Mercedes CLC: Reduced fuel consumption up to 10.8 percent from other cars  

Mercedes-Benz has put together the sports package for drivers looking for sporting flair. It includes exclusive engineering innovations and equipment extras such as 18-inch light-alloy wheels, wide-base tyres, headlamps with black inner surrounds, sports suspension with lowered body, leather sports steering wheel and dark brushed aluminum trim elements. Another special feature which the Mercedes CLC inherits from its racing car counterparts is the instrument cluster with red needles for the speedometer and rev counter. Once the engine is switched on, these needles spin once around the dial before returning to their start positions. The standard specification for the sports package includes a new direct-steer system, which further enhances the agile driving experience of the Mercedes CLC while adding an important boost to safety. This new feature is based on the speed-sensitive power steering and also offers a variable rack ratio which changes as a function of the steering angle so that the driver only has to turn the wheel slightly when cornering; the Sports Coupe therefore responds far more spontaneously to steering commands and offers even sportier handling. As a result, the direct-steer system also improves handling safety in critical situations - for instance when taking sudden evasive action as the field tests conducted by the Mercedes engineers demonstrate. 

The Sports Coupe's design, technology and equipment meet the discerning requirements of young drivers looking for an athletic car that gives an involving drive, while at the same time delivering the hallmark Mercedes quality standards in terms of safety, comfort, environmental compatibility and functionality. Compared with the previous Sports Coupe, the Mercedes engineers have newly developed or enhanced over 1100 components. Engineering highlights of the MERCEDES CLC include a new direct-steer system for even more agile cornering, state-of-the-art infotainment systems featuring a color display, Europe-wide DVD or hard-disc navigation and media interface, as well as an updated four-cylinder engine that now develops 135 kW/184 hp. Fuel consumption has been reduced by up to 10.8 percent compared with the outgoing model. 

The Mercedes designers have completely redesigned the front and rear so that the Sports Coupe embodies the contemporary Mercedes design idiom with its distinctive coupe radiator grille featuring a large Mercedes star in the centre, and the new projection-beam headlamps. The S-Class, the luxury CL-Class Coupe and the C-Class provided the stylistic models. The redesigned large tailgate conceals a variable boot with up to 1100 liters of luggage capacity. The new tail lights, the long row of LEDs which make up the third brake light unit and the rear bumper subdivide the rear and emphasize its width. The six-speed manual transmission comes as standard with all engine variants. Mercedes-Benz can also supply a five-speed automatic transmission for the four‑cylinder units, and the 7G-TRONIC seven-speed automatic transmission for the V6 models. In combination with the sports package, the driver can use gearshift paddles on the steering wheel to select the gears of the automatic transmission manually and make optimum use of the engines’ high power reserves when the driving situation calls for it.