Trying to get a step up on the Italian job.
Have you grown tired of the styling of your Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG? Does it look a bit too stodgy, upright, and proper sitting in the garage next to the Ferrari? You'd like something a bit more fashionable, sure, but you just don't want to sacrifice any of the performance, daily usability, and reliability. Despite Mercedes' much publicized quality failings over the past decade, the German brand is still probably going to start right up after your two-week tanning session on the Amalfi Coast. After a fortnight on the Apennine peninsula, you might consider dumping the Benz in favor of the fetching Italian Maserati Quattroporte to better complement the Ferrari—it did beat out the E55 in our "
Executive Trio, Con Brio" comparo in the June 2004 issue—but now that Mercedes has rolled out its seductively arch-shaped CLS55 AMG, you can have all the Quattroporte's style without the Italian's cantankerous sequential-manual gearbox and
La Dolce Vita build quality. Perhaps a rematch is in order.
Essentially an E55 decked out for the runways of Milan, it shouldn't surprise that the CLS55 AMG offers a similar if not identical driving experience to its sistership's. The CLS rides on the same 112.4-inch wheelbase as the E55, has the same 469-hp supercharged V-8, five-speed automatic transmission, rack-and-pinion steering, and touchy electrohydraulic brakes. Stomp on the accelerator, and the 4327-pound CLS55 will keep any drag-racing Quattroportes in the rearview mirror. The CLS55 takes only 4.2 seconds to run to 60 mph, and the quarter-mile falls in 12.5 seconds at 115 mph. The E55 in last year's comparison test got to 60 in 4.3 seconds and posted an identical 12.5-second quarter at a marginally faster 116 mph. Your glutes won't feel the difference between the two AMGs.
Nor will you notice much of a change in steering or chassis feel. Toss the CLS into a series of corners, and as in the E55, the steering effort abruptly increases to remind you of the abuse you're leveling on the tires. The CLS55 is shod with slightly wider rubber, front and rear, than the E55, and that likely is the reason the CLS55 clung to the skidpad longer than the E55 (0.88 g versus 0.83 g). In both cases the front tires let go before the rears in a predictable and easy-to-control manner.
The CLS's handling isn't as track-ready or engaging as the upcoming BMW M5 or M6's. Those two M-cars do a fine impersonation of a heavy sports car; the CLS55 is more of a beautiful luxury car that has 516 pound-feet of torque at one's beck and call should you wish to elicit the unsettling feeling you get in your loins just as the roller coaster falls down the first hill.
The variation between these two AMG Benzes is in the design of the visible bits. Open the door, and you'll immediately notice a new, Jaguar-like dashboard with a large swath of matte-finished burled walnut that houses the same instruments, radio, and climate controls as the E55. Once behind the wheel you sit low, the door sills at shoulder level, and the dashboard sits similarly high. It's not a claustrophobic place—the materials are too nice for that—but our test car wore charcoal leather upholstery that, like a young Darth Vader, tended toward the dark side.
Mercedes refers to the CLS as a "four-door coupe," and rear-seat passengers are likely to agree with that categorization. There are two supportive seats back there, but despite having the same wheelbase as the E55, there is less legroom and headroom because of the low, slanted roofline. A veal calf back there would consider it an upgrade; a free-range chicken wouldn't.
Everyone will enjoy the lack of wind noise and serene nature of the CLS55 when the interstate beckons. A tall fifth gear keeps the engine's supercharger and exhaust tone from becoming intrusive. The quiet cabin made us appreciate the optional Sirius satellite radio in our tester. Unfortunately, the dealer-installed Sirius antenna—a small black box on the trunk—resembled an abscess that once afflicted the only sensitive area ever discovered on our managing editor's body.
Despite the poor integration of the antenna, the rest of the CLS55 gives up so little to the less attractive E55 that we'd be hard pressed to pick it over the CLS. The fashion-savvy CLS55 is about four grand more than the E55, but it's still less than the Italian job. The emotional pick would be the Quattroporte, the strictly rational choice would be the E55, and offering the best of both is the CLS55.
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