Mercedes-Benz CLS 55 AMG
Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun



Or ‘Interstellar Overdrive’ for that matter. Everyone knows Mercedes make some of the best cars for covering big distances. They also, via AMG, produce one of the world’s finest performance engines, the supercharged 5.5 litre V8. Add the 476 HP motor to the four-door coupé styling of the CLS and you have what might be the most ‘complete’ car out there, and ours - with nearly £15,000 of extras - was certainly the mostly ‘comprehensive’.



It’s a slightly strange sensation settling into the driver’s seat for the first time. The ‘is it?/isn’t it’ saloon/coupé styling makes for a cab-forward side profile that translates into a driving position close to the screen and rear-view mirror. One is also conscious of the rear seat passengers’ comfort so is disinclined to push the seat too far back. In actual fact, rear legroom is pretty good and Mercedes have cleverly used a more sloping than normal rear backrest to get the necessary space astern, although this does have the effect of the moderately tall just grazing their heads on the rooflining.

The interior is up to Mercedes-Benz AMG’s usually high standards, albeit borrowing generously from its other models for switches and layout. There’s none of the extra-special design touches of (say) a Bentley Continental GT. But then that’s 50% more expensive, and the Stuttgart firm has gloried for years in its sense of discrete (with odd moments of madness) ‘European old-money’ functional styling. ...

tHE Whole article
- ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Nice article, thanks!