2021 Mercedes-Benz E450 4Matic Coupe in Graphite Gray Metallic (a $720 possibility)
2021 Mercedes-Benz E450 Coupe
Class: Premium Midsize Automobile
Miles pushed: 216
Gasoline used: 9.2 gallons
Actual-world gasoline financial system: 23.5 mpg
| CG Report Card | |
|---|---|
| Room and Consolation | C+ |
| Energy and Efficiency | B+ |
| Match and End | A |
| Gasoline Financial system | C+ |
| Worth | C+ |
| Report-card grades are derived from a consensus of test-driver evaluations. All grades are versus different autos in the identical class. Worth grade is for particular trim degree evaluated, and should not mirror Client Information’s impressions of your entire mannequin lineup. | |
| Huge & Tall Consolation | |
| Huge Man | A |
| Tall Man | B |
| Huge & Tall consolation scores are for entrance seats solely. “Huge” ranking based mostly on male tester weighing roughly 350 kilos, “Tall” ranking based mostly on 6’6″-tall male tester. | |
| Drivetrain | |
| Engine Specs | 362-hp 3.0L |
| Engine Kind | Turbo 6-cylinder |
| Transmission | 9-speed automated |
| Drive Wheels | All-wheel drive |
Driving combine: 50% metropolis, 50% freeway
EPA-estimated gasoline financial system: 23/30/25 (mpg metropolis, freeway, mixed)
Gasoline kind: Premium gasoline required
Base worth: $67,450 (not together with $1050 vacation spot cost)
Choices on check automobile: Graphite Grey Metallic ($720) 19-inch AMG twin 5-spoke wheels with black accents ($500), augmented video for navigation ($350), ventilated entrance seats ($450), AIRSCARF ($460), AIR BODY CONTROL air suspension ($1900), MBUX Inside Assistant ($200), Driver Help Package deal ($1700), Exterior Lighting Package deal ($900), Night time Package deal ($400), AMG Line package deal ($2500)
Value as examined: $78,580
Extra Mercedes-Benz worth and availability info
Fast Hits
The nice: Easy, robust powertrain; glorious trip/dealing with stability; elegant cabin
The great: Chopping-edge infotainment system; distinctive coupe styling; respectable passenger house for a coupe
The not so good: Steep pricing; some tedious controls
John Biel
Mercedes-Benz can alter the styling, change the engines, and dream up new tech devices for its acclaimed E-Class vehicles—all of which it has performed for 2021—however there’s one thing curiously nostalgic about its trendy household of premium-midsized vehicles. That one thing is that the E-Class is a household of vehicles.
The rakish coupe roofline provides drama to the fundamental E-Class styling. The optionally available Night time Package deal provides high-gloss black exterior trim components, together with the sideview mirrors, window trim, and rear diffuser.
Earlier than the time period “passenger automotive” grew to become synonymous with “four-door sedan,” it was extraordinarily frequent for a person platform to seem in a number of physique types however with their shared DNA apparent to all. It has develop into exceptionally uncommon now, and we are able to consider no person who nonetheless does it to the extent that M-B does with the E450, which comes as a four-door sedan, a station wagon (newly dubbed All-Terrain), a convertible, and a coupe.
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No matter physique model, the E-Class’s inside is first-class. Each the absolutely digital gauge panel and infotainment display measure 12.3 inches, and are filled with high-tech options. Trim highlights embrace impeccable stitching, MB-Tex upholstery on the higher sprint and door panels, and within the case of our check automobile, natural-grain Black Ash wooden trim.
As if that’s not sufficient of a reminder of “how issues was once,” the coupe is an echo of one other period. It’s a hardtop, a 4-windows-down, no-B-pillar, 2-door vehicle, one thing as soon as ubiquitous however now as uncommon as platform footwear. Client Information examined one in every of these up-to-the-minute throwbacks, a Graphite Gray Metallic instance with 4MATIC all-wheel drive priced at $68,500 (together with supply) however optioned as much as $78,580.
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Our check automobile was outfitted with putting Basic Pink/Black leather-based upholstery. There’s good room in entrance for large and tall adults, and sufficient house in again for average-sized adults, regardless of the sloping roofline.
All ’21 E-Class fashions are the recipients of a midcycle freshening of the era ushered in throughout 2017 (sedan and wagon) and 2018 (coupe and convertible). They’re topic to revised appears, with adjustments to grille, headlights, and taillights; they’ve taken on the Mercedes-Benz Consumer Expertise (MBUX) infotainment system; and the E450s obtain a brand new inline 6-cylinder engine with “EQ Increase” 48-volt delicate hybridization expertise.
