When it comes to combining performance and luxury, few do it better than Mercedes-Benz. But, if you had to pick out one car that might just do it better, it would have to be the Bentley Continental GT, a car that brings the driver to 62 mph in 4.6 seconds, lets him flirt with 200 mph and does it from the comfort of a refined, handcrafted Bentley interior.
According to Autocar, Mercedes-Benz may be looking to make a stronger statement against Bentley in the coming years. It believes there's room next to its CL two-door for a four-door Conti GT rival, a car that's currently being called the "uber-CLS". As that moniker indicates, the car would be based on the recently redesigned CLS, but would get positioned well above that sedan, offering a sportier build and high-performance engine with plenty of AMG tuning. The car would get more dramatic, sporty styling over the current CLS as well.
There's no specifics as to what might lie under the uber-CLS' hood, but we're thinking either a tuned-up version of the CLS63 AMG's naturally aspirated 507 horsepower 6.2-liter V-8, or a borrowed biturbo--either the 621 horsepower 6.0-liter V-12 from the CL65 AMG or the 536 horsepower 5.5-liter V-8 from the CL63 AMG. Those engines would fit quite well against the Bentley's 567 horsepower W-12 and upcoming V-8 option.
Mercedes-Benz reportedly wants to increase its footprint in the growing market for high-performance ultra-premiums, particularly in Russia and the Middle East. It's hoping to give the Continental GT and Porsche Panamera GT a run for their money.
Interestingly, if it gets the green light, the uber-CLS may have implications for another Bentley rival: Maybach. The high-performance four-door could lead to an eventual Maybach version. That model may just pull some influence from the Maybach 62S Coupe, a well-received limited production two-door developed by Xenatec.
[Autocar]
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