Ian Lamming shrugs off the chilly conditions and goes topless in the latest Mercedes CLE Cabriolet
IT’S late and I’m ready for bed…then the phone goes. Number one son has missed the last bus home and, as it’s a nine-mile walk along unlit country roads, he needs parents to come to the rescue. Well, if I must.
It’s just as well I’m in a cool car, for his sake and for mine. When I turn up in my silk dressing gown and cravat he is going to need the Mercedes CLE Cabriolet’s swish lines to divert his chums’ eyes away from the driver. And if it wasn’t for the Mercedes’ winning ways I’d be in the grump to end all grumps.
As I walk towards where the CLE is parked it only takes one glance to change my mood. It really is a fetching looking car, all wide and purposeful, all sleek and sporty. Open the heavy, high quality door and slip inside the cockpit and there’s plenty to love, especially at night.
Press the starter and a kaleidoscope lightshow is a feast for the eyes. The headlamps perform a veritable firework display of Mercedes’ monikers before settling down to illuminate the road like it’s day.
Inside, the serene cabin is blessed with periwinkle ambient lighting, the purple blue LED doing something masterful with your emotions.
The large central touchscreen and virtual dash provide a cosy warm glow that makes you feel at home and then the piece de resistance comes in the form of the sound system.
The Burmester® 3D surround sound system is absolutely magnificent and I hook it up to Spotify.
I’m listening to the soundtrack of the latest Deadpool/Wolverine movie and the rap music is bouncing around the interior – that’ll impress the kids even if my silk dressing gown leaves them cold.
Then, just as I pull around the corner on full blast, the track changes – to Careless Whisper by George Michael and all creditability is lost. The boy scowls, shakes his head and his friends scurry off out of embarrassment.
There is no better vehicle to be in for navigating those nine miles of unlit country lanes. The boy is still in ‘too cool to acknowledge a parent mode’ so I crank up the Burmester® and enjoy the ride.
The CLE may only be a 2.0 litre four cylinder but there is 258hp and a 23hp boost from the mild hybrid system, which is more than enough to propel the Mercedes to 62mph in 6.6 seconds and on to a top speed of 155mph.
The slick automatic gearbox has nine ratios with top being tall enough for economical motorway cruising and a means to achieve almost 40mpg. That means a decent range of more than 500 miles is achievable on a single tank.
On the following day comes an opportunity to get the roof down. It’s easy: press a button on the transmission tunnel, the windows drop and the insulated canvas hood stows neatly away, accentuating the CLE’s glorious lines. It really suits being lid-less.
In town, for maximum posing, the draught has to be endured with all the windows down; you have to suffer for your aesthetic after all.
In truth, it’s not bad at all and even at higher speeds it never gets any worse than pleasantly fresh. Crank up the heating on your feet and face, put up the four windows and the Aircap rear screen and activate the Airscarf, which pumps hot air on to your neck via the headrest. It all conspires to be pretty cosy while you enjoy the 92 million miles of headroom, which is great.
It’s even more exhilarating somehow with the roof down when you can revel in all that performance, four-wheel-drive and exemplary, adjustable suspension.
CLE shines in every way and makes a pleasure out of even the most onerous tasks – like turning out late at night in your jim-jams to collect a clueless son.
