Saverino

Well, from most of the time I have driven my dads S550, with him in the passenger seat, I havent really been able to "test out" the car, but today, with his absence and me being home alone with the keys, I decided to go out on a little test drive:
The first thing I want to mention is ESP: I noticed that it cuts power A LOT!!!! From a stop, I floored it, and I noticed the ESP triangle started to flash, but with that flash there was somewhat of a violent shake, and then going uphill the car wouldnt rev up to 4000 but there was great acceleration, I mean its not like my E63, but its quite impressive. There is just a tiny bit of wheel spin, but only for half a second. But I noticed on the same hill, from the same stop sign, at about 60% throttle, it accelerated the same as it did when I floored it, but this time there was no shake or flashing triangle. But what concerns me, is the fact that it cuts power that much. Is that normal? And also, is that shake normal?? I was going around a small corner, but not big enough where I couldnt see around it. I could see everything ahead. So I dont think that couldve caused the shake regarding the suspension.

The regular AIRMATIC suspension doesnt seem to have all that much body roll. From making a U-Turn, it pretty much stayed flat, but the steering was great. I was definitely impressed by the directness of the steering wheel. It went exactly where I wanted it to go. And also,the suspension didnt seem to rise up in the front under heavy acceleration. It is also very very smooth. The brakes were surprisingly very strong. From about 50 or 60, applying full braking force, it stopped extremely fast. I did notice the pulsating brake pedal quite a lot. But thats normal, its just to say that ABS is activated. I was surprised, because when I took a look at the speedo, the needle went down VERY VERY fast. Something I noticed though, was that it looked like it was shaking. I dont know if thats (the speed needle btw) normal, but it seemed to me, since this is an LCD screen, it wasnt getting the proper information when applying full pressure. Thats just what im assuming though. If someone could give me info on that it would be much appreciated. One thing I wanted to mention about the steering wheel that I liked very much is the the shape of it. If you have your both hands on the wheel, with your thumbs over the top of the spokes, its very comfortable. Also, the car is extremely quiet, especially at speed. But also, the engine. I LOVE how it is very quiet in the car, yet you can still hear the growl, and rumble of it when accelerating. It just sounds very very powerful, and just amazing. The seats in the car are very comfortable but also supportive. Oh, something that I remembered about the brakes, is that when I pushed it as much as possible, the seat belts tightened up. I was pretty amazed by that but also, they tighten like crazy!!! It was as if someone was choking me lol. So now, to sum it up. The acceleration on the car is very very impressive. This is coming from me, from on a regular basis, drives an E63. Also the brakes. Very very strong, and surprising for a car like this. It definitely drives likes its a much smaller car. I couldnt even feel that there were extra seats in the back. The only time this really shows is when making a U-Turn or turning the car around. I had to drive close to the other side of the road, come to a very slow speed, turn the wheel as much as you can, and go until your going to hit the sidewalk, throw it in reverse and go. Also, the accelerator pedal, is definitely adaptive as Mercedes says it is. After being floored, and coming to a stop, barely pushing it feels as if I gave it about 40% throttle. Its kind of cool. Also but I liked was when I came to a stop on a hill, and let go of the brake pedal, the car held itself as if I was still pushing the pedal. The reason I enjoyed this is because before we purchased the S550, we had an 06' S500 which would roll back as if it were in reverse on a hill. One thing I noticed that im "weirded" out by is that when you push the pedal to accelerate slightly strong, it felt as if you pushed it down a lot...not a lot, but more than normal, but when I took my foot off of the pedal, it was like I was hardly pushing it. I have noticed this quite a few times though. Would anyone else like to comment on this? Bottom line, this car is flat out incredible. . When I become of age as the majority of the S-Class owners, and if I am financially capable, this car would DEFINITELY be on the very top of my list when buying a car. Next up to test is the ML63 I have in the garage right now

WSH

Interesting perspectives....always fun to compare nuances of each of these MBs....

Had S550 (at launch ?2yrs ago...so my memories are foggier) but more clearly recall CL550 and CL600 that I've had in past 15mos....

My sense is 550 is def underpowered/tq'd for fast CA fwys....but hp/tq would be excellent on the generally slower fwys in NYC/Chicago, etc....def noticed 550 brakes are notably weaker than 600 brakes...which are notably weaker than CL63 brakes....

Also, IMO ABC transforms the dynamics of S550....Airmatic is tolerable if one lives in Eastern US where would prob opt for 4Matic (w/all-season or winter tires) anyway....

Interestingly, would argue that, even if one drives conservatively and well within traffic flow, would be much safer/more confident driving an AMG S/CL than any non-AMG.....I find the sharper chassis/brakes, etc of AMGs are incredibly important in having confidence/ability to avoid a collision in any emergent situation.....obviously, in places w/temps <<45F and/or slick conds, I'd rather be driving an S550 4Matic w/winter tires, rather than any AMG (even w/winter tires)....