First Drives, Luxury Cars, Mercedes-Benz

First Drive: 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupé

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May 11, 2009

2010 Mercedes-Benz E350 Coupé (top) and E550 (bottom). Click image to enlarge

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2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupé

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Review and photos by Paul Williams

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2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupé

Florence, Italy – It’s hard for any vehicle to compete with the rich history of Florence, let alone the city’s nearby picturesque villages, and stunning Tuscan vistas that pull your attention this way and that. But you couldn’t ask for a much nicer conveyance between these places than the new 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupé.

Replacing the CLK-Class, here’s a car in the Grand Turismo tradition that whisks you effortlessly along super highways, or meanders sure-footedly over cobblestones and along country lanes. Fast or slow, the keynotes are comfort and class, although the E-Class Coupé is quite capable of high-performance manoeuvres when asked.

Available as a 268-horsepower, 3.5-litre V6-powered E350, or a 382-horsepower, 5.5-litre, V8-powered E550 (designated the E500 in markets outside North America), the E-Class Coupé comes by its sleek shape honestly, generating an impressive 0.24 coefficient of drag (Cd), which is currently the world’s lowest Cd for a production car. Exterior design, specifically the flip over the rear wheel, pays homage to earlier Mercedes coupes like the 220S Ponton from the mid-1950s. But this is a thoroughly modern vehicle, with a profile that’s both sporty and elegant; it looks expensive, exclusive and capable, as it should.

2010 Mercedes-Benz E350 Coupé (top) and E550 (bottom). Click image to enlarge

Standard equipment highlights for the E350 include a seven-speed automatic transmission with shift paddles (7G-TRONIC), 17-inch alloy wheels, panoramic sunroof, leather upholstery, ten-way power front seats with memory, multi-function steering wheel with advanced multi-information display, Pre-Safe braking that helps prevent collisions, Agility Control, which continuously adjusts damping to a harder or softer setting depending on road conditions, and a driver-selectable Dynamic Handling Package that varies driving characteristics between Comfort and Sport settings.

Also standard is Attention Assist, a technology designed to enhance driving safety on long journeys and when driving at night. This system analyzes the driver’s behaviour (particularly patterns detected from irregular steering wheel movements), detects symptoms of drowsiness, and emits a visual and audible warning if required.

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