Can't See The Wildlife At Night?

Can't See The Wildlife At Night?

MANAGING EDITOR ROGER HART: It's always a pleasure to drive a car fitted with this engine. Man, it's a screamer. This is a German muscle car, without a doubt. It rumbles the pavement at full throttle, and with all of the AMG go-faster bits, it handles like a race car, too. I doubt you could ever get bored with this car. From the ultra-adjustable seats to the terrific sound system to the fact that you have 518 hp at foot, I found myself smiling all the way into the office. SENIOR EDITOR FOR NEWS BOB GRITZINGER: German muscle, no question, but also with a serious dose of styling panache and an electronics store worth of goodies built into the chassis and powertrain. Not slowing down quickly enough to stop for the car slowing ahead of you? There's beep-beep for that. Changing lanes without noticing the car in the blind spot?

There's a telltale warning light in the mirror and a beep-beep for that, too. Can't see the wildlife at night? There's night vision to illuminate all of that. Want to drive without worrying about speeding up or slowing down with traffic? There's Distronic cruise control for that. And none of this even touches on all the creature comforts the CL has to offer, from massaging seats to a monster audio system. I could go on. Outside, the car looks trim and tough, with enough curves and bulges to give it more than enough attitude. It's too bad that this whomping engine is hooked up to a seven-speed tranny that takes a little too long to catch up to what the engine is doing, so at times there's pronounced tranny lag. But when the power does come on, it's serious and steady. The car also holds the road like it's wired down or something, again thanks to a bevy of electronics that do a great job of making one look like the greatest driver since Parnelli Jones.

I'm not sure the night vision is really necessary, but it's a cute parlor trick. And if you're paying this kind of money, you deserve a few of those thrown in on the option list. EDITORIAL ASSISTANT JONATHAN WONG: Yep, there's no better way to describe this beast than German muscle. You just have to remember that this German brute packs a healthy dose of luxury and whiz-bang technology, as Bob points out. Around town, it's subtle with a comfortable ride. I didn't get to play around with the transmission shift settings because of the rain during my first stint, and even short jabs of the gas pedal broke the rear tires loose. As I said, in normal mode the car was comfy, just light-footing it around in the rain last night with slow, ginger shifts from the seven-speed automatic. Steering is heavy and feels a bit lazy in response.

A couple of quick turns that I was brave enough to take on had the car exhibit good grip, but you can't consider this car anywhere close to being light on its feet. Over the weekend, I punched the car into Sport mode for quicker transmission gear changes, sharper throttle response and stiffer suspension. The difference in initial turn in and more aggressive shifts is noticeable. The car also stays noticeably flatter taking turns. With stability control turned off, it allows for minimal step-out of the rear end before automatically awakening and killing the party. However, it's a rocket ship in a straight line with an addicting growl from the big V8. Find a clear path on the expressway, give the right pedal a push and you're off to the races. So, the German muscle-car tag really is fitting. 155,000, there better be some stuff on the car that I certainly won't need. I do wonder how much the night-vision system will cost to fix when it eventually breaks.

Refinement in the engine and tricks like the alternator that only charges on overrun and braking help the CL65 AMG increase its fuel economy an unspecified amount while dropping CO2 emissions by 3.5 percent. Both cars get the full bag of tricks from the new CL-Class. That means Direct Steer, a lighter, more direct steering system, Torque Vectoring Brake, which can brake the inside rear wheel to kill understeer, and Automatic Crosswind Stabilization are all standard. The AMG cars also pick up the CL-Class' Active Lane Keeping Assist, Active Blind Spot Assist, Night View and Drowsiness Detection systems along with Active Body Control. To make them more sprightly than the standard CL-Class, the AMG cars also get a sport-tuned suspension that will stiffen even further in Sport mode and even lower the car 0.6 inches between 40 and 62 mph to improve aerodynamics. Throw in up-sized 15.4-inch front and 14.4-inch rear brake discs behind AMG wheels specific to each model and you've got yourself a serious grand tourer.