RSS_Auto_Poster
Well-known member
When we first saw Mercedes-Benz's Concept Coupe SUV, we had no context, nor data, about its size. We surmised it was probably a smaller, A-Class based offering. It isn't.
Today we can reveal that the big Merc is indeed a Big Merc: it measures nearly five metres in length and stands 1.75m tall, dimensions that put it on par with the BMW X6, though it's a touch wider even than that monster Beemer.
It's just a study into how a potential four-door, four-wheel-drive SUV/Coupe Thing could look, using design elements familiar to other Benz coupes in the range.
Such as the rear end, designed with the new S-Class Coupe in mind - that slim band of lights and rear window with a rounded top. There are frameless side windows and recessed door handles. There are massive 22in wheels. The front meanwhile, features LED headlights, ‘soft cubes' in the grille insert and a forward sloping bonnet with Merc's ‘power dome'.
That's a signal to the 333bhp, twin-turbo V6 fitted underneath it, the same twin-turbo V6 Mercedes has just announced for the SL400 (that replaces the SL350). It's 354lb ft has to propel... some amount of mass (we're not told how much it weighs), but is nevertheless channeled through a NINE-SPEED auto ‘box and permanent four-wheel-drive.
It also gets the new S-Class Coupe's active curve system, active air suspension, and ceramic brakes too, to further drill home the point that this car will be a schporty SUV Coupe.
"With its superior sportiness it conveys a sense of modern luxury and aesthetic aspirations of sensual clarity," says Mercedes design chief Gorden Wagener. It's even painted in a hue inspired by the classic Silver Arrows colour used for the 1930s and 1950s.
But tell us, is it a step too far for Merc, or is this the Benz you've been crying out for?
Written By:- Vijay Pattni
More of this article on the Top gear website
