The Morning Call and Mcall.com's view

While many designers have marched down the ”form follows function” path for too many years, the new CLS sedan is extravagant in flaunting its form over function.

The car’s excessive grace is in contrast to Mercedes-Benz tradition, where engineering prowess, not styling, is its key selling point.

But the CLS doesn’t appeal or stand up to anything resembling rational thought.

The car employs the E-Class platform, but has a higher price and less interior space. It seats four, not five as in the E-Class. There’s no wagon or all-wheel-drive variant. It even uses the same V-8 engines.

But who cares?

Just look at this thing. It’s sex with four tires.

How about, ”I’ll take one?”

The new CLS comes in two flavors, the wild CLS500 with a 302-horsepower single-overhead-cam 5-liter V-8, and the wilder CLS55 with a 469-horsepower supercharged single-overhead-cam 5.4-liter V-8. A seven-speed automatic is standard on the CLS500, a five-speed automatic is standard on the CLS55. Both transmissions can be shifted manually, and steering-wheel-mounted shift buttons are optional on the CLS500, standard on the CL55.

Mercedes-Benz provided a CLS500 for testing.

The phrase ”road trip” came to mind.

The power is effortless, with the new seven-speed automatic being up to the challenge most of the time. Occasionally, under light throttle, the car hesitated to downshift, something I’ve encountered on other Mercedes-Benz cars with this same transmission. Otherwise the driveline is flawless.

The ride is firm, but not jarring, despite the massive low-profile 18-inch tires. Grip is prodigious and the rear stayed planted, even on what passes for roads in upstate New York. Cornering is flat. Body lean in corners is non-existent. The steering is nicely weighted.

Braking is outstanding. The CLS employs an electronic braking system that can adjust the brake pressure to each wheel individually. Anti-lock brakes, brake assist and traction control are standard.

The car is very quiet considering the massive rubber it wears. The only real music (aside from Sirius satellite radio piped in via the excellent Harmon-Kardon stereo system), was the refined growl of the muscular V-8.

Certainly the car’s performance matches its sensuous lines. But how’s the cabin?

Cozy.

Getting into this car means carefully maneuvering yourself into the car while ducking down so as not too bash your bean on the low roofline. Once inside, you’ll find the seat is amazingly firm and comfortable thanks to built-in air bladders that adjust the seat firmness. It’s an easy place to spend a few hundred miles at a shot. Head and leg room up front are sufficient.

Back seat accommodations are cramped, thanks to small doors, a sloping roofline, little leg room and a rear console. Call it a theoretical back seat.

The dashboard is typical of a modern Mercedes, with lots of buttons and easy navigation once you get the hang of it. Ergonomically, the only thing out of place is the lever for the cruise control, which is too easy to hit when you mean to hit the turn signal lever.

Trunk space is excellent, with a large, wide area in which to toss some weekend gear.

Build quality, as well as fit and finish, is excellent. Nothing actually went wrong, which is amazing considering the electro-magnetic field this car’s components must generate.

Still it was my heart, not my head, that did the talking.

In many ways, this car eschews the trend toward comfort at the expense of elegance. Its cramped interior is the result of extravagant, glamorous style. If comfort and ease of egress were all that mattered, we’d all be driving minivans. (Perish the thought.)

But true sexiness in motorcars demands a price paid in some discomfort. The CLS 500 has that. But its glamorous allure more than makes up for it. If you can understand that, you can appreciate this wonderful car.

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lprintz@mcall.com

610-820-6713