2019 Mercedes-Benz CLS550

2019 Mercedes-Benz CLS550

Any time a journalist starts waxing poetic about automotive styling, you can practically hear designers' eyes spinning in their sockets. I've met plenty of automotive scribes with a master's degree in mechanical engineering, but I've yet to shake hands with one packing a design sheepskin. Granted, the average car buyer is better served by someone with an intimate knowledge of liquid thermodynamics and the finer points of suspension geometry. But then along comes something like the 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS550 and we simply don't have the vocabulary. Stepping out for a smoke with the lead automotive artist from Mercedes' Advanced Design Studio, it's hard not to look at the second-generation CLS and start playing styling critic. The play between light and shadow; the sculpted rear haunches; the character line that rises then plummets from the headlamps, across the fenders and terminates in the rear doors. Who am I kidding? I'm of no station to make you endure endless, uneducated platitudes cribbed from the car-as-art schtick. I just know the new CLS looks damned good from any angle, particularly the the waning sunlight of California's Napa Valley.

But here's the kicker: The design is nearly seven years old. The 37-year-old designer (so what have you done with your life?) was tasked with pitching his design to the corporate heads in Germany. Lee admits, conceding that designers always draw exaggerated concepts to ensure that some of their favorite elements make it to production. Judging by the initial sketches and the CLS550 we just snagged the keys to, Lee and his Southern California design team have managed to get more than a fraction of the original design into production. Whereas the fascias of the latest SLK and SL look a bit tacked-on, the new face of Mercedes-Benz appears wholly integrated into the CLS. From our vantage point, its C-shaped foglamp surrounds, upright grille and mirror-filling Three-Pointed Star gel into the best iteration of M-B's corporate nose to date. The body looks milled from a solid chunk of steel and makes the still-beautiful departing model look positively dated by comparison. And that's just the outside.

Credit Mercedes' continued propensity for making the best torque converter-equipped auto 'boxes on the market, the CLS550' seven-speed - even in Sport mode - is a more refined gearbox than the Speedshift MCT setup fitted to the CLS63. Shifts might not be neck-snappingly quick, but they're smooth and measured, and coupled with the nearly lagless turbo 4.6-liter, high-speed freeway runs and backroad blasts are effortlessly dispatched without sacrificing engagement. The electromechanical, power-assisted speed-sensitive rack-and-pinion steering tightens up for the twisties and goes slack in parking lots, delivering just enough feel to inform your palms, while remaining staid and unencumbered when making small corrections on the highway. The same goes for the standard Airmatic semi-active suspension with adaptive damping, which, partnered with the three-link independent front suspension and multi-link rear, makes for a comfortable ride in all manner of conditions. And on the subject of all conditions, Benz's 4Matic all-wheel drive will be available, turning the CLS into an foul-weather flyer. Lee and his crew might have sweated remaking a modern-day aesthetic icon, but they've done one better: They've reestablished the CLS as the definitive slant-roof sedan. It's just too bad we skipped out on the Advanced Industrial Art class in college. We might have had the credibility to call it one of the best automotive designs of the 21st century.

In this case, the sidewall height works out to be 96 millimeters. This letter denotes how your tire was constructed. Radial is the standard construction method for about 99% of all tires sold today. The tire size was designed to fit rims or wheels that are 18 inches in diameter. This tire has a load index of 95, which means it's capable of carrying a load of 1518 pounds (690 kg) or less. A higher number means the tire can carry more weight. A lower number means the opposite. This tire has a speed rating of Y, which means 186 mph (300 km/h) is the maximum speed that can be sustained for 10 minutes. A higher speed becomes dangerous. Simplified size is useful for shopping and buying tires. The original tire size for your 2007 Mercedes-Benz CLS550 is 255/40ZR18/XL (99Y) (Front). A color-coded explanation of the 2007 Mercedes-Benz CLS550's tire size is shown below. This number indicates that your tire has a width of 255 millimeters. This number means that your tire has an aspect ratio of 40%. In other words, your tire's sidewall height (from the edge of the rim to the tire's tread) is 40% of the width.

In this case, the sidewall height works out to be 102 millimeters. This tire has a speed class of Z, which means it's part of an elite speed class of 149 mph or more (240 km/h). A tire's speed class is less specific than the speed rating. This letter denotes how your tire was constructed. Radial is the standard construction method for about 99% of all tires sold today. The tire size was designed to fit rims or wheels that are 18 inches in diameter. The mark of XL means extra load. A tire with this designation can handle higher inflation pressures than a regular tire, which increases its maximum load. This tire has a load index of 99, which means it's capable of carrying a load of 1705 pounds (775 kg) or less. A higher number means the tire can carry more weight. A lower number means the opposite. This tire has a speed rating of Y, which means 186 mph (300 km/h) is the maximum speed that can be sustained for 10 minutes. A higher speed becomes dangerous.