09 Oct 06
But it really comes into its own when you turn the key and hear that 6.3-litre beast roar into life, the sound coursing through the car and coming out from the twin sets of chrome tailpipes at the rear. It really is a superb engine: in the CL and S-Class, it delivers a massive 525bhp at 6800rpm, which puts up there among the supercars; it also generates peak torque of 464lb-ft at 5,200rpm, which AMG claims is 20% more torque than comparable naturally aspirated engines. All this adds up to a 0-60 figure of 4.6secs and the usual limited top speed (boo!) of 155mph.
On the road, this means you've got a high-revving, hugely powerful engine at your disposal, which can get to licence-losing speeds frighteningly quickly. Luckily, we were able to drive it on an unrestricted autobahn in southern Germany to see what it could do. But in the UK, with its propensity for speed cameras, any owners will have to be extremely careful on the road, saving the outer limits of the car's abilities for a track day.
The engine is complemented by an AMG Speedshift 7G-Tronic automatic box that gives the driver great flexibility, thanks to three transmission settings: C (Comfort) is the standard automatic setting; S (Sport) allows gear changes that are 30% faster than in C; and M (Manual) allows you to change gear manually using the paddles on the steering wheel and is 50% faster than C. The two automatic modes are very good, as you'd expect from a company that specialises in high-performance packages, but being a bit of a control freak, I always like to opt for the flappy paddle option - which is highly rewarding in this car.
The experience is enhanced by the fact that with this AMG 'box there's no automatic downshift under full throttle or during kickdown, the transmission staying in the gear you've chosen. And neither does it automatically upshift when it reaches the rev limit in manual, allowing you to really pile on the revs. I kept squeezing the throttle, expecting some nannyish engine management system to intervene, but it never came Too often we drive cars with the paddle shift and the cars decide to change gear for you - which I always think rather obviates the need for a manual facility. Not here, so full marks to AMG.
