FIRSTDRIVE:Drivers willing to forego thrills for comfort have had their wishes granted, writes PADDY COMYN
ONE OF the rules of thumb of motoring writing is not to make generalisations about the people who own certain types of cars. It is seen as a bit of a no-no. But, we are going to break this rule slightly here, because I don’t think I ever knew anyone who owned a Mercedes-Benz CLK that really wanted to drive it enthusiastically, yet they probably thought it was a sportscar.
Now before all you irate CLK owners break your keyboards writing e-mails, let me qualify my assertions slightly. Here in Ireland, most CLKs are 200 Kompressors, often driven by people climbing up the Mercedes-Benz ladder on the way to an S-Class – or else they are driven by empty nesters who want a coupé or convertible that’s comfy and looks a bit upmarket. While externally the CLK changed quite a bit over the last 10 or so years, under the skin there wasn’t much difference throughout its history.
The CLK you sort of forgot about. It was nice. If it were a would-be date, your friend would say it had a good personality. You get the idea.
But the CLK is no more, replaced by this, the E-Class Coupé. So, in effect Mercedes-Benz is returning to its roots by offering a coupé version of its E-Class. Go back to the W124 model of 1987 and that was effectively a coupé version of what would become the E-Class saloon. And in returning to a coupé version of the E-Class, Mercedes-Benz has gone to its customers.
Wolfgang Bremm, product manager for the E-Class Coupé told Motorsthat only 10 per cent of coupé customers said that driving pleasure means going as fast as they can, while 80 per cent said that driving pleasure is about enjoying the car's comfort. Seventy per cent said it's when they have a feeling of good road contact. "This is where our engineers have dug deeper," says Bremm.
Whether the E-Class Coupé could be called beautiful is a matter of taste. There are certainly elements of the new saloon at the front and the styling details at the rear wheel arches are a throwback to the 1950s. It is best viewed from the rear three-quarters, where there is an evolution of the handsome lines of the CLK with the modern elements of the latest Mercedes design themes. There are no B-pillars in the car, and the fully retractable side windows look good. One of the car’s main headlines was – and is – that it is the world’s most aerodynamically-efficient series production car, with a Cd-figure of just 0.24. This helps keep down fuel consumption, as well as making the car quiet at speed.
The first tactile impressions of the car are a bit mixed. The boot lid feels way too light and some of the plastics aren’t quite what you would expect of an E-Class model – they look and feel a bit more C-Class. There is the usual mix of leather and whatever you wish as inserts on the dashboard, from wood to aluminium.
We tried three different models on Tuscan roads, two diesels and a petrol, but two engines in particular will be relevant to Irish customers. The first is the 250 CGi petrol version.
Now pay attention, because it gets a little confusing. The 250 CGi is a 1.8-litre turbocharged petrol engine with 204bhp, comes with an automatic transmission and will manage 7.2l/100km and has CO2 emissions of just 167g/km. That is a 13 per cent improvement in emissions on the 200 Kompressor that sold so strongly in the CLK. It is a quiet engine, perhaps let down by a slightly sluggish automatic transmission, so often favoured by the customer for this type of car.
Infinitely better, however, is the 250 CDi, which is a diesel. This, again as the name doesn’t suggest, has a 2.2-litre engine but it too has 204bhp, has more torque at 500Nm and has the same maximum speed. It’s 0.2 seconds slower to 100km/h than the 250 CGi, but crucially has lower CO2 emissions of 135g/km, putting it in Band B in Ireland. Plus, it is available with a 6-speed manual gearbox.
Traditionally, few would choose a manual in this type of car, but in our view, it suited the car better. There is a six-cylinder diesel (350 CDi/231bhp) and a six-cylinder petrol (350 CGi/292bhp) and, at the top of the range, a V8 500 with 380bhp. But these are likely to be pretty irrelevant to our market.
This car is definitely comfortable. The seats are good, there is even half-decent rear space and the luggage capacity of 450 litres is on a par with a decent sized family hatchback.
The car comes fitted with agility control suspension, which adjusts automatically to the given road, but there is a sports suspension set-up available as an option – and you can push your chequebook further and opt for the dynamic handling package which adds an electronically controlled damping system, allowing the driver to switch between Comfort and Sport modes.
This is a car that doesn’t really encourage you to push it hard. It is competent and will go where you put it, but handles well out of compulsion rather than a desire to do so. But, as we have said before, few buyers are likely to want an E-Class Coupé to thrill them, more so to pat them continuously on the back. It will gallop up miles and asks little from the driver and in that regard it ticks many boxes.
Where this car sits in the grand scheme of things is the difficulty. There isn’t any hint on pricing here before the car’s September arrival, but we reckon €55,000-€60,000 could be the starting point. That pitches it against the likes of the Audi A5, BMW 3-Series coupé and, higher up the range, against the BMW 6-Series.
As a replacement CLK it does its job perfectly. It a much better car, has better engines and naturally a convertible will follow at a later date. Arriving so late in 2009, expect this to be a car for 2010 with CLK customers at the front of the queue.
Factfile
MERCEDES-BENZ E 250 CDi BLUEEFFICIENCY COUPÉ
Engine:2,143cc 4-cylinder diesel putting out 204bhp and 500Nm torque
Max speed:250km/h, 0-100km/h: 7.4 seconds
Fuel consumption:5.1l/100km
CO2 emissions:135g/km Tax: €156 (band B)
MERCEDES-BENZ E 250 CGi BLUEEFFICIENCY COUPÉ
Engine:1,796cc 4-cylinder turbo petrol putting out 204bhp and 310Nm torque
Max speed:250km/h 0-100km/h: 7.2 seconds
Fuel consumption:7.2l/100km
CO2 emissions:167g/km Tax: €447 (band D)
Prices:TBA