2014 Mercedes CLA 45 AMG

SPECIFICATIONS

1. The most powerful 4-cylinder car you can buy, the CLA 45 AMG makes 355 horsepower and 332 lb-ft of torque. 2. 0-60 takes just 4.6 seconds. 3. CLA models start at $29,900 with the CLA 45 AMG at $47,450.

PREVIEW

The 2014 CLA-Class is Mercedes-Benz’ first front-wheel-drive vehicle to be sold in the United States. While that might offend the MB faithful, most customers aren’t likely to care after laying eyes on one.

INTERIOR

The CLA’s styling apes the fast-back coupe look Mercedes-Benz claims it started with the larger CLS, but now made more attainable to the masses by being smaller. The design isn’t a complete copy panel-for-panel left to shrink in the dryer, but is most of the way there. The front shares themes with the revised E-Class and new S-Class, and in a busy parking lot, there’s a distinct possibility of mistaken identity. The back plays its own game with wider, more squared-off hips.

That severely arched roofline is easy on the eyes but doesn’t make the CLA easy to get into. The car from which it’s cribbed – the CLS – is based on the larger E-Class, which still leaves plenty of room for passengers. Not so the compact CLA… It is significantly tighter, especially if you or your companion are over six-feet tall.

The rest of the interior is stylish and modern, including the quintuple eyeball vents, center stack and gauge cluster. Materials are pretty decent, especially given the entry-level price the CLA will demand. A few cheaper bits revealed themselves during the drive through the twisty roads in Virginia: the lower part of the dash where it meets with the console can creak when leaned on during enthusiastic cornering. Overall, though, it’s a minor issue.

Cabin changes over the base 250 include seats with much more lateral support, more expensive trim pieces, and its shift lever sprouts from the center console rather than on the steering column – a traditional Mercedes trait, it looks awkward in the modern CLA.The 45 AMG is an entirely different experience. Visually, it has bulkier fenders, a lower chin spoiler, bigger air intakes and more up front, a trunk-lid spoiler, deeper faux air extractors and big quad pipes out back, along with unique 19-inch wheels.

UNDER THE HOOD

Two versions of CLA are coming: the CLA 250 and the hoon-friendly 45 AMG. The former uses a new 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder found in products sold elsewhere, providing 208 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque. Mercedes-Benz says it’ll hit 60 mph from rest comfortably under seven seconds with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic.

Although the basic 2.0-liter turbocharged engine is the same between the two, nearly everything has been strengthened and enlarged to handle the radically expanded output. Power is 355 horsepower and 332 lb-ft of torque, which are humongous gains over the CLA 250, and like the division’s famous V8s and V12s, the four-banger is hand-assembled by one technician at AMGs German HQ.

The seven-speed dual-clutch remains, although again significantly beefed up. Where the 45 AMG makes the most on its plebeian sibling is the addition of standard 4MATIC all-wheel drive. Although normally biased towards the front in regular driving to save fuel, the instant that slip is detected – or you put your foot down – and power automatically routes to the back axle, up to a max 50:50 split.

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2014 Mercedes-Benz S550

SPECIFICATIONS

1. Pricing starts at $93,825, or about $130,000 as tested. 2. AWD model rated for 16 mpg city, 26 MPG highway. 3. Available wine cooler. 4. Customizable dual 12.3-inch screens display all info on dash.

PREVIEW

While critics might decry Mercedes-Benz entering a number of downmarket niches and with cheaper product – like the CLA and GLA – the truth is that increasing sales in those new categories helps pay for the more traditional stuff; the luxury and performance sedans that made Mercedes products into must-have accessories for the upper class.

So when a new S-Class comes along, it’s quite a big story given that models tend to stick around for a decade or so. It also tends to forecast all the new technology that eventually makes its way into less expensive products. Things like heated rear seats, active cruise control and more are things now available in reasonably priced compacts and mid-sizers alike.

INTERIOR

When off, the entire dashboard is an enormous blank canvas, but when alive, the twin 12.3-inch displays are fully customizable. They default to a pair of gauges, but can also provide easy access to all of the car’s various systems through the revised COMAND infotainment system. The control knob still sits on the center console within easy reach of your right hand, but now features buttons scattered around that cut some of the complication. Depending on how deep your pockets are, you can get heated and ventilated seats for every position and thanks to integrated air bladders and motors, can give several different styles of massages.While the performance figures are definitely impressive, the S-Class is always something better enjoyed inside its cosseting cabin. There’s organically shaped wood on the dash and doors while other bits are treated with leathers and some of the finest plastics and metals we’ve seen. The steering wheel takes special note here; it’s a slightly-squashed circle with wood and leather sections and metal inlays that feature the Mercedes-Benz name in script along the bottom. Major controls are found on the two spokes and it’s another piece of art, this one that you can hold.

