Road Test
Follow-Up Test: 2002 Mercedes-Benz CL600
A View From the Peak
Pinnacles are always exciting. Though, for most of us, they're very rare. Instead, we experience greatness vicariously: We watch athletes do things we can only dream of, we go to galleries and are transfixed by an artist's brush strokes, or we read novels and are moved by the writer's imagination. But those things are separate from us; we can't participate in the glory — only celebrate it.
That's what's so wonderful about the Mercedes-Benz CL600. It is a pinnacle of automotive design and engineering made expressly to please us. But we suspect Mercedes' motives were not entirely altruistic. First, there's self-satisfaction. It must feel wonderful for the engineers and designers to stand back and look at the finished product, to revel in its graceful lines, its high-tech componentry and sterling mechanics and know that they have created something special. And then, of course, there's the price. At $135,000 (before tax), they're not exactly giving it away.
Start with its looks. Understated elegance is an apt description. The CL's smooth lines travel from nose to tail uninterrupted, like a teardrop or an ice sculpture. You want flash? Buy a red Viper. This is about knowing you've arrived, not about wanting everyone else to know it, too. We admit that no one will mistake the three-pointed star on the grille for a Nissan badge, but only automotive aficionados will appreciate how distinctive (and expensive) the CL600 is.
Take, for instance, the guy who pointed at the V12 badge just aft of the front wheels. He grimaced as though he were in pain. "Oh, geez," he said, "I've been wanting to see one of these things up close for a while. Tell me, just how nice does it drive?" We told him. Another grimace.
The CL600 doesn't as much go down the road as own it. So exact and purposeful are its movements that it's as though the road was built for its tires only. When you sit in the driver seat and grip the leather-wrapped and maple wood steering wheel, it's like being initiated into a secret club. We know this is perhaps a little dramatic, but there's really no other way to express how the CL blends driver, machine and road so seamlessly.
For starters, Mercedes has done everything it can to make the driving position as comfortable as possible. There are 14 power adjustments to ensure that the seat fits your body as perfectly as a tailor-made suit. In addition, seat heating and ventilation work to keep you comfy regardless of outdoor weather. There's even a massage function to relieve lower back stress.
The automaker has also worked to block aural distractions such as wind and road noise, which are virtually non-existent. The resulting serenity of the cabin allows you to concentrate on the pleasure of driving. You can also take advantage of this acoustic cocoon to enjoy the CL's exceptional eight-speaker Bose digital sound system.
Never was a cocoon so luxurious, either. Our test vehicle was outfitted with the $9,300 Espresso Edition option package, which includes rich, dark brown leather upholstery and enough auburn maple wood trim to make a chest of drawers. Combined with the suede roofliner and pillars, the CL is as opulent as a luxury yacht or private jet.
And we haven't even discussed all the toys yet. Reading a list of the CL's equipment is like the roll call for the entire complement of Mercedes' technological accomplishments. The standard troops include well known performance and safety features such as ABS (antilock brakes) and ESP (electronic stability control).
Also standard is ABC (active body control) suspension, which is meant to solve the compromise between ride comfort and handling precision by allowing the driver to select from "comfort" and "sport" settings via a dash-mounted switch. In comfort mode, the CL provides extraordinary stability and feel for the road. Thanks to a symphony of hydraulic, electronic and mechanical components, body roll, as well as dive and squat under braking and acceleration, are reduced by 68 percent. Even during energetic driving, we felt as though we could have had an open glass of water in the cupholder and not have lost a drop. Remarkably, despite this leveling and smoothing, you can still sense the contours of the road as though you were running your hand over the pavement.
If you select sport mode, the suspension is further tightened to reduce roll by 95 percent. Of course, ride comfort suffers somewhat, but it's a small compromise for the enhanced driving experience. In this mode, turns, starts and stops are noticeably more exact, but you never feel like you are fighting the car or the road. Instead, it's like you're connected to both, which is electrifying.
And that was just the standard stuff. The optional techno-toys on our test vehicle included Parktronic ($1,015) and Distronic ($2,875).
Parktronic is a pretty ordinary parking assist system that uses a series of lights and sounds to warn the driver if she gets too close to an object that might mar the mocha black paint. It's needed, too. Though the CL has no B-pillars, the width of the substantial C-pillars more than makes up for it. This, no doubt, accounts for the car's rigid feel, but it also creates huge blind spots in the rear corners. Also, the enormous rear window is set at such an angle that it tends to hold rainwater, dew and dirt. With no rear wiper, seeing out the back becomes a guessing game. Parktronic to the rescue.
