Benz Faqs

The 2007 Mercedes CL600 will immediately impress you when you hit the accelerator. Automatic gearshifts pop off one after another, but the onward rush is hardly interrupted. From the moment the car lunges away from rest with a sharp squeal of rear wheelspin until the 130-mph speed limiter gently restrains its charge, the CL rushes forward on an unstoppable tide of torque.

You will also be impressed with the 5.5-liter twin-turbo V-12 produces 612 pound-feet of twist from a mere 1800 rpm and sustains that level to 3500 rpm. So each of the five gears provides relentless thrust throughout its range.

When driven in this somewhat extravagant manner, with both BorgWarner turbochargers blowing a 14.5-psi kiss of life to their respective cylinder banks, the 4800-pound CL600 will reach 60 mph in just 4.3 seconds. The quarter-mile marker blurs by at 113 mph in a brief 12.8 seconds, and that’s just 0.2 second behind the fabulous new Audi R8 mid-engined supercar.

It’s true that the car’s acceleration impresses itself on the mind by sheer physical force, but once high speeds have been attained, there’s little noise from the drivetrain, tires, or wind passing by to alert you to the massive momentum on hand. New owners will need to get used to this feeling or suffer the inevitable consequences, numerous traffic citations or possibly financial impacts of a more physical nature.

Whereas the other instruments have real needles, the speedometer is just an image of an analog gauge and can thus double as a message center and night-vision display. It’s a high-tech solution masquerading as an old-fashioned instrument, but it matches the rest of the dashboard, which includes a small square analog clock, and is pretty convincing to boot. Like the gauge cluster, the car’s interior is a blend of new and established techniques. Leather embraces the seats and the headliner. Whatever, it’s pretty cool, with neat stitching and tidy pleats. The leather is set off with high-quality moldings and chestnut or burled-walnut trim used sparingly in a stylish flourish.

Considering how many mechanisms have to be controlled from the cockpit, we find that this latest version of Benz’s COMAND interface is more-or-less intuitive to the computer-savvy driver. But there were a few functions that would have most people diving for the owner’s manual, among them the control of the adjustable lumbar support and shoulder bolsters, which can also be set in active mode to firm up in corners. We found the constant nudging to be annoying, so we had to locate the button that accesses that specific set of controls and then experiment with the options until the damn thing stopped.

Of course, this elaborate complement of equipment and creature comforts comes at a price: nearly 150 grand on the sticker, and 4800 pounds on the scales. Not that this car’s intended customers would feel either manifestation much. Mercedes-Benz’s ABC suspension technology puts hydraulic rams at each of the four coil springs, providing active spring-preload control. In this way, ABC can alter roll stiffness as well as fore-and-aft spring rates for pitch control and automatic ride leveling.

The result is a big car,  this is the S-class platform, after all, with unexpected nimbleness in every environment. There’s limited compromise to ride comfort, too, since ABC only responds when needed. So the CL600 tools around suburbia with suave composure, feeling like a much smaller car. The typical Mercedes tight turning circle (38.1 feet) helps shrink one’s sense of the car’s size appreciably in urban environments, where you can make U-turns more easily than you can in a supercharged Chevy Cobalt SS.