Mercedes premiere Vision CLS coupe study at Frankfurt

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Wednesday September 17, 2003

Mercedes' Vision CLS concept - a unique synthesis between a coup' and a saloon that incorporates the world's first seven-speed automatic transmission for passenger cars - is making its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show alongside the supercharged "gullwing" SLR McLaren high-performance sports car.

The four-door coupe Vision CLS combines has a generously dimensioned interior offering a significant improvement in comfort and functionality compared to other coup'saccording to Mercedes. The distance between the front and rear seats is 829 millimetres (at the level of a saloon) and the 470-litre boot capacity also exceeds the figures for other coup's and many a saloon.

The Vision CLS is powered by a 195 kW/265 hp, bi-turbo diesel engine that accelerates the vehicle from zero to 100 km/h in only 6.4 seconds, the maximum speed being electronically limited to 250 km/h. Despite this impressive performance the six-cylinder engine is happy with 7.5 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres and meets the stringent EU-4 exhaust emission limits.

The coup' study is equipped with adaptive front airbags, windowbags and sidebags, as well as belt tensioners and belt force limiters for all seats, giving it the same high safety standard as the Mercedes luxury class.

Active headlamps, cornering lights and the electrohydraulic braking system Sensotronic Brake Control and use of the new 7G-TRONIC seven-speed automatic transmission are other special technical features of the Vision CLS.

As in the case of other studies and show cars, Mercedes-Benz will use the Frankfurt Motor Show to gauge the opinions of the public on this unique vehicle concept.

The new SLR McLaren high-performance sports car is also being presented to the public for the first time in Frankfurt. This modern incarnation of legendary 50's "swing-wing" sports racing cars is equipped with a 460 kW/626 hp supercharged V8 engine which catapults the two-seater from standstill to 100 km/h in just 3.8 seconds.