By Sean O'Grady
Road Test:
Mercedes-Benz CL.
Engines:
5461cc V8
, 32 valves, 290kW at 6000 rpm. 5513cc V12
, 36 valves, 385kW at 5000 rpm.
Transmission:
Seven-speed automatic on the V8. Five-speed auto on the V12.
Performance:
Maximum speed limited to 250km/h.
0-100km/h in 5.4sec (V8) and 4.6sec (V12).
About 14.2 litres/100km for both versions.
Price:
From about £80 000 (R1.2-million) to £106 000 (R1.6-million).
Availability:
DaimlerChrysler SA plans to release the CL500 and its AMG sibling the CL55 in South Africa in the second quarter of 2007. There are no plans for the V12 CL600 orCL63 AMG.
It's nice to see a manufacturer happy with its customers. Nowadays managements in all sorts of industries fret about their ageing clientele.
They are terrified of their buyers dying off; they yearn for the young, for the female, for the metrosexual.
Mercedes-Benz isn't immune to this. It has long had a problem with being perceived as an "old man's car", a peculiar and potentially fatal image problem.
Mercedes decided to combat it with its "a Mercedes for everybody" strategy with myriad new and sometimes confusingly overlapping model ranges, from three-door hatchbacks (A-Class and C-Class coupé) to the R-Class, a gigantic, mutant people-carrier.
When it comes to its traditional, big prestige models, however, the company doesn't seem to be that bothered about attracting many new recruits to the three-pointed star. So, its new CL luxury coupé looks very much like the old CL. Its buyers know what they like.
Even so, it might have been an opportunity to move the styling along a little bit more. The front looks bland and the profile, while unmistakably a classic pillarless Merc coupé, doesn't exactly excite.
The "bubble" of the rear window, a Mercedes big coupé trademark for decades, has been retained, and the boot has a rather more pronounced slope.
Overall there's maybe a hint of the sexy new "banana-shaped" CLS in the CL's lines, but only a smidgen. Most of the design effort seems to have been expended on creating a new range of über-bling alloy wheel rims.
Mercedes doesn't offer those "spinners" you sometimes spot that make the wheels look as if they're moving even when the car is stationary but it may only be a matter of time before they too appear on the options list.
Inside, the mission was to create the ultimate in "feel-good factor" and the Mercedes CL-Class customer base of old blokes with plenty of dosh won't be disappointed when they slide their well-nourished bottoms on to its beautifully finished seats. It's pretty much standard S-Class in there, which means it's all very opulent yet tastefully executed.
Motorised chess board
Most of the combinations of interior trim are what you'd expect but one in particular pleases the eye - where the seats and doors are finished in a very slightly off-white leather and the woodwork has been given that lustrous black piano-style lacquered finish, topped off with a dark grey Alcantara (suede-like) roof lining.
Like sitting in a plush motorised chess board. There's room in the back, too.
The CL is also no surprise once on the move. In either V8 or V12 guise it makes pressing on a pleasure. It really does feel as though it could eat a continent.
The 5.5-litre, twin-turbo V12 is more or less carried over from the previous generation CL600, with some tweaks. It's power output is up by 12kW to 385kW (at 5000 rpm), its torque is also slightly improved, and these changes shave 0.2sec off the 0-100km/h time.
New V8
The CL500, however, gets a new Mercedes V8, a magnificently fast-revving unit that adds 61kW to the old model's output.
So now the "lesser" CL is almost a second faster on the 0-100 run, the performance differential between the two cars is much narrower than before. Is that margin worth £25 000 (about R360 000)?
The V12 still has an edge in terms of muscle but the new V8 will be more than adequate in most real-world conditions. The seven-speed gearbox is a similar tour de force; just wait until the AMG versions come out.
None of this, though, should persuade anyone to buy a CL, impeccably turned out as it is. It isn't style or pace or even image that should persuade you to put your name down on the waiting list because you can get all of that (or more) from the competing products from Bentley, Maserati and Aston Martin.
Indeed, you can get most of it from the Jaguar XK and BMW 6 Series coupés (especially in their hotter versions).
No, the real reason you ought to go for a new Cs is that most unglamorous of things, safety. For this is a car that can brake itself. It has the usual adaptive cruise control that will brake and accelerate in freeway conditions.
Pre-Safe
What takes the safety story on is the "Pre-Safe" system that works independently of the cruise control.
Now, if your CL senses that you're going to run into something or someone at whatever speed, it will bleep at you, bleep some more and eventually, if you're unconscious, cut your speed so much that even if you don't react, the resulting collision will be relatively gentle.
The "Active Body Control" system is also improved. This "mitigation" of accident damage will save lives.
It is greatly to the credit of the Mercedes' engineers that, unlike some other well-known makes, they've resisted the temptation to design a car around the NCAP crash criteria and got on, instead, with the job of helping drivers to avoid trouble in the first place.
For the average self-made man or woman, that life-preserving ability should be reason enough to stay loyal to Mercedes and order another CL. It's nice to see a customer happy with their manufacturer.
The rivals
Bentley Continental GT:
£117 500 (R1.75-million). A favourite among soccer players but somehow the Bentley has retained its cachet. Not as clever as the CL but much sexier. Top speed 310km/h.
Aston Martin DB9:
£109 750 (R1.64-million).
Also not half as advanced as the Mercedes-Benz but infinitely more image and snob appeal. Gorgeous curves, dramatic cockpit and will reach 298km/h.
Mercedes-Benz CLS 63 AMG:
£72 995 (R1.1-million).Well, why not? Performance-wise it's a match for its bigger two-door coupé sibling, it's much better looking and it has four proper seats and four proper doors. - The Independent, London