Mercedes CLC with USB and iPod interface
This is Mercedes’ new CLC, only it's not quite so new. Underneath it’s really the old Sports Coupe with a nose from the C-class grafted on to give it more modern engines and help it pass the latest crash regulations. In fact, the new CLC has exactly the same wheelbase (2715mm) as the old Sports Coupe, and the same size boot.
To the accountants at Stuttgart it made more sense to heavily revise the current car rather than to start afresh. That doesn’t mean the engineers haven’t been hard at work though: Mercedes claims over 1100 parts on the CLC are new or revised compared to the old car.
Mercedes was never going to stop making the Sports Coupe. Over 320,000 have found homes since 2001, and with over 70 percent of cars sold being conquest sales, and then over two-thirds of Sports Coupe buyers sticking with the Mercedes brand it’s a car Stuttgart cannot afford to be without.
All CLCs come as standard with a six-speed manual, but a five-speed auto is optional on the four-cylinder cars, a seven-speed auto can be had with the CLC 230, and it’s standard on the CLC 350.
The new car keeps the old car’s interior dash architecture, and many of the same materials. Thus the quality is nothing like that of the latest C-class, and is not much of a step forward compared to the current car either. The dial for the lights, and the buttons below the central air vents seem especially cheap. Has Mercedes not seen the BMW 1-series Coupe?
But despite the old architecture you do get new electronics. The CLC can now be had with a USB and iPod interface, and the standard leather-covered multi functional steering wheel lets you scroll through your iPod’s tracks which are displayed on the color screen. The new Command multimedia system also offers hard-disk sat-navigation for faster operation, while ESP and front and rear parking sensors are standard on all cars.
