ANY cynical car enthusiast might take one look at the Mercedes-Benz CLS coupe and suggest that it’s not in fact a coupe in the pure sense of the word - just a four-door sedan with lofty marketing aspirations. Some critics derided the car as a frocked-up E-Class, a corrupted marketing exercise designed to sell more cars without delivering any real driver benefits. A glance at the price point reveals that the CLS 500 is about $16,000 more expensive than an E500 and CLS 55 AMG is $22,300 more than an E55. When the CLS 350 arrives in about three months it will be around $140,000 - about $15,000 more than the E350. However, Mercedes points out that the extra equipment in the CLS models more than make up for the different price points. However, for once the hype lives up to the car’s on-road experience. Styling, quality and dynamic improvements have delivered a car that’s a cut above.