2007 Mercedes-Benz CL550/CL600/CL63 AMG Interior & Exterior

Intent on smoking your neighbor's Bentley Continental GT? Pop for the CL65 AMG. Its 604-horsepower, twin-turbo V-12 out-torques the mighty Bentley with 738 (no typo) pound-feet worth and goes on sale next fall. As you'd expect of a luxury flagship, the CL oozes high technology and creature features. The I.P. and swoopy dashboard designs are straight out of the S-Class. Some functions are managed via conventional switchgear, others by the COMAND controller on the lower console. A palm rest for the latter hides the phone keypad. There's no more console-mounted shifter; it's been replaced by a stalk on the column--just like Mom's Galaxie 500 from the 1960s--with the aforementioned shift paddles. It's nice that all four of the CL's side windows can be lowered, giving an airy, hardtop look and feel.

The most significant bit of technokit is the introduction of Mercedes-Benz's PRE-SAFE brake system, first seen on the S-Class in 2002. PRE-SAFE is networked with the car's radar-based Distronic cruise control and Brake Assist Plus system. The radar sensors that previously allowed Distronic to maintain a safe distance from the car ahead also will now utilize up to 40-percent braking power if the system detects the driver is asleep at the switch. Once the driver applies braking power, Brake Assist Plus summons full braking power and will even push the brakes harder if the driver has misjudged the pedal pressure required. There's also a new radar-based parking-assist function, which no longer needs the less-than-attractive "portholes" in the front and rear bumpers.

We criticized the previous CL55 AMG--the car the CL63 replaces--for driver inputs that never felt right. Although it was fast, the 55's steering loaded up mid-corner, the brake pedal felt wooden, and the Active Body Control suspension felt unnatural in its attempt to quell body roll. It was as if the car's computers wanted to prove they could drive better than you could. Those issues have been exorcized, replaced by quick, communicative steering, solid-feeling, easy-to-modulate brakes, and computer-managed cornering that doesn't fight you. Want to drive the CL63 tail out or do a smoky burnout once in a while? Not likely, but you can, because the traction control's "Off" button truly means off (unless you hit the brakes mid-corner).

The 63's V-8 is handbuilt in-house by AMG, and to call it a marvel motor wouldn't be an overstatement. It has the displacement needed for good low-end torque and variable cam timing to help spread the pound-feet all around the tach, and it revs willingly, as any thoroughbred powerplant should. As noted, the intake system and AMG-spec exhaust have been tuned to let the occupant's ears enjoy the performance. The AMG SPEEDSHIFT 7G-tronic transmission is the 63's near-perfect dance partner. There's a ratio for all occasions, and it's smooth when you're cruising and responsive when you're hauling, although it lacks the beauteous rev-matching throttle blip on downshifts served up by several others. AMG chairman Volker Mornhinweg admits, "We want this and are working on a solution."