High fashion, mild hybrid: 2019 Mercedes-Benz CLS 450 with EQ Boost

I'll call it sleek, I'll call it stylish but one thing I will not call the Mercedes CLS is the coup. It's got four doors, that's makes it [UNKNOWN] to the end. There's no such thing as the four door coup. I don't care what those savages over in marketing try to tell you. But one thing that we will agree on, is that this is a fantastic ride, made all the better by the first application on Mercedes Benz is 48 vault mile hybrid system. So grab shotgun with me and we'll see how good it is. [MUSIC] Now the CLS sort of slides in between the E class It's in the larger F Class, and what it brings to the table that the E doesn't is a healthy dose of style. And that starts up front with a new, really aggressive front end design with these triangular headlights that are gonna be Mercedes' design language going forward. I think they're a huge improvement over the sort of blob-shaped lights that you get on things like the C class. From the current S class. And out back is probably not my favorite part of this car, it's simple, but perhaps a little bit too simple and a little bit droopy at that, plus there's this weird sort of pod area around the license plate frame that just sort of things tack on and out of place on the rest of this car. And of course, we've already talked about that sort of four door coup profile, which looks really good on this car, no matter what, What you call it. It's a little bit slab sided but when you got a profile that is nice looking, it sort of makes this car look purposeful and not overdesigned. I dig it. [SOUND] And you might think [UNKNOWN] steeply racked roof cuts into the head room at the second row, which it does, but perhaps not as much as you might think. Plus there's three seating positions back there meaning that the CLS is now a five seater which means it's a little bit more practical. Now up front we've got a cabin design that was borrowed almost wholesale from the Mercedes S class, and this is a good looking car, especially as a [UNKNOWN]. We've got nice leathers, really good wood texture here, these metal vents, the whole thing looks Fantastic. And in front of me, we've got new dual screen command infotainment system that debuted on the s-class as well. It's not the [UNKNOWN] system that's gonna be on the CLA, but it's a solid load out of technology Quality here. It's really easy to interact with and it borrows most of the features that we saw on the S class including one of my favorite features, the energizing comfort system. That's a set of preset sort of mood base drive Mode that affect the ambient lighting, the climate control system, the heated seats, even things like the scent coming through the vent, there's some perfume in the glove box here that kind of comes through in certain modes to give you a mood of relaxation or invigoration, it's kinda cool. There's a lot of tech here, the Mercedes interface does have it's So you're gonna wanna spend some time in a parking lot figuring out where everything is before you crash into somebody trying to access Android auto. Fortunately we've already done that for you in a separate video that you can check out on our site. Other noteworthy tech includes a suite of driver aid features in here added also from the S class, and that's gonna include an adaptive [UNKNOWN] control system that works in stop and go traffic. But also recognizes traffic signs. So if you set your cruise control in a 70 mile per hour zone but pass into a 50 mile per hour zone it can automatically lower your cruising speed so you don't get a ticket. We've also got a really good lane keeping steering assistant. It's a hands-on set up. But it does a good job of helping to keep the car centered in its lane without feeling like you're constantly struggling for control of the wheel against the computer. Then there's really good that sort of effortless feel kind of stuff. We've also got more cameras than you know what to do with, with aid in parking but also power and automatic parallel parking system. We're not gonna test it today but trust me it works. Really well. [MUSIC] Of course one of the most note worthy pieces of technology isn't something you can see from here because it's It's in the engine bay. It's gonna be the first consumer application of Mercedes Benz's 48 volt [UNKNOWN] hybrid system. It makes a 3 liter inline, 6 cylinder, turbo charged engine that makes 362 horsepower and 369 pound feet of torque. with an electric motor that adds a paltry 21 horsepower, but also a really healthy. 184 lb-ft of torque. Now, it's a mild high, this car never operates completely under electric power but that e-motor is able to add bursts of torque during strong acceleration and really aid and feeling the speed. Mostly it just sort of hangs in the background, aiding the in-line 6 cylinder engine and just making it feel more like a big beefy V8. It sort of fills in those gaps where the turbo Might be lacking on acceleration of between shifts and just makes this whole care feel really smooth. And the best way to describe it is purposeful. It has a very purposeful acceleration. The 48 volts system also powers the auto stop starts System which prevents idling when you're at a traffic light. And it starts the engine backup so quickly, so smoothly, that you probably won't even notice that it's happening. It just seems like the car idles quietly. In its most economical mode, the eco setting, it also shuts the engine down while you're coasting that you save a little bit of fuel there. And it's happened a couple of times while we were driving around today and How did you even notice it? It's so smooth. Now helping the rest of the performance feel as smooth as that power train is our optional air body control suspension. It has three settings tied to three different drive modes. Sports, sport plus and comfort that are gonna allow you to somewhat adjust the character of the way that this vehicle handles bumps and corners. [SOUND] Overall, the CLS feels like a baby S class which from where I'm sitting it kind of is, giving the level of technology that inherits on that car as well as the luxurious appointment. But it's so much more and as a first showing of Mercedes's mount hybrid technology, it is a promising one. One. However a car that inherits this much S class DNA's gotta come with a big S class price tag right? [MUSIC] The 2019 Mercedes Benz CLS 450 starts that, well, the price hasn't been announced just yet, but based on the previous generation, I'm expecting it to start somewhere between 75 and $80,000. What do I know is that we've got like $25000 with options on this bad boy mean that Tesla we are looking at like a hundred thousand dollars car and there is no way around that's a lot of money but I considering it heredity all the bit heavy technology and luxurious [UNKNOWN] from one of the best luxuries cars in the world let's say this is a best class and improve on the formula with a [UNKNOWN] type resistance that is just super smooth. I think it's not a totally unreasonable price. [MUSIC]