Distronic is anything but an ordinary cruise control system. Officially called Distronic Adaptive Cruise Control, this amazing system works with the cruise control, the accelerator and the brakes to ensure that when it's engaged you stay a certain distance from vehicles in front. Using a dial on the center console, you can set it to follow traffic at any distance up to 300 feet. Then a radar sensor behind the grille looks for vehicles in front and the system applies either the accelerator or up to 20 percent of the brakes to keep you at the set distance. If more braking is needed, a chime sounds and a red triangle appears in the dash display — your signal to intervene. Another display inside the speedometer shows a digital picture of your car and the relative distance of any vehicles ahead.
It's an eerie feeling to let the car do this much work for you, and, at first, we worried that we'd lose concentration. On the contrary, we found that because we didn't have to bother with braking and resetting our cruise control constantly, we were more relaxed and alert. As a result, we enjoyed the drive more.
One downside to all this gadgetry (and we didn't even talk about the navigation system, voice command system, and the Tele-Aid help and information system) is the clutter of buttons necessary to control them. With this many features, the dash ends up looking like the sound board at a rock concert.
Another negative aspect, albeit temporary, is the amount of literature that must be absorbed in order to make use of all this technology. The manual is actually a hardcover book more than 400 pages long, and there are at least four smaller booklets to explain specific functions such as the voice command system.
Regardless, to appreciate the CL600, all we had to read was the V12 badge on its side. The 5.8-liter 36-valve V12 engine is truly an impressive beast. Though it emits very little in the way of engine roar, it makes its presence known in more visceral ways. The full effect of its 362 horsepower and 391 pound-feet of torque is not immediately felt when you depress the accelerator; Mercedes is too subdued for showy displays of power. Instead, the five-speed automatic transmission delivers thrust judiciously so that you're not going to lose many streetlight derbies, but you're also not going to shred the Z-rated 225/55R17 tires (you'd have to turn off the stability control anyway).
However, if you tap the shifter into auto-manual mode (the manual says this is for "special circumstances"), you can control shifts. Now, the full power of this velvety-smooth monster is literally at your fingertips, and it provides enough forward thrust to fully flatten your back against the sporty seats. We were intensely aware of every vertebra in our spines. Mercedes claims a 0-to-60-mph time of 5.9 seconds, and we believe it. Still, due to the marvelous engineering inherent in systems such as the electronic stability control and the active body control, we never felt out of control.
Like we said, pinnacles are exciting.
That's what's so wonderful about the Mercedes-Benz CL600. It is a pinnacle of automotive design and engineering made expressly to please us. But we suspect Mercedes' motives were not entirely altruistic. First, there's self-satisfaction. It must feel wonderful for the engineers and designers to stand back and look at the finished product, to revel in its graceful lines, its high-tech componentry and sterling mechanics and know that they have created something special. And then, of course, there's the price. At $135,000 (before tax), they're not exactly giving it away.
Start with its looks. Understated elegance is an apt description. The CL's smooth lines travel from nose to tail uninterrupted, like a teardrop or an ice sculpture. You want flash? Buy a red Viper. This is about knowing you've arrived, not about wanting everyone else to know it, too. We admit that no one will mistake the three-pointed star on the grille for a Nissan badge, but only automotive aficionados will appreciate how distinctive (and expensive) the CL600 is.
Take, for instance, the guy who pointed at the V12 badge just aft of the front wheels. He grimaced as though he were in pain. "Oh, geez," he said, "I've been wanting to see one of these things up close for a while. Tell me, just how nice does it drive?" We told him. Another grimace.
The CL600 doesn't as much go down the road as own it. So exact and purposeful are its movements that it's as though the road was built for its tires only. When you sit in the driver seat and grip the leather-wrapped and maple wood steering wheel, it's like being initiated into a secret club. We know this is perhaps a little dramatic, but there's really no other way to express how the CL blends driver, machine and road so seamlessly.
For starters, Mercedes has done everything it can to make the driving position as comfortable as possible. There are 14 power adjustments to ensure that the seat fits your body as perfectly as a tailor-made suit. In addition, seat heating and ventilation work to keep you comfy regardless of outdoor weather. There's even a massage function to relieve lower back stress.
The automaker has also worked to block aural distractions such as wind and road noise, which are virtually non-existent. The resulting serenity of the cabin allows you to concentrate on the pleasure of driving. You can also take advantage of this acoustic cocoon to enjoy the CL's exceptional eight-speaker Bose digital sound system.
