This is the new Mercedes CLS, spotted testing at the Nurburgring. It’s the second-generation version of Stuttgart’s ‘four-door coupe’, and as before it’s based on the E-class saloon, but it should be the first car to receive AMG’s new twin-turbo V8.
Tell me everything you know about the new Mercedes CLS ‘four-door coupe’
Underneath the skin the new CLS (codenamed C218) is twinned with the latest E-class saloon, but inside it won’t be quite so big or practical. The central rear seat will be dropped so there’s only space for four, and the swooping bodywork will mean headroom will be a little more limited than in the humdrum saloon.
These shots also give us our first glimpse inside the CLS, and reveal the twin-cowl dash. Expect the interior to be more swoopy and exotic than the angular and upright dashboard of the new E-class.
Externally the L-shaped headlamps have been dropped, there’ll be the obligatory LED running lights, and the new LED rear lights will wrap around the back end a little more than on the current car. And thankfully the CLS will keep its pillarless doors.
All the latest Merc tech will also be available, including the a head-up display, 360-degree parking cameras, and lane-change warning systems. Attention Assist – which monitors the driver’s steering inputs and warns them if they’re falling asleep – will also be standard.
Under the bonnet the CLS isn’t expected to feature any four-cylinder power. Instead the engine line-up should be:
Petrol
CLS 350 – 3.5-litre direct-injection V6, 292bhp; power output increases to 306bhp in 2012
CLS 500 – 5.5-litre V8, 388bhp; superseded by 435bhp direct-injection twin-turbo V8 in 2012
CLS 55 AMG – 5.5-litre twin-turbo direct-injection V8, 570bhp; available from mid-2011 onward
Diesel
CLS 320 CDI – 3.0-litre direct-injection V6, 224bhp; replaced in 2011 by 313bhp CLS 350 CDI
The new CLS is expected to appear at the 2010 Paris motor show late next year, before UK sales start in early 2011. Before that we’ll see the E-class Cabriolet, which will make its debut at the 2010 Detroit motor show in early January.
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