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Not since the 1990s has a two-door coupé worn the S-Class badge, but that will change at the Geneva Motor Show next month as the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupé arrives to replace the CL-Class. Borrowing heavily from the styling of its saloon brother, it features an 'active leaning' function and Swarovski crystal headlights.
Exterior
While Audi and BMW are duking it out to be the first to bring laser headlights to market (a fight BMW looks to have won) Mercedes-Benz has taken a different approach: crystals. Swarovski crystals to be precise. Available from the options list the system uses 17 angular crystals to form the daytime running lamps, with a further 30 round-shaped crystals making up the indicators. Quite what advantage crystals bring to the party remains to be seen but they could prove to be a winning hand in a game of golf-club Top Trumps.
Crystal headlights aside the production version of the S-Class Coupé is remarkably similar to the concept car that was shown in Frankfurt last year with its long bonnet leading to a flowing roofline, pillar-less doors and a stubby rear end with oversized arches. Depending on spec those arches are filled either with 19- or 20-inch alloy wheels. Around the back the licence plate has been relocated to the rear bumper (which features an integrated diffuser) leaving the three-pointed star to take pride of place on the boot lid. A good thing too as it pivots outwards when reversing to reveal the integrated reversing camera - or the optional 360-degree camera.
Interior
Take the interior from the saloon model and make it sportier seems to have been the direction given to the interior designers, as much will be immediately recognisable from the four-door flagship. The split level dashboard has been retained but leather takes on a more prominent role in the coupé. Centrally located controls have been retained too, as have the saloon's dual-TFT monitors.
Strictly a 2+2 with the rear seats being individual units, the coupé introduces new interior colours such as Bengal red, saddle brown and porcelain, while the panoramic roof with Magic Sky Control is carried over from the preceding CL model, albeit at 1.32 m2, it appears nigh on 150 per cent larger than before. At the flick of a switch the roof can go from transparent to almost opaque with a roller blind employed to finish the job.
Mechanicals
Under the bonnet of the Geneva show car will be the 4.7-litre bi-turbo V8 engine from the S 500 saloon. With a power output of 455hp and 700Nm of torque it should be devilishly quick, though no performance figures are yet quoted by Mercedes-Benz. Its executives do say that "The sporty motoring experience is significantly enhanced by the emotional sound produced by the exhaust system". The system itself is active with flaps that open depending on how the car is driven and in what mode it is being driven in.
No further word on what other powerplants will be available in the S-Class Coupé when it hits the market, though we have to guess it will be offered with most of the derivatives its saloon brother has, meaning everything from the 258hp S 350 BlueTec diesel model up to the 585hp S 63 AMG with its 5.4-litre V8.
The S-Class Coupé may be more than just about pulverising power however, thanks to a pair of clever systems. The Magic Body Control system that debuted on the S-Class Saloon will be joined by an active curve tilting function, which will allow the car to 'lean' into corners in much the same way that bikers do.
Anything else?
As with the saloon the S-Class Coupé is available with all manner of safety equipment, which, in Mercedes-Benz speak, all have to be written with Caps Lock ON - COLLISION PREVENTION ASSIST PLUS, PRE-SAFE and indeed PRE-SAFE PLUS. The big coupé is not just a bunch of safety systems wrapped around a V8 however, as Ola Källenius, Member of the Board of Management summarises, it is "As exclusive as it gets - the ultimate in aesthetic sportiness."
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