S55 Write Up - LA Times
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2003 CL55 AMG
S55 Write Up - LA Times
The Los Angeles Times had a write up on the S55 and C32.
Mercedes-Benz's AMGs are packed with extra horsepower - the S55 has 493, the C32 has 349. The result is ferocious speed.
"... Behind me in the next lane was my friend Joel, trying to keep up in the Mercedes equivalent of a younger brother: a $54,000 C32 AMG sports sedan ... and a hair's breadth slower than the much bigger S55 - but still ferociously fast... From a dead stop I floored the S55 and left Joel behind. At third gear, the S55 was already roiling with speed, and then it gave the remarkable impression of afterburners kicking in, as the car went even faster without a pause... then I eased back and Joel shot past me in the C32... We swapped keys. Joel warned me that the S55 was too fast for the C32, and he then proved it. On the return trip, he turned the Beast into a drag racer as I watched the gap between us increase...Driving the C32 was a bit of a let-down. Slightly bigger than a Honda Civic, the C32 has two, not four, exhausts, and the engine purrs more than it roars. When I floored the C32, it seemed to pause a few nanoseconds in third gear before speeding up... I had both cars for a week, and sitting at home seemed like a wasted opportunity. I'd take one AMG out for a drive, return it to the garage, then hop into the other. After plenty of city and freeway driving - 80 mph in these cars is like jogging - I clearly preferred the Beast. The S55's handling is sure-footed and firm, and though not quite as precise as a Porsche zipping through S-curves, it was the best-handling large sedan I've driven... Last year 19,000 AMG's were built, with 6,515 sold in the United States...(S55) The digital speedometer works in reverse. I hit 22 mph backing up in an empty parking lot... I let several friends drive the cars...my friend John took the S55...in the Santa Monica Mountains. I sat in the back seat as he sped through two-lane roads and past desolate peaks on into Ventura County. Most of my notes are illegible because he was cornering so hard, but I managed to scribble these comments of John's: 'It's too easy to go fast' and 'I've never been in anything like this before'. As our Afternoon wound down and we descended in the S55 into Malibu, John asked: 'Is there anything wrong with this car?' Here's something: I can't afford one."
Thanks goes out to smg32 for the info !
Mercedes-Benz's AMGs are packed with extra horsepower - the S55 has 493, the C32 has 349. The result is ferocious speed.
"... Behind me in the next lane was my friend Joel, trying to keep up in the Mercedes equivalent of a younger brother: a $54,000 C32 AMG sports sedan ... and a hair's breadth slower than the much bigger S55 - but still ferociously fast... From a dead stop I floored the S55 and left Joel behind. At third gear, the S55 was already roiling with speed, and then it gave the remarkable impression of afterburners kicking in, as the car went even faster without a pause... then I eased back and Joel shot past me in the C32... We swapped keys. Joel warned me that the S55 was too fast for the C32, and he then proved it. On the return trip, he turned the Beast into a drag racer as I watched the gap between us increase...Driving the C32 was a bit of a let-down. Slightly bigger than a Honda Civic, the C32 has two, not four, exhausts, and the engine purrs more than it roars. When I floored the C32, it seemed to pause a few nanoseconds in third gear before speeding up... I had both cars for a week, and sitting at home seemed like a wasted opportunity. I'd take one AMG out for a drive, return it to the garage, then hop into the other. After plenty of city and freeway driving - 80 mph in these cars is like jogging - I clearly preferred the Beast. The S55's handling is sure-footed and firm, and though not quite as precise as a Porsche zipping through S-curves, it was the best-handling large sedan I've driven... Last year 19,000 AMG's were built, with 6,515 sold in the United States...(S55) The digital speedometer works in reverse. I hit 22 mph backing up in an empty parking lot... I let several friends drive the cars...my friend John took the S55...in the Santa Monica Mountains. I sat in the back seat as he sped through two-lane roads and past desolate peaks on into Ventura County. Most of my notes are illegible because he was cornering so hard, but I managed to scribble these comments of John's: 'It's too easy to go fast' and 'I've never been in anything like this before'. As our Afternoon wound down and we descended in the S55 into Malibu, John asked: 'Is there anything wrong with this car?' Here's something: I can't afford one."
Thanks goes out to smg32 for the info !
