Mercedes Benz has added to it's luxury image with a super design CLS Class range. This combines coupe styling with more space, accessibility and a decent boot. Michael Moroney joined the coupe class recently with a test drive of the CLS and here's his report.

The new Mercedes Benz CLS 350 has impressive and smooth six cylinder engine power. It comes with unique four-door coupe styling, decent boot space and comfort for four. Prices start at ?85,115 before delivery charges.

What a car! That's the obvious reaction to the Mercedes Benz CLS that I drove recently. Everybody loved it, wished they had one, even wished to be seen in one. It simply made that big an impression. The attractions of the car are not simple or singular. It looks great, has fantastic road presence, is superb to drive and has the Mercedes Benz badge up on front. That's an impressive CV in its own right and it was confirmed during my test drive.

The CLS is no ordinary car. Mercedes Benz aim was to produce a quality and spacious coupe with true four-seat capacity, through four doors and with a combination of reasonable rear headroom and legroom. And it has an impressive boot for a coupe, designed for the full set of gold clubs no doubt. But most of all the CLS is about looks. That coupe look is very impressive. Not many cars can match its lines, it style and the level of desire that it builds up in you.

The Mercedes Benz claim is that the CLS-Class is a unique vehicle concept. What makes it stand out is the way that it combines the elegance and dynamism of a coupe with the comfort and practicality of a saloon. And that plus styling gives the CLS the image that's different.

Mercedes Benz hasn't spared the horses, when it comes to CLS power. The six cylinder petrol engine under the bonnet of the test car delivered smooth and massive power. This engine is rated at 292bhp and it can deliver every bit of it, backed up by a high end torque figure of 365Nm.

The engine performance is impressively smooth. The acceleration is equally so delivering a 0 to 100km/hr rating of just 6.7 seconds. That acceleration figure has to be seen against the weight of the car, which is over 1.7 tonnes and that's before you start loading.

With those credentials the fuel economy figures for the CLS are more impressive than you would think. And the automatic gearbox version, which I had on test, is marginally more economical than the manual version. The official consumptions figures for the petrol powered CLS 350 come in at 9.1 litres/100km (about 30mpg), which is better than I would have expected.

In reality, the test car that I had on the road came close to that figure. That impressed me but I have to admit that driving the CLS 350 is so smooth that there is rarely a need to push the power hard, it just seems to be waiting on tap all of the time. It kicks in effortlessly and that helps with relative economy.

The CLS doesn't just look well - it's also packed with driver and safety technology. On the safety front there are adaptive front airbags, sidebags and windowbags all of which are fitted as standard. The CLS-Class has also introduced the new Adaptive Brake System which gives hold and hill-start functions, while in emergency conditions the Adaptive Brake Lights flash to warn following drivers to apply maximum braking force. Also now standard across the range is what Mercedes Benz call PRE-SAFE which closes the electric windows and the sunroof, electrically pre-tensions the safety belts and moves the front passenger seat into an optimal position (where fully electric memory front seats are specified) if it recognises potentially dangerous situations.