Never was a cocoon so luxurious, either. Our test vehicle was outfitted with the $9,300 Espresso Edition option package, which includes rich, dark brown leather upholstery and enough auburn maple wood trim to make a chest of drawers. Combined with the suede roofliner and pillars, the CL is as opulent as a luxury yacht or private jet.
And we haven't even discussed all the toys yet. Reading a list of the CL's equipment is like the roll call for the entire complement of Mercedes' technological accomplishments. The standard troops include well known performance and safety features such as ABS (antilock brakes) and ESP (electronic stability control).
Also standard is ABC (active body control) suspension, which is meant to solve the compromise between ride comfort and handling precision by allowing the driver to select from "comfort" and "sport" settings via a dash-mounted switch. In comfort mode, the CL provides extraordinary stability and feel for the road. Thanks to a symphony of hydraulic, electronic and mechanical components, body roll, as well as dive and squat under braking and acceleration, are reduced by 68 percent. Even during energetic driving, we felt as though we could have had an open glass of water in the cupholder and not have lost a drop. Remarkably, despite this leveling and smoothing, you can still sense the contours of the road as though you were running your hand over the pavement.
If you select sport mode, the suspension is further tightened to reduce roll by 95 percent. Of course, ride comfort suffers somewhat, but it's a small compromise for the enhanced driving experience. In this mode, turns, starts and stops are noticeably more exact, but you never feel like you are fighting the car or the road. Instead, it's like you're connected to both, which is electrifying.
And that was just the standard stuff. The optional techno-toys on our test vehicle included Parktronic ($1,015) and Distronic ($2,875).
Parktronic is a pretty ordinary parking assist system that uses a series of lights and sounds to warn the driver if she gets too close to an object that might mar the mocha black paint. It's needed, too. Though the CL has no B-pillars, the width of the substantial C-pillars more than makes up for it. This, no doubt, accounts for the car's rigid feel, but it also creates huge blind spots in the rear corners. Also, the enormous rear window is set at such an angle that it tends to hold rainwater, dew and dirt. With no rear wiper, seeing out the back becomes a guessing game. Parktronic to the rescue.
Distronic is anything but an ordinary cruise control system. Officially called Distronic Adaptive Cruise Control, this amazing system works with the cruise control, the accelerator and the brakes to ensure that when it's engaged you stay a certain distance from vehicles in front. Using a dial on the center console, you can set it to follow traffic at any distance up to 300 feet. Then a radar sensor behind the grille looks for vehicles in front and the system applies either the accelerator or up to 20 percent of the brakes to keep you at the set distance. If more braking is needed, a chime sounds and a red triangle appears in the dash display — your signal to intervene. Another display inside the speedometer shows a digital picture of your car and the relative distance of any vehicles ahead.
It's an eerie feeling to let the car do this much work for you, and, at first, we worried that we'd lose concentration. On the contrary, we found that because we didn't have to bother with braking and resetting our cruise control constantly, we were more relaxed and alert. As a result, we enjoyed the drive more.
One downside to all this gadgetry (and we didn't even talk about the navigation system, voice command system, and the Tele-Aid help and information system) is the clutter of buttons necessary to control them. With this many features, the dash ends up looking like the sound board at a rock concert.
Another negative aspect, albeit temporary, is the amount of literature that must be absorbed in order to make use of all this technology. The manual is actually a hardcover book more than 400 pages long, and there are at least four smaller booklets to explain specific functions such as the voice command system.
Regardless, to appreciate the CL600, all we had to read was the V12 badge on its side. The 5.8-liter 36-valve V12 engine is truly an impressive beast. Though it emits very little in the way of engine roar, it makes its presence known in more visceral ways. The full effect of its 362 horsepower and 391 pound-feet of torque is not immediately felt when you depress the accelerator; Mercedes is too subdued for showy displays of power. Instead, the five-speed automatic transmission delivers thrust judiciously so that you're not going to lose many streetlight derbies, but you're also not going to shred the Z-rated 225/55R17 tires (you'd have to turn off the stability control anyway).
However, if you tap the shifter into auto-manual mode (the manual says this is for "special circumstances"), you can control shifts. Now, the full power of this velvety-smooth monster is literally at your fingertips, and it provides enough forward thrust to fully flatten your back against the sporty seats. We were intensely aware of every vertebra in our spines. Mercedes claims a 0-to-60-mph time of 5.9 seconds, and we believe it. Still, due to the marvelous engineering inherent in systems such as the electronic stability control and the active body control, we never felt out of control.
Like we said, pinnacles are exciting.
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