Meaning of "CLS" ?

[danger450]

Just Curious, does the CLS designation stand for

Coupe / Long Wheel Base / S as "special" (as in the S CLASS, urspr. sonder-klasse) ?

Thanks for any guidance!

-Dave

[linh]

C- Coupe (guessing)
L- Luxury
S- Sedan

[netboy]

Originally Posted by linh

C- Coupe (guessing)
L- Luxury
S- Sedan

i really like the CLS, but paying 80,000$ for a C class?
i really wish them change the name to SLS !

[jack stefano]

wow. where do we start with this guy. nice bait though. i think els would best describe the car.

[Nutz4AMG]

Originally Posted by linh

C- Coupe (guessing)
L- Luxury
S- Sedan

Not quite. MB's acronyms are based on German terms. Shocking, no?

CLS = Coupe Leicht (light) Sportlich

similarly, SLK = Sportlich (sport) Leicht (light) Kurz (short)

The CLS is not a C class, it's based on the E class as Jack pointed out.

[netboy]

Originally Posted by Nutz4AMG

The CLS is not a C class, it's based on the E class as Jack pointed out.

i just dont like the name CLS.
C230, C320, C300, C320, C350.

"what car do u drive?"
"i drive a CLS"

first thing comes to people mind is C class!

i really hope they change the name to SLS!

[asianml]

Originally Posted by netboy

i just dont like the name CLS.
C230, C320, C300, C320, C350.

"what car do u drive?"
"i drive a CLS"

first thing comes to people mind is C class!

i really hope they change the name to SLS!

But it isn't one. Get the picture?

[jack stefano]

In addition to my CLS, I have a CL 600. And I can guarantee you that no one confuses it for a C class.

[danger450]

Knowing Mercedes is a GERMAN car company, of course the names are from a German origin, however, many also start with the same letter and meaning in English.

IE


I have an SLK now and

it means Sportlich (Sportive) Leicht (Light) Kurz (Short)

(NOT kompressor)


additionally

I know for sure that C stands for Coupe i.e two door and 4 seats..
This is waht I found on a German website...
I could have translated it better but I dont have the time right now....

Bezeichnungen für Motoren D = Diesel (Dieselmotor) Engines...
E = Einspritzung (Ottomotor mit Benzineinspritzung) gas engine with injection
K = Kompressor (SSK), bei neueren Modellen auch ausgeschrieben „Kompressor“
CDI = Common Rail Direct Injection (Dieselmotor mit Common-Rail-Einspritzung)
CGI = Stratified Charged Gasoline Injection (Ottomotor mit Direkteinspritzung)
NGT = Natural Gas Technology (Antrieb mit komprimiertem Erdgas (CNG))

Body
C = Coupé
T = Transport & Touristik (Kombi) Station wagon
K = Kurz (kurzer oder verkürzter Radstand) = Short wheel base

Weitere Varianten L = verlängerter Radstand (longer wheel base)
S = S-Klasse (urspr. Sonder-Klasse) = special Class
SL = Sport-Leicht = sport lite
SLK = Sport-Leicht-Kurz Sport = lite short



so .. CLS presumably does mean:

COUPE +
(urspr. Sonder-Klasse) = special Class +
Weitere Varianten L = verlängerter Radstand (longer wheel base)


That should settle it ... for now !

[Knucklehead]

Originally Posted by danger450

Knowing Mercedes is a GERMAN car company, of course the names are from a German origin, however, many also start with the same letter and meaning in English.


E = Einspritzung (Ottomotor mit Benzineinspritzung) gas engine with injection


That should settle it ... for now !

Not so fast. Just to throw a wrench in this gear load of fun! The "E" when it was used as a suffix, i.e. 190E, it meant fuel injection. However, when they switched over to using letters as prefixes, i.e. E550, the "E" became "Exekutive", as in executive class. So MB gained another Body designation. Which makes sense since I don't know of any late model MB's that have a carburetor. How's that for fun.

Oh! I forgot to add. There have been a lot of people that have asked what a CLS is, but not one them has ever thought it was "C" class.