This month's big question for David Vivian and his Mercedes CLS is which suspension setting to use? Decisions, decisions...

Text: David Vivian / Photos: Kenny P




Since the first time I drove one, I’ve admired the air-suspension- equipped CLS’s three electronic damper settings: soft, medium and hard. So much easier than the M5’s massively configurable ‘if you’re not a computer systems analyst, better step away from the iDrive’ suite of suspension/traction permutations.

But now I’m getting restless. Soft seems, well, too soft. Medium is fine but an obvious compromise. So now I tend to leave it on hard and forget about it. Simpler still, of course. And the great thing is, the CLS still has a beautifully damped ride. And corners like a bastard. Result.

>>Mercedes CLS | Long Term Tests | Car Reviews | evo

EVO Statistics

Date acquired: December 2006
Total mileage:3547
Mileage this month:887
Costs this month:£0
MPG this month:28.3mpg

MPG (28.3mpg) figures are making me "dig" ...!

Someone please clear, these figures are for city or highway ...?

I'd imagine it's a combined figure (both highway and city).

I don't know if air suspension is a good invention after all. Having tried both spring and air suspension setups, I do feel that they are quite on par in terms of comfort. With advanced spring sus you can get dampening settings just like for air suspensions. But the difference here is this, air suspensions are far more unreliable. You get the problem of air leaks, etc...

Great (mpg) figures for a monster like CLS ...!

The normal non CGI 3.5 V6 is very economical, i manage to get 12.1km/100 km (sorry no idea how to convert this to mpg) with air con on in the E class, so i am not surprised the CLS has great mpg.

I have read a few articles on MB's air suspension, and i have tried it out in my friend's S class. It does make a difference, the ride is a tiny bit harder, and the body control does improve, but not as much as i was hoping for.

Air leaks does occur in these suspensions, espically when the seal wears out over time. I saw a E 500 with it is left rear corner sagging down badly inside a carpark.

You get 12.1L/100km on the expressway, or an average?

AIRMATIC died on our S280 a few years back. It costs a bomb to replace each unit on each wheel. And it wasn't very comfy either - I say again, I do prefer spring setups for the long term. Our Phaeton's air suspension also has some low-speed issues, it feels really bumpy over a hump. But the A8's great at it when set at comfort mode.

I get 12.1 L/100km in medium traffic in the city, during peak hour traffic it does go up to 16.6L/100km or a little bit higher. Highway driving reduce the consumption to 8.4 to 8.6 L/100km, which is dam good for a car this size and the engine this big, compare it to my subaru, which uses 16.0L/100km during city driving.

I haven't gone over any large hump in my friend's S-class. I don't really know how to put it, but in the S-class, you can feel most of the small bumps on the road but the amplitude of the bump is small. In our E class, you don't feel as many small bumps but the suspension takes a little longer to settle and the amplitude of the bump is slightly higher.

The local journalists often said the ride in the A8 is a bit harsh compare to other luxury cars, but it is good to see the A8 working fine elsewhere. congratulation on your A8, i am guessing you sold the Phaeton right?

Airmatic back then was a pretty "useless" feature because the comfort advantages were minimal in my experience and according to reviews and even the salesman at our local MB dealership. But it has been improved and now, after having driven the new W221 S500, I can see that it can be a useful accessory.

On our A8, we get 14L/100km on medium traffic, about 16L/100km on heavy traffic and about 8.5L/100km in the highway. We were really impressed.

I guess I know what you mean, the air sus dampens immediately while the spring setups dampen more gently.

A8 ride is harsh on standard, OK on comfort. Yeah, we 'sold' the Phaeton. Actually given back to the company. It's still with us though, for its photoshoot next week.

I see. I should try it with my dad.