2016 Mercedes AMG CLS63 S review
In german folklore, Rübezahl, was a capricious giant - much like this car, torn between two personalities.
If you treated him right he was friendly, generous, and would give gifts of medicine. I find this ironic, considering most of the people buying this car are likely doctors. Alternatively though, if you pushed him - he was ruthless.
2016 Mercedes-AMG CLS63 S 4MATIC
Price as tested: $117,000
This vehicle is equipped with multiple personality disorder because it has no idea what it wants to be. One second you're embracing the luxury side with all the features from Mercedes, and then just a moment later you're being thrown in to the seat due to the 577bhp, but get on the highway and it wants to drive itself. So let me explain the personalities of this gorgeous 4-door coupé.
That's where I'll start first actually, the way this car looks. There's only a few Mercs that I drool over appearance wise, the CLK GTR, the new GTS, and now this CLS. The body lines almost resemble an extremely seductive woman wearing a corset. How the front wheel arches flare out to catch your eye. How lines in the doors give the illusion of drastic shaping that make you wonder. How the rear end widens out under those arches, which causes you to sin for lust. By far the best looking 4 door in the Mercedes line up today.
NOW, back to the different personalities.
Like I mentioned before, the car wants to drive itself. If you have one equipped with the Drivers Assistance Package, you'll have:
- Steering Assist/Cross-Traffic Assist/Pedestrian Recognition/Rear End Collision Protection.
This is both a blessing and a curse. Having a vehicle being able to almost drive itself down the highway and be able to come to a complete stop on its own, is a milestone for the automotive industry and it's also a way to find out if you have trust issues. There are still some kinks that need to be worked out. The lane sensors only correct the vehicle from one side at a time, thus it was pushing me back and forth in my own lane. I ended up looking like a drunk driver everywhere I traveled. There was no use in trying to stay in the middle of my lane while the setting was on. I was constantly fighting the steering wheel to try and keep the car straight. I hope, in the next few years, Mercedes will work that out.
Of course, the luxury side of the CLS is phenomenal. All the usual features are there, like heated and cooled seats, wonderful stereo, and customizations on nearly everything in the car. The bolsters adjust in accordance with which way you turn and how sharply you do it.
But during the enjoyment of all these amenities, you can feel the other personality wanting to be set free. The ride itself is, well, "sporty". The typical Mercedes cloud-like ride has been sacrificed for AMG's need to make passengers have a near death experience in the corners. My time spent with the AMG part of this car makes up for everything else. It is ridiculously quick for being a car this large and it handles corners as if it's magnetized to the road thanks to the 4matic AWD system.
The downside of the AMG part, is the multi-clutch transmission. Regardless of which setting I was in, when I would slow down to a stop, the shift from 2nd to 1st would make me come to a halt 15ft before where I intended to stop. That got annoying very quickly.
However, my favorite part was the exhaust. I enjoyed driving through shopping centers, watching each person stare and wonder what the hell kind of Mercedes this was. AMG always ensures that their cars imitate the sound of a symphony of anger and blissful rage.
All in all, I enjoyed my weekend with this car and I'm thoroughly looking forward to doing the video review in the next coming weeks. HUGE THANKS TO Mercedes-Benz of Plano for letting us do the review!
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Comments (3)
Hm. I've driven mostly diesels, but the e63s I drove had the same feature.
I noticed it a lot more when my foot was on the brake coming up to a stoplight. The car would stop about 10ft shorter than where I intended to each time, no matter what mode.
In eco mode all of the Mercedes I've driven have a glide function so when your foot is off the power, the clutch comes in. Makes a really big difference to daily driving.