2011 Mercedes-Benz CL550 First Drive

"Do you know that there are four versions of this car that are more powerful than this one?" we said aloud when we first rammed our foot to the floorboard in the 2011 Mercedes-Benz CL550.

"That's just...stupid!" We were ostensibly talking to our co-driver. But he only responded with the occasional, "Meh."

But this really was a pretty remarkable thing. Such is the torque produced by the new twin-turbo 4.6-liter V8 that this monument to elegant touring, this two-and-a-quarter-ton luxury coupe, lunges forward like, well, something that lunges forward quite aggressively. Our eyebrows stayed raised for some time after each big, dumb kick of the right pedal.

And this was the poor man's CL — the one with a piddling 429 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. And at a starting price of $114,025, you needn't be obscenely wealthy to get yourself a 2011 Mercedes-Benz CL550. Mere filthy richness will suffice, sir.

Not the Point
We also drove the CL63 AMG, which trades a bit of the CL line's traditional elegance for a helping of kick-assness along with up to 536 hp. At $151,125, the CL63 AMG is a little more our speed and is a bit more consistent with the luxury environment in which we're sampling it. Mercedes has brought us to a mansion-turned-boutique in upstate New York during the color changes. It's the kind of place where the bathroom has its own fireplace and every meal begins with an amuse bouche.

Still, the CL63 AMG is only the third most expensive CL, behind the two V12-powered versions, the CL600 and the quite-completely-insane 621-hp CL65 AMG. We weren't invited to drive those babies. We can't fathom what environment might be appropriate to experience such vehicles. Perhaps our food would be pre-chewed. Possibly, we'd play Stratego, but with real-life marshals and lieutenants who were proud to give their lives for our fleeting amusement.

As odd as that may sound, consider that with the introduction of the new twin-turbo V8s in the CL550 and the CL63 AMG, Mercedes has now completely screwed its conventional naming scheme. The 550 is not a 5.5-liter but a 4.6-liter. And the 63 is not a 6.3-liter or even a 6.2-liter but a 5.5-liter.

The Point
Wait, no. The point is that you might think a car as long as a minivan that carries only four people (only two in true comfort) is an absurd exercise in overindulgence. And you might be right. But there is nothing wrong with the 2011 Mercedes-Benz CL550 — nothing of consequence anyway.

The face of the CL looks less like the stoned Cheshire cat it used to and more like a conniving one.

It is the quintessential modern full-boat luxury-performance coupe. Like the Jeep CJ/Wrangler or the Mercedes SL, the CL defines its own enduring parameters of success.

This remains the case for 2011. The CL greets the new model year with a face-lift that adds some edges to the car's basically soft form. And, regrettably, it also has the increasingly cliché white LED strings plastered to the nose — a forgivable concession to fashion. The taillights use the little diodes, too. The front fenders now are now more prominent. The face of the CL looks less like the stoned Cheshire cat it used to and more like a conniving one.

Turbo Engines
In the interest of full disclosure, we should say right off the bat here that we loved Mercedes' 6.2-liter V8 used for the last few years in the AMG versions of just about every Mercedes-Benz car on the market. We loved it with a fever. We loved it even though it wasn't the 6.3-liter that AMG's "63" badges promised it was. Hell, even our kids loved it.

So on principle, we hate and resent the 5.5-liter twin-turbo that replaces it in the 2011 CL63. In normal trim this motor makes 536 hp at 5,500 rpm and 590 lb-ft of torque at 2,000-4,500 rpm. That's a stink-load, even for a car weighing 4,800 pounds.

For a mere $7,000-$8,000 (Mercedes hadn't set the final option cost when we last asked), the company will turn up the wick on the 5.5 with the AMG Performance package. This gets you a carbon-fiber engine cover that no one will ever see, along with 563 hp and 664 lb-ft of torque. Routing all that power through a seven-speed speed-shift transmission (familiar from the SL63 AMG), this thing that weighs the same as a decent-size truck can get to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds and top out at 186 mph.

By the stopwatch, the new CL63 should be a couple tenths of a second quicker to 60 than the old one. But it's the experience of accelerating that really differs. There's something almost synthetic about the power of the new turbo motor. Such is the immediate and overwhelming torque delivery that it seems like when you really jam the throttle, you're wrinkling the road behind you. It's the lump-sum payment of power. In contrast, the big, old 6.2-liter liked to rev and power rose consistently along its rev range.

The 5.5-liter twin-turbo will make its drivers happy.

As noted, the 4.6-liter twin-turbo V8 that's quickly taking the place of the 5.5-liter naturally aspirated V8 in all Mercedes "550" applications is so much more powerful already than what is needed. Its power delivery is like the bigger-displacement AMG motor — torque now, until you can't take it no more. It, too, is unlikely to leave any drivers disappointed with its capabilities.

Active Luxury
Not much has changed in the interior of the 2011 Mercedes-Benz CL550 since we last noted that, "[it] appear[s] clean and elegant while incorporating a staggering number of minor electronic miracles." This is no small feat, satisfying the technophobe and the tech-geek in the same space. And to its existing bevy of electronics, the 2011 CL adds the awkwardly named Active Lane Keeping Assist and Active Blind Spot Assist. (You want to actively assist my blind spot? Really?)

The "Active" part is the new-for-2011 wrinkle in the existing technology. Instead of just alerting the driver that he is drifting over a line or about to change lanes directly into another vehicle, the new systems actually try to prevent it from happening. Integrated into the stability control system, the active-assist systems can tap the appropriate brakes to nudge you gently back where you're supposed to be. This is what makes the CL an excellent car to drive while unconscious.

But as creepy as it might sound, it's actually pretty fantastic. It will only nudge you if you're going over a solid line or into another vehicle. And the nudging is gentle but effective. So predictably we drove in the far right lane for a shameful amount of time, pinging off the solid line that separates the roadway from the shoulder. And, as we found in a later drive on twisty, hilly roads, the system is smart enough to not light off if you get too close to an inside line on a curve.

But It Has an IWC Clock
Why the CL63 AMG comes with an IWC-branded analog clock on the dash in place of the nameless unit in the CL550 is a mystery right up there with why the hell the CL63 AMG has a start-stop system for fuel conservation but the CL550 does not. Who thinks this stuff up?

But whatever. We want a CL63 AMG not for its electronics, its snob appeal or its stupid power. No, we want a CL63 AMG because this nearly 3-ton totem to luxury can get down on a tight twisty road like it has absolutely no business doing.

Kept flying with fat blasts of torque and kept out of the trees by 255/35ZR20 front and 275/35ZR20 rear summer tires and monstrous brakes (15.4-inch front and 14.4-inch rear rotors), the CL63 doesn't just get through twisty sections; it owns them. Meanwhile, the active suspension keeps the body level and our passenger can watch a movie on the navigation screen.

If that seems just a little too overindulgent, the 2011 Mercedes-Benz CL550 delivers 90 percent of the 63's driving experience in a package that's slightly less hell bent on speed.

Did we mention that there are four settings for the seat massagers and they are named: Slow and Gentle, Slow and Vigorous, Fast and Gentle and Fast and Vigorous.

So, yes, it's worth it. It's all worth it.

Edmunds attended a manufacturer-sponsored event, to which selected members of the press were invited, to facilitate this report.