Simply by numbers alone, the shift to the turbocharged 3.0-liter straight six looks like a wash. It replaces a twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6 that made the very same 362 horsepower at 5500 rpm and 369 lb-ft of torque at 1600 revs. Nonetheless, the brand new engine feels smoother and makes use of EQ Increase to faucet into as a lot as 21 extra horsepower and 184 extra lb-ft for temporary durations. (The 48-volt built-in electrical motor system additionally assists acceleration even earlier than the gasoline engine switches on, permits coasting for gasoline financial savings, and recaptures vitality throughout deceleration.)
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There’s 10.0 cubic ft of house within the E450 Coupe’s properly completed trunk.
“Sport” and “Sport+” modes alter a number of driving traits, together with transmission conduct, delaying upshifts to extract extra energy from every gear vary. (For instance, at round 40 mph, the engine is popping at 1500 rpm in “Consolation” mode, 2000 rpm in Sport, and 2500 in Sport+.) The exhaust observe ratchets up a bit in Sport+. Getting away from a cease in Sport+ this driver sensed a hitch—actually fast preliminary response, then a bathroom, as if there’s an almost-immediate upshift—earlier than the automotive resumed keen acceleration. With 4MATIC, M-B claims a 0-to-60-mph time of 4.9 seconds, which is 0.3 second faster than the rear-wheel-drive E450 goes. (The rear-driver is $2500 cheaper.) It’s a speedy freeway cruiser with fast kickdown from the 9-speed automated transmission.
One other purported good thing about the brand new powerplant is barely improved freeway gasoline mileage. The EPA estimates 30 mpg on the open highway, a achieve of two over the V6 ranking. (Projected metropolis mileage of 23 per gallon is identical as earlier than.) Nonetheless, this reviewer noticed solely 21.49 mpg from a check run of 69.3 miles with 44 % city-type driving.
Set in Consolation mode, trip is comfy and the automotive handles and corners very effectively. Damping and steering agency up by levels within the two Sport modes, and if geared up with the optionally available Air Physique Management air suspension—because the check automotive was—trip top is lowered. Damping in Sport+ heightens really feel of smaller floor irregularities.
The MBUX infotainment system appears to ship a bit higher “cooperation” than the earlier COMAND association, nevertheless it was simpler to seek out controls to regulate central touchpad sensitivity (speak about a factor you’ll do as soon as) than it was to discover a trip-odometer reset (which I couldn’t). The brand new-design steering wheel has two rows of thumb controls—on every arm!—however none of them appeared to be the journey reset. Tuning and saving of radio presets requires a number of steps. MBUX features present up on a 12.3-inch show display that blends with a equally sized display that colorfully tasks driving controls. Navigation, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto smartphone compatibility, wi-fi charging, satellite tv for pc radio taking part in from a Burmester surround-sound audio system, blind-spot alert, and Parktronic parking help are normal. Extra safety-attuned driving aids can be found within the Driver Help Package deal possibility.
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The E450’s turbocharged 3.0-liter inline six engine places out 362 horsepower with the assistance of Mercedes’s EQ Increase mild-hybrid system. Our tester was geared up with 19-inch AMG twin 5-spoke wheels, a $500 possibility.
Passenger lodging within the luxurious and engaging cabin are as they’ve been since this era of the E-Class coupe went into impact. Seats—heated and optionally ventilated in entrance—had been performed in a dramatic mixture of Basic Pink and Black leather-based, and black ash wooden fanned out over the MB-Tex-topped sprint and doorways. Although shorter and decrease than the sedan, there’s nonetheless sufficient head- and legroom to carry 4 5’-11” adults. Rear-seat entry is eased by entrance seats that energy ahead. With pretty slender C-pillars and no mounted B-pillars, drivers will discover the outward view just about uncluttered.
For private-item storage there’s a sizable glove field, a split-top console field with side-hinged doorways, roomy door pockets, a web pouch on the transmission hump by the entrance passenger, and coated cup holders within the console. In again are hard-sided pouches affixed to the entrance seats and uncovered cup holders between the seats.
The E450 has good cargo house for a luxurious coupe, even when the realm isn’t notably tall. There’s a giant open house below the ground. Cut up rear seats fold however don’t relaxation fully flat, there’s a small hole between the trunk ground and seats, and a bulkhead narrows the passage. The trunk has a excessive lip and the opening narrows above the bumper.
In an automotive world of adjusting automobile tastes and wishes (the unfold of SUVs; a transfer towards electrification), a “nuclear household” just like the E-Class could show laborious to maintain, and solely the fashions with essentially the most practicality—and, thus, gross sales potential—could persist. For now, although, selection is the spice of household life.
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Two-door coupes in any type are more and more uncommon in as we speak’s automotive market, which makes the E450 Coupe stand out much more. It’s a classy luxurious machine that delivers glorious efficiency and many high-tech options.
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2021 Mercedes-Benz E450 Coupe Gallery
(Click on under for enlarged pictures)
2021 Mercedes-Benz E450 Coupe
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