Dear Ann Arbor, Michigan: With the C-Class and E-Class coupes and convertibles, Mercedes is trying something new. This is happening at a time when many cars are being phased out in favor of electric ones. Instead, it combines the two ways into one, and its power source is internal combustion. The new CLE Class has taken the place of the C and E Coupes. It makes the lineup simpler by combining the best parts of both models. Because of this, there is a lot of familiarity, even though it is a completely new type.
The CLE is bigger than the E-Class, but it’s better in more ways than one. There are 0.3 inches less wheelbase than on the E-Class Coupe, but 0.6 inches more length. The body is 0.1 inches bigger, 0.3 inches longer, and 0.1 inches shorter than the E. Its long, low-slung, but strong shape is perfect for a sporty, high-end car. Its lights, character lines, decor, and grille all go well with the genetic makeup of the family. The Manufaktur Graphite Grey Magno paint job on our CLE 450 tester went well with the sporty look of the car.
When we walked inside, we saw Mercedes’s red leather Multicountour seats facing a panel that most people would recognize. There is a metal weave trim that looks like brighter carbon fiber between the infotainment and driver display screens in this case. The driver’s stance is long and low, sinking into the seats and giving them plenty of room to stretch their legs out as the wheel moves to meet them. We were really interested in the CLE’s seat, which made us want to drive. The high beltline doesn’t make it much harder to see, but it does make it hard to tell where the corners of the car are while driving and makes parking in a busy lot very dangerous.
If you lean the back of the chair forward, it will move forward on its own, making it easier to get in. To get to the second row of seats, pull the “Nappa loop,” which is a leather hitch that goes from the shoulder of the front seat, hard. The back has two separate seats that are just as sporty and can be adjusted more than the front chairs. Except for the small amount of headroom, it’s comfy. The CLE Coupe has 0.4 inches more headroom than the C-Class Coupe and 0.4 inches less headroom than the E-Class Coupe. This makes it in the middle of the three. I was six feet tall, so there was plenty of room for my shoulders, hips, and legs. However, the back of my head was lying against the headliner, which made me feel a little trapped at first. However, my tall, almost nine-year-old son didn’t care and jumped on the bike whenever he could.
The CLE 450 has a 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder turbocharged engine that makes 375 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque. The CLE 300, on the other hand, has a 2.0-liter turbo-four engine that sends 255 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque to all four wheels. The 48-volt mild hybrid system has an electric starter/generator built in that can make up to 23 horsepower and 151 pound-feet of torque. The battery is also charged by regenerative braking. The time it takes to go from 0 to 60 is 4.2 seconds.
Everything works well, even though things move quickly. Adding the light hybrid system helps cut down on turbo lag, and acceleration up the rev ladder is smooth. This straight-line behavior can also be seen in the nine-speed automatic transmission, which does a great job of making changing speeds smooth. But when we use the paddles in manual mode, we’d like the transmission to be a little more urgent—it doesn’t give us the satisfying feeling we need when we choose our speeds. Okay, turn it on automatically, let it sort the gears out, and work on the rest of the drive.
What do you think about car noise that isn’t real? Because the CLE 450 has “Progressive Sport Sound,” the tone of the engine sounds fuller, especially in the bass. The sound was made by AMG, who thought it was too good for the CLE 300’s smaller size. From inside the interior, you can’t hear much of the inline-six engine if the windows are closed. When set off, it makes a nice low-pitched growl as it drives through the city. When driving more rapidly, it gives you more sound input to match the acceleration. It sounds a little robotic, but okay. You can turn it off in the menu if you don’t like it.
“Sport” suspension is standard on the CLE 450, but you can choose it for the 300 if you want. It’s a nice, smooth ride, no matter what you use it for. On smoother roads, it almost hovers, which makes the bumps and bangs of a rough road much less noticeable. It’s not completely asleep; there is just enough high-frequency buzzing and road-hugging to make us think we are always aware of what’s going on below. It doesn’t mope around when it’s being abused, but comfort seems to be its main goal, even in Sport mode. Because the car’s steering was smooth and accurate, we were able to test its side-to-side grip without getting hot or cracking our hands.
That might be because the massage feature of the Multicontour seats is making people feel less stressed.
The newest MBUX operating system includes “zero-layer” technology that is used in Mercedes’ electric EQ cars and is used for entertainment. The CLE uses no full, heavy Hyperscreen setup. Instead, an 11.9-inch diagonal tablet for entertainment that is set up in portrait mode has been added. A 12.3-inch digital instrument screen is in front of the driver. At first, both the car and the user need some time to get used to each other. However, as you get to know each other better, it gets easier to use the entertainment system because the zero-layer system puts the things you use most on the main screen.
A feature called “routines” is part of the CLE 450’s entertainment system. This lets you set conditions that, when met, make a vehicle act in a certain way. These conditions could be time, temperature, or other factors. Think of it as an “if-then” statement. You can set the CLE to turn on the air-conditioned seats if the temperature inside gets above, say, 74 degrees. This way, you will be able to catch your favorite show. You can also set the car to automatically tune to a certain radio station at a certain time. Mercedes plans to use formulas made by AI to make the system even more automated. At first, these routines will include warming the seat, letting air flow through it, and massaging it. Later, they will be improved upon.
We didn’t always drive for fun when it came to our daily lives. We had to run some errands as well, and there was nothing about the CLE that stopped us from using it for these less important tasks. There was a lot of getting in and out, but it wasn’t a problem for the driver. We saw that getting in and out of the car was very easy for something this low, even though the door couldn’t open all the way. There was a little more trouble getting a child in and out of the back seat because you need strong arms to reach and pull the leather loop. Even though the CLE’s trunk looked small at 11.2 cubic feet, it easily fit our big tote bags because it had plenty of space below and above. It would be hard to avoid the urge to take the long, winding route home so that the bags’ contents stay in the trunk.
The base price for the four-cylinder 300-powered CLE Coupe is $57,650, which includes delivery. The base price for the 450-powered I6 CLE Coupe is $66,800. Our CLE 450 tester cost $77,700 because it had a lot of expensive extras, such as 20-inch wheels ($1,150), red leather ($1,620), the Driver Assistance Package ($1,950), multi-contour massage seats ($950), and matte gray paint ($3,250). Still, it looks and feels exactly like the price, and some people we talked to thought it would cost a lot more. The Pinnacle Trim ($2,600) is the only big option package that ours did not have. It comes with “Digital Light” headlights, augmented video for the navigation system, the AMG head-up display, and Dolby Atmos audio.
It will be called the Mercedes-AMG CLE 53 Coupe and cost $73,950. It will have 443 horsepower and 413 pound-feet of torque and be called the Mercedes-AMG CLE 53 Coupe. We’re interested to see if it has the same grace and speed as the 450 and if it will replace the Progressive Sport. The CLE 450 is still a strong but manageable coupe with a high level of luxury and style, even if some comfort may have to be given up for speed.
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