2013 Mercedes Benz CL Class Review Pictures
The 2013
Mercedes CL-Class is almost 2 inches longer than the previous generation,
and all the benefits accrue to interior space. Mercedes made ingress
and egress to the rear seat easier with handy quick-release front
seats that slide forward and up. Seatbelt presenters automatically
extend forward from behind the door opening to make the seatbelts
handy for front seat occupants, then retract. The coupe's rear seats
are split 60/40, providing access to coupe's capacious 10.4 cubic-foot
trunk. The interior materials are the finest in any recent Mercedes.
Soft polyurethane sprayed onto the dashboard provides an attractive
appearance and a luxurious feel. The cup holder on the passenger side
is attractive but cantankerous, and was the only thing negative we
could find in the interior. The instrument panel is a departure for
Mercedes, but it works admirably. A large round speedometer and tachometer
dominate the center of the gauge cluster. Two small vertical gauges
for the fuel level and coolant temperature flank them.
The 2013 Mercedes CL-Class is a luxury two-door you can drive hard
without even realizing it. The chassis has the kind of stiffness Mercedes
has only graced its upscale SL roadsters with in recent years. Torsional
rigidity has increased a very welcome 40 percent in the coupe and
10 percent in the cabriolet compared with the previous-generation
CLKs. Extensive use of high-strength steel alloys of varying thickness
in the cabriolet's unibody panels and structure combine with liberal
reinforcements of transmission tunnel, cross struts and rear bulkhead
to add torsional stiffness and bending resistance and minimize vibration.
Mercedes claims, in fact, that the stiffness of the cabriolet's body
is equal to that of the coupe. All of this contributes to its precise
handling and taut but comfortable ride quality. The front suspension
combines two low-mass lower control arms with a strut, coil springs,
dual-tube shocks and a stabilizer bar.
Mercedes chose to use the two lower control arms to improve impact
absorption for better wheel control and damping. The rear suspension
is the latest refinement of Mercedes proven multi-link design. It
has been tuned for improved absorption of vibration and more predictable
handling when driven hard. The 2013 Mercedes CL-Class has very little
squat or dive during hard acceleration or braking. The brakes are
superb. They're easy to modulate for smooth stops in normal, everyday
driving, and respond very linearly. The Mercedes V6 and V8 engines
perform admirably and both benefit from a five-speed automatic transmission.
It hits the market as the best in its class. It marks a gracious return
to style and elegance. It blends two body styles into a common, unified
expression of refined, eye- and seat-of-the-pants-pleasure.
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