2004 Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG

Besides the proliferation of sport/utilities, the brave, new millennium will be marked by a horsepower war as contentious as the storied '60s. Unlike the big guns of yesteryear, previously unimagined (and impossible) computer-controlled suspension and chassis technology has been applied to make a 469-horsepower 4000-pound Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG handle like an exotic, yet ride like a luxury car.

Our drive route in and around Stuttgart allowed us to stretch this maximum-strength E-Class on the infamous German autobahns and in the nearby mountainous regions. Sure, it reaches its 154-mph speed limiter before you can say "nicht schlecht" ("not bad"), but it'll also carve a Schwabish road like a bobsled. Starting with an all-new-for-'03 E500--a seriously good place to begin--AMG adds no less than 167 horsepower via a handbuilt, supercharged 5.4-liter V-8. More impressive still is that 516 lb-ft of torque is available from 2650 to 4500 rpm.

Along the way, we sampled this same powerplant in two other silver wrappers: CL55 AMG coupe and S55 AMG sedan. Based on the larger S-Class sedan's platform, these cars feel bigger and heavier, although you'd swear AMG had put them on a strict diet. Again, fitted with AMG-tuned Airmatic DC semi-active suspension components, they, too, defy logic and physics. All three new AMGs enjoy suitably sporty interior treatments, subtle body makeovers, and limited build numbers.

Although we'd like to see AMG offer a manual transmission as an option (on any of its models), 35 years of building highly tuned versions of roadgoing cars with automatics has put them at the pinnacle of this easy-to-drive configuration. This '04 E55 AMG comes closer to BMW's (manual transmission-only) M5 than anything preceding it. The problem is, BMW is planning a 500-horsepower V-10-powered Bavarian bobsled of its own. Where will it end? We don't know. Nor do we object.