16 Jun 05
And does it go? It does, mightily. The kickdown is keen, firm and jerk-free; this Mercedes-built five-speed auto is no slushbox. Kicked down, the engine thuds its V8 beat and off we hurtle, full muted-Nascar mode engaged. The upshifts are quick and clean, too, definite but never jerky. And here's a manual override which really works, with near-instant response and the chance, not usual in torque-converter epicyclic automatics, to blip the throttle to smooth a downshift. There are no steering-wheel shifters, though, and the Mercedes side-to-side shifter is anything but ergonomic. That and the multifunction wiper / washer / indicator / dipswitch stalk are the only obvious signs of Mercedes genes, although the whole platform has ancestry in, if not commonality with, the previous-generation E-Class.
Fine car, then. Now think further. It's going to be cheaper than a LHD-only CTS-V despite having RHD, and not much dearer than a Monaro VXR despite being more modern and more capable. Next to high-end Euro mega-saloons it's an absolute bargain.
Yes, there are more hard plastics in the cabin than we might like (screen pillars and glovebox lid, for example), but you could live with those and there's nothing wrong with the way it's all put together. You've got to be a bit bold to take the SRT-8 plunge instead of going for an obvious rapid European, and there would be a lot of explaining to do to your friends. But I think you'd enjoy every minute.
