REVIEWS AND ROAD TESTS

The excellence of coupe design

You know you’re driving something special when owners of BMW 540s are turning positively emerald with envy. It’s the second most expensive trim level of Mercedes’ most expensive model. Its bigger brother–the V12 powered CL600–is the most expensive model in the German firm’s lineup. Saying that the inside of a $122,900 Mercedes-Benz is luxurious must rank as some sort of record in the understatement category. Suffice it to say that the leather is sumptuous and the finish almost beyond impeccable.

However, I still don’t like the computerized functions built into the navigational system. I have no complaint with the global positioning system itself, but I do have a beef with Mercedes’ decision to incorporate the audio system controls into it as well. Whether it’s because the GPS screen took up space normally reserved for the switches and buttons (Mercedes’ story) or that the company’s engineers simply couldn’t resist the temptation to digitize more stuff with all that computing power at their fingertips (my opinion), the system simply doesn’t work. What was once simply a task of twiddling a knob now requires flicking through screen menus, and not always successfully at that. That being said, the Bose sound system with 6-disc CD changer produces sounds worthy of the badge on the hood.

The CL must also rank as one of the safest cars on the planet. Besides the crash-resistant frame, there’s dual- inflation rate front airbags, side airbags, a BabySmart system that automatically deactivates the passenger-side front airbag, head protection curtains that cushion the noggins of both front and rear passengers, and head restraints that automatically adjust for height.The CL500 is neither the fastest nor the swerviest of automobiles (though it has ample doses of both power and handling), but it just may be the calmest. Like other more pedestrian automobiles, the biggest Mercedes coupe is made up of thousands of pieces, both large and small, joined by welding, stitching and even glue. Yet drive a CL for even a short time and you’ll be convinced that the darn thing is carved from one giant steel ingot.

Other car manufacturers measure this rigidity by noting how few millimetres their chassis deflects under so many tons of force. Well, I don’t think that anything short of a runaway locomotive plowing into its rump would have any effect on the big Mercedes. Run it through the largest crevasse multi-potholed roads can offer and the CL500 simply rolls through with nary a quiver.

It’s helped by something Mercedes calls Active Body Control (ABC), but which by any name is an active suspension system like those banned in Formula 1 racing. Rather than just resisting body roll in corners, ABC actively works against it, letting the heavy Mercedes do a fair impression of a Ferrari. And because the system is computer-controlled, when not hustling through corners, the CL’s suspension remains land-yacht-soft so nothing intrudes into the passengers’ calm. The same 2900 psi hydraulic system lowers the CL500 at speed for better road-holding. It also minimizes the diving and squatting that occurs because of weight transfer during acceleration and braking. No matter how hard you push it, absolutely nothing unsettles the CL500.

And with 302 horsepower available from its 5.0 litre V8, there’s much pushing to be had. Only if you’ve driven the CL600′s monstrous V12 does the CL500 feel anything other than supremely rapid. Mercedes claims a scant 6.1 seconds is required to 60 mph (96 km/h), a figure made all the more impressive by the CL’s 1,867 kilogram weight. The engine is also terribly sophisticated, never daring to emit either a harsh vibration or a non-melodious valve train clatter.

My typical complaint regarding Mercedes — the company’s automatic transmission — has also been somewhat alleviated. Or maybe the driver-adaptive control the brochure brags about really does work. Mercedes’ 5-speed automatics typically start out in second gear; smoother takeoffs says the company. The only problem is that downshifting in the lower gears is usually discouraged so that when full-warp-speed is finally generated, the gear change is often abrupt.

On the active safety side, there are anti-lock brakes, of course, as well as traction control, but Mercedes’ Electronic Stability Control also prevents oversteer and understeer.

PROS
Ride and handling
 Acceleration and braking
Workmanship

CONS
Fuel economy
Cargo space
Indecent price

Germany

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