The optional rear thrones in our tester feature nearly infinite ways to adjust and come separated by a wide console that can feature everything from secondary controls for the dual rear LCD screens, a wine cooler and more. Like the rest of the new S-Class, the materials and design are so much more luxurious than previous generations.

In fact, this sedan is good enough to make Maybach’s death seem almost forgettable. Better still, the S550 starts at $93,825 including delivery, which seems a relative bargain given all the improvements over the previous generation. Once you start adding in the various packages and standalone options, the as-tested price rises to over $130,000, however repeating the full list of features here would be longer than the actual review itself…

UNDER THE HOOD

It does 0-60 mph run in 4.8 seconds (0.2 quicker than before), helped by a little weight savings in the generational change: base 550s now weigh 4,729 pounds, while 4MATIC adds another 55. Fuel economy figures aren’t completely terrible – even with the 4MATIC model - at 16 mpg in the city and 26 on the highway helped by standard auto stop/start, although don’t expect the majority of owners to ever hit those.The range of engines is similar to before, but the S550 uses a 449-horsepower version of Benz’ twin-turbocharged 4.6-liter V8, which also offers a ridiculous 516 lb-ft of torque. These are numbers that a decade ago were top-line AMG-spec rockets and this is merely in the “middling” model. A seven-speed automatic transmission carries over, as does the optional 4MATIC all-wheel-drive system that keeps the big Merc pointed in the right direction once the rain or snow hits.

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2014 Mercedes-Benz E350 4MATIC Coupe

SPECIFICATIONS

1. A 3.5L direct injection V6 makes 302 hp and 273 lb-ft. 2. The only transmission available is a seven-speed automatic unit. 3. Fuel economy is rated at 20 mpg city and 28 mpg highway, while our testing returned 21 mpg. 4. Pricing starts at $53,125. Our test vehicle rang in at $64,770.

PREVIEW

Mercedes-Benz full-size coupes have long been lustrous status symbols; a way to declare wealth to the world. For 2010, Mercedes-Benz wanted to cash in on the panache created by these large two-door luxury barges with the mid-size E-Class Coupe. As good as the car was, it didn’t quite have the visual flair that commands respect like its pricier brothers.

EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR

For 2014, Mercedes-Benz hopes to have addressed this issue with a mid-cycle refresh that sees the E-Class coupe wearing reworked styling. For the first time since 1995, there no longer are four individual headlight housings. Each side of the E-Class now has a single pane covering the headlight cluster, but inside the "four-eye" look is retained thanks to creative use of LED strips sub-dividing the stock static LED headlights or, as found on our test vehicle, the fully adaptable LED units.

Between these lights is a pointier V-shape nose dominated by a massive three-prong logo on the grille to ensure all passersby know that this is, indeed, a Mercedes-Benz. More LEDs can be found in the tail lamps that wrap around from large flared out rear haunches. The E-Class Coupe retains a sleek, classic low-slung profile that looks great, but has a major drawback: headroom.

Front seat headroom is only 36.8 inches high, which is tight. For reference, that’s less headroom than a Corvette, Scion FR-S and even the Mazda Miata. At just over six feet tall, I found my cranium brushing against the headliner even with the seat reclined past personal comfort. In the rear, head space shrinks by another inch, but does offer decent-for-a-coupe 32.6 inches of rear legroom. So long legged, short-torso-having passengers should have no issues fitting back there.

Other than the skull crushing roofline, the front seat is very comfortable and highly customizable thanks to adjustable side bolsters and cushion length. The interior is the typical Mercedes-Benz setup with all functions controlled through the COMAND user interface. Our test vehicle was finished with “Dark Ash Wood” trim that looked great and fit the cars elegant nature.

UNDER THE HOOD

Power still comes from a 3.5-liter direct injection V6 that produces 302 hp and 273 lb-ft. Not terrible numbers, but the engine can feel overwhelmed by our all-wheel drive test vehicle’s 4,001-lb curb weight. It is strange to think a V6 that only makes 300 hp is getting to be perceived as under-powered, but that’s the case these days.

Paired to Mercedes 7G-Tronic seven-speed automatic transmission, the E 350 4MATIC coupe does make the most of its modest power for driving around town while emitting a nice subdued V6 rumble. But, at higher speeds the unfavorable power to weight ratio begins to rear its ugly head and the E 350 feels tepid. Making things worse, the transmission frequently paused between gear changes and delivered jerky, unsophisticated-for-a-Mercedes-Benz shifts. In ECO mode, where efficiency is the name of the game, these issues were even more obvious.

Speaking of fuel savings, the E 350 4MATIC is officially rated at 20 mpg city and 28 mpg highway. That is one mpg better than the 2013 model and during our week with the car we achieved an average of 21 mpg. Not a horrible result for a 4,000-lb vehicle, but with such an emphasis on fuel economy we hoped for better with the 3.5-liter V6.

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