedes claims the CL65 can stop from 60 mph in just 116 feet.

Summary

The Mercedes-Benz CL coupe is a melding of sensuous design and cosseting luxury that few other vehicles in the world can match. The CL offers svelte driving dynamics and a near endless list of luxury and safety equipment. This is a car for people who are smitten by its special nature or monumental power. It's a beautiful coupe for two.

Correspondents G.R. Whale, Rich Ceppos, and John F. Katz contributed to this NewCarTestDrive.com report.