<div>The age of the connected car is here. And you know it’s truly arrived when a legendary hunk of Stuttgart engineering comes with intelligence baked into it. From the frameless door that rolls up its windows when you shut it, to the screen that sits on the dashboard to give you everything from navigation to movies, Mercedes Benz CLS 250 is filled with sensors and cameras to make for a high-tech ride.</div><div> </div><div>The recently announced 4-door coupe is, above all, lavishness packed into an exquisite design. The front grill is iconic thanks to the diamond-patterned mesh, and the headlights have a story of their own. Each headlight consists of 36 LEDs which automatically twist and turn to give the widest area of illumination on the road; this is a useful especially when the car is about to make a turn.</div><div> </div><div>There are also a lot of cameras fitted on the front, back and around the ORVMs to provide a full 360-degree view around the car on the in-dash display. Along with the cameras, the range of sensors all around the car send in alerts almost every single minute of your drive. That can get annoying if you’re not ready for a lot of information, but it doesn’t take long to get used to.</div><div> </div><div>The interiors are swanky, though low-roofed, and comfortable to the extreme. Mercedes has crafted the inside with wood and soft fabric around the large and spacious cabin. The leather seats are comfortable especially the front ones which can be adjusted easily via a knob system to adjust the height and placement of the base, back and the headrest. The dashboard console is something out of a sci-fi movie including a number of controls and a large display sitting on top for the infotainment system, which is now a standard for all new Mercedes cars. <br /><br />The display shows you maps and navigation, a top 360-degree view of the car while it’s moving, audio controls, connectivity features and more. A clever feature allows the system to be paired to your smartphone via Bluetooth and then use the mobile data to access the Internet, quite handy when you want to look for the closest gas station, but it also means you would require a fast Internet connection with ample amount of data. You can also read and send email and have your SMS read out, call people, play your music and so on. Apart from Bluetooth there are two full-sized USB ports to charge your devices and also to connect to the music system. Speaking of which, the CLS 250 comes with a standard set of 14 high quality Harman Kardon speakers throwing out 610 watts of audio power that transforms the car into a live music concert. Some of this means you need to be sitting in front, of course.</div><div><img src="/image/image_gallery?uuid=c0a9f78e-7a63-474b-9cca-cbae1024ea7a&groupId=222861&t=1432883644890" width="300" height="200" vspace="2" hspace="1" align="right" alt="" /></div><div> </div><div>Apart from the entertainment and comfort, the CLS 250 comes with a lot of other clever tech to make your ride safer and more intuitive. Firstly there is the ‘Attention Assist’ system that sends in vibrations to the steering and sets off an alarm to make the driver more alert in case he is feeling drowsy. Then there is the ‘Adaptive Brake’ system which along with the ABS (Anti-lock brake system) senses the drivers reactions and automatically applies a certain amount of brake to avoid accidents and collisions. The most exciting feature of all though, is the Active Parking Assist with PARKTRONIC. This smart feature allows you to park the car automatically, without the driver having to steer or accelerate, and yes it is accurate. The car, through its sensors and cameras, detects if there is enough parking space. Once it does, you only need to push a lever to tell the car to start parking, and with amazing accuracy the car automatically steers and accelerates to park itself.</div><div> </div><div>Coming to the raw details of the car, the CLS 250 comes only in a 4-cylinder, 2143cc diesel variant. The engine comes with an automatic seven-front speed and two-rear speed gearbox which is very nimble. For those who want all the control in their hands, the car comes with paddle gear shifters on either sides of the steering, giving you that F1 experience. The engine is surprisingly quite and you don’t feel the grunt when you are sitting inside, but with a power output of 204bhp, it is not a slow car at all, in fact it can go 0-100km/h in just 7.5 seconds. </div><div> </div><div>The CLS 250 is an extraordinary experience that puts together comfort, luxury, power and safety thanks to all the engineering and advanced technology used by Mercedes. If money is no bar, this could be your car. </div><div> </div><div>(The authors are Mala Bhargava and Kunal Khullar)</div><div> </div><div>(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 15-06-2015)</div>
 (1)_20241001214828_original_image_25.webp)
