Mercedes-AMG CLS53 4Matic+ 9G-Tronic

The new CLS range peaks with a 53-suffix instead of 63. Has Mercedes-Benz short-changed one of its coolest offerings?

Recently retired Daimler CEO, Dieter Zetsche, is widely acknowledged as being the chairman responsible for an altogether less formal approach to the way Mercedes-Benz conducts its business. It could, however, be argued that 24 months before Zetsche walked into his first board meeting sans a necktie (see last month’s issue for an in-depth interview with him), the 2004 launch of the first CLS had already introduced a welcome element of business-casual to the brand. Based on the W211 E-Class of the time, the sweptback, coupé-mimicking lines of the first-generation CLS offered customers all the substance of its donor car in a sleek new package brimming with character and anti-establishment charm

Successful enough to be green-lit for a second-generation launching in 2010, the sharper lines of the subsequent W218 model would even spawn an effortlessly cool Shooting Brake derivative, only adding charisma to the range.

With unfortunately no wagon version on the horizon for the latest generation, the new C257 CLS nevertheless makes the most of its sleek profile and fiercest interpretation of the brand’s “predator face” design language yet to distinguish itself from both its closest rivals and within its broader family. Sharing a wheelbase with the current E-Class, the new CLS is longer (by 65 mm), wider (38 mm) and 33 mm lower than its sedan sibling. As stealthy as it looks, the CLS also boasts an impressively low drag coefficient of just 0,26. Further menace was added to our test unit via upgraded 20-inch alloy wheels and an optional (R7 000) heavy tint on the rear windows.