German Car Zone

Yep.

But people often forget that there are other factors rather than sheer horsepower etc. that affect the performance.



I was being sarcastic anyway. It's a typo on your part.

A decisive win for the M5 in this head to head comparison. As a performance car, the M5 is superior (which we knew about already). The M5 is the all-conquering track car in its segment.

But I keep saying the same thing over and over again: as a road car in this mid-size category, some may consider the E/CLS63 to be better and they are willing to accept the fact that the M5 handles better at track speeds because most never take their car to the track. I guarantee you that there is little between these cars when tackling a tight curvy on-ramp onto a highway (about the only place on everyday roads where you can go fast and turn at the same time). For most buyers in this mid-size performance segment, the main "thrill" is straight line acceleration on an empty road or highway. And unless you go above 180-200km/h, there is little difference between these cars.

But regardless, the M5 is objectively superior in every performance category from this Sport Auto head-to-head test (the type of test I put the most weight on when comparing 2 different cars' performance).

True and the small fuel tank makes it worse.

I actually get more kicks doing the ramps - and more than the speed it is how the car handles through it that gives me the chills. I used to do traffic light and free way races may for a year after I got my car, but it gets old fast - and 3 speeding tickets in a 1 year didn't help either.

I thought is was the SPEED you can carry through entering and exiting a corner that defines a good handling car. The better handling car allows the driver to carry more speed into and out of the corner.....isn't that the whole point? And you want a feeling of CONFIDENCE, not chills when you take that corner, no? Isn't that what BMW and owners rave about all the time? I'm pretty sure that's what makes me feel good on a track.....going as fast as possible around a corner without feeling "chills" that the car is going to spin off the track.

And yes, straight line acceleration runs/races is a bit boring, IMO, but it's still the safest and easiest way to have "fun" with a performance car, especially on everyday roads.

Every chance I get I take my car driving on some curvy countryroads. In Sweden we have many nice roads and its more rewarding than some "trafficlight races". I dont need a 500 hp car to enjoy playing with my car and exploring the car.

I think more than the absolute speed, what I find thrilling is how confidently you can push the car to it its limits (or yours) - I had a 85 VW GTI and it was by no means a fast car, but I had lot of fun in it cause it was easily 'exploitable'.

WoW! This almost sounds too good to be true! The M5 outclassed the CLS in every departmant and by a significant margin too! I was always under the impression that the 63's had a slight upperhand over the BMW's V10. Anyways, it all GOOD!