As the CLS 4-door coupe approaches its final model year in 2023, Mercedes-Benz has emphasized that there are no plans to fill its void.
The big-bodied Benz offers remarkable composure despite its size. Epic powerplant sounds great and delivers plenty of power all over the rev range. AMG’s seven-speed DCT is also an excellent piece.
BMW’s 2012 6-Series Gran Coupe will be the first 6-Series in history to go beyond two doors. To improve rear legroom and fit the additional two doors on, BMW has stretched the wheelbase 4.4 inches beyond the regular 6-Series. The Gran Coupe will be wider, lower, and longer than the 5-Series.
Mercedes-Benz has done an interesting balancing act with the CLS63 AMG. On the one hand, it’s a lavishly equipped, tech-laden luxmobile for four people, that looks like very few other cars on the road. On the other, it’s essentially a street-legal rocket, capable of sending your eyeballs towards the back of your skull with little in the way of provocation. It’ll then attempt to remove your eyeballs clear from the sockets when you stomp on the huge carbon-ceramic brakes. This is a bipolar car, stable one minute, and absolutely bonkers the next. Which is exactly the way we like it.
The Aston Martin Rapide, Porsche Panamera, Audi A7, Volkswagen CC, and to a lesser extent the BMW 5-Series GT all owe a large part of their existence to the success of the Mercedes-Benz CLS. Unveiled in 2004, the CLS was a segment buster, responsible for creating the four-door coupe craze that has been such a huge part of the luxury segment over the past six years. It has grown it bit long in the tooth though, so Mercedes is updating the CLS in time for the 2010 Paris Motor Show.