Mercedes-Benz CL500 - First Drive - German Car

Some lucky souls know how it is when one of the toughest decisions each morning is choosing which car to drive that day. Are you in the mood for, oh, the plush environment of your amply equipped luxury sedan or should you have the garage valet pull the Porsche around to the front? Can't decide? Well, now there's a surprisingly effective compromise in the form of the all-new Mercedes-Benz CL500.

Boasting a higher-income "typical" buyer than even Mercedes' prestigious S-Class, the $85,500 CL500 is arguably the pinnacle of the marque's impressive lineup. In fact, Jurgen Hubbert, member of the Board of Management of DaimlerChrysler AG, called it, "The most sophisticated product with the three-pointed star." And in addition to being solid, smooth, powerful, comfortable, safe, pampering, and all those other wonderful adjectives usually heaped upon Mercedes cars, the CL500 is also a bona fide techno-fest on four wheels.

But what's with the name? Isn't this coupe S-Class-based? Until a couple years ago, the topline coupes were part of the S-Class lineup, not much more than two-door clones of the sedan. Now, in an effort to give the coupes their own identity, the company has separated them from the sedans and given them the CL designation. (The CL's lower-rung cousins are the smaller CLK coupes-the CLK430 and CLK320.)

Helping forge this new individuality for 2000 is the CL's elegant and sensuous styling, which draws less from the S-Class and more from the original Design Studie Coupe concept car that first introduced the now-familiar quad-oval-headlamp front end. In almost all external dimensions, this new CL500 is smaller than its predecessor, yet offers S-Class-level roominess. Thanks to the extensive use of lightweight materials, it also weighs in at about 750 pounds under the previous model, even with higher levels of crash safety. The hood, door paneling, rear fenders, and roof, for instance, are aluminum, while the insides of the doors are magnesium, and the front fenders and trunklid are formed with a flexible, composite plastic. (You get plenty of cool stuff for your $85K.)

The big technology news with the CL500 is the introduction of Mercedes' Active Body Control (ABC). Included as standard equipment, this is an active suspension system that's designed to provide what Hubbert calls, "the comfort of a luxury [sedan] and the dynamics of a thoroughbred sports car." Using hydraulically adjustable servo cylinders in the suspension struts that complement the conventional dampers and coil springs, ABC works on several levels. It helps to keep the vehicle as flat and level as possible during all driving situations and eliminates unwanted body movement by automatically reducing vibrations up to 5 Hz. That's pretty significant. This includes the floatiness, lifting, and rolling movements experienced on uneven road surfaces, the body roll common during cornering, and the front-end dive and lift that accompany braking and acceleration. ABC eliminates the need for antiroll bars and allows the conventional shocks and springs to be tuned softer for better ride comfort and isolation.

The system provides a seamless driving experience with a plush, comfortable ride, as well as excellent control during hard cornering and accident-avoidance-type transient maneuvers. For further fine tuning, the driver can select either a "comfort" or "sport" mode. The system can vary the vehicle's ride height. At low speeds, the car can be manually raised either one or two inches above the normal position (handy when traversing snow). Then, as the vehicle gains speed, it automatically returns to the normal level. At higher speeds, the CL is automatically lowered by almost a half-inch below normal, helping to improve aerodynamics and fuel efficiency.