Mercedes-Benz CLC-Class CLS55 2005 Review

At a staggering $274,900 (that's before on- road costs), the big, so-called four-door "coop" is by no means the most expensive car in the Mercedes line up.

But it can certainly take credit for being one of the quickest, with the dash from 0 to 100km/ h taking a mere 4.7 seconds.

That's very fast and puts the car right up there in super car territory, something of a comfort for your long suffering finances.

The heart of the matter is a supercharged 5.4-litre V8 that has been massaged by Mercedes' go-fast department AMG to produce an amazing 350kW of power and 700Nm of stump pulling torque.

To put things in perspective, a Falcon GT with the same size engine pumps out 290kW and 520Nm and is able to dispatch the dash in about 5.8 seconds.

Then again, it's about a quarter the cost.

The CLS 55 AMG is something else again.

It's a gorgeous thing, a real head-turner and much sexier than we have come to expect from staid old Mercedes in the past.

Big with steeply raked front and rear windscreens, it sits predator-like over massive rubber.

Four exhausts poking from under the rear bumper send a clear message to other drivers _ don't mess with me!

As with most Mercedes, the CLS is available with other engines, but it is the AMG-badged model that is the star attraction.

Essentially an E 55 sedan with a much cooler, more attractive body on top, the car seats is designed to seat four, with a console separating rear passengers.

To be honest, there's not much room in the back (particularly head room) but it becomes a minor consideration after a few minutes behind the wheel.

Suffice to say, we wouldn't recommend the back seat for long trips out west.

The supercharged V8 is hooked up to a five- speed sequential auto, with steering wheel- mounted change buttons (V6 and naturally aspirated V8 gets a seven-speed).

But with this much torque on tap, only the most demanding driver will bother changing gears.

Straight line acceleration is exhilerating, with the top speed limited to 250km/h - real butterflies in the stomach stuff.

Braking performance is postively eye popping, with 360mm eight-piston units up front and 330mm four-piston discs down the back.

You get all this and claimed fuel economy of 13.6 litres per 100km. Not bad from a car this large and this powerful - and the reality wasn't far off the mark at 14.0L/100km on the knocker.

We mentioned before the car is big, tipping the scales at 1920kg and while the V8 does a sublime job of overcoming this inertia, the pyhsical size of the car ultimately counts against it in the bends.

An adustable damping system allows th driver to lower the car by 10 or 15mm for sportier driving, but that's still a lot of weight to start throwing around.

The whole drive experience is reminiscent of Audi's twin-turbo RS6 and that is meant as a compliment.

The Audi produces slightly less power from its 4.2-litre V8 but is a little lighter than the Merc and manages to post exactly the same time for the 0-100km/h dash.

Quite frankly, we'd hock the house for either one.

As you would expect at the price, the CLS 55 AMG is a fully equipped luxury car.