The Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG is not a sports sedan, although it
is a sedan. The E55 is not a sports car, although it tears from a standstill to
60 mph in 4.5 seconds.
The E55 is a speed sled-a conveyance of staggering power
capable of great pace. Attaining great speed is not just the E55's forte; speed
is its reason for being.
Some perspective is in order here. The E55 takes just 0.3
second longer to reach 60 mph than the 508-hp V-12 Ferrari 575M Maranello F1.
The Merc comes with heated and ventilated seats and costs about $175,000less than
the Ferrari. In 23.1 seconds, the E55 reaches 150 mph-a speed only 5 mph below
its governor-limited top speed. At that pace, the 469-hp E55 is still
accumulating velocity more quickly than China accumulates new citizens. Hell,
at 154 mph the E55 is still accelerating. Thanks to an almost
incomprehensible 516 pound-feet of torque (Audi's super sedan, the RS 6 makes a
comparatively paltry 415) and a quick-acting five-speed automatic transmission,
the E55 is a half-second quicker than the Ferrari from 50 to 70 mph.
But what does 155 mph feel like in the E55? Well,
Huxley might be disappointed because the E55 at that velocity feels a lot like
the average new car doing 90 mph. So effortlessly and with such extraordinary
stability does the E55 maintain pace that speed is a cerebral, rather than
emotional, experience.
You're aware of the speed because your brain tells you
objects couldn't possibly be thrown into your field of vision so quickly. Never
have we experienced speed so divorced from the sensation thereof. There's no
wind noise, no lightness in the steering wheel, no unnerving shiver through the
body. The E55 slips quietly through what seems an unusually thin atmosphere. It
is simply exquisite.
German drivers, who can more frequently (and legally)
exploit the potential of such a car, can have the top-speed limiter disabled at
a dealership. No chance of that here in the United States of Litigiousness.
Based on our experience with the car, would you really want to do
that anyway? We were headed into the mountains north of Phoenix, lounging at 85
mph, when we saw a V-8-powered BMW X5. Its driver was in a racy mood. We
squeezed the throttle to perhaps half its travel-normal for an expressway pass.
The engine thrumming gently increased its volume and pitch. There's a hint of
supercharger whine in the high register. Even on a grade, the automatic doesn't
bother downshifting. By the time we glanced at the rearview mirror, the X5 was
simply gone, vanished. "Damn," we muttered aloud to no one, "how
fast were we going?" The Euro-spec speedometer said 230 km/h. Let's see,
if 100 km/h is 62 mph, then- whoa!
This is the kind of thing that 469 horsepower will do for
you. AMG, Mercedes' performance division, takes a standard-issue 5.0-liter V-8
and increases its displacement to 5.4 liters, adds stronger internals, modifies
the three-valve heads, and adds a new intake and exhaust. In the previous E55,
this treatment was good for 349 horsepower. But with the 450-hp Audi RS 6 about
to show up on American roads and the 394-hp BMW M5 already tearing them up,
less than 350 would just not do. So the E55's engine gets a Lysholm (or screw
type) supercharger with an air-to-water intercooler blowing 13.1 psi of boost.
A smaller-diameter, larger-length exhaust system fitted to the E55 explains the
loss of 24 horsepower compared with the SL55 AMG powered by ostensibly the
identical engine (see sidebar). Superchargers at low boost can be a power
parasite, so AMG added an electromagnetic clutch to the blower's belt-drive
pulley. It's not engaged until the engine computer decides you really want all
that power.
The standard Mercedes five-speed automatic has been modified
for E55 duty as well. The shifts are quicker and firmer. The transmission has
three settings: comfort, sport, and manual. You must activate manual to use the
shift buttons mounted behind the upper spokes of the steering wheel. So good is
the sport mode at holding a gear and so quick is it to downshift that we often
didn't bother with the buttons. You can also choose your gears by rocking the
manumatic shifter left and right. If we must have an automatic in a performance
car, this is the one we want.
Beyond the powertrain, the superlatives don't come quite as
naturally. The brakes--big discs (14.2 inches in front, 13.0 inches at the
rear) pierced with ventilation holes--look like serious business. The fronts
carry eight-piston calipers as long as loaves of bread. At full clamp-down,
they stop the 4200-pounder in 175 feet, which is 10 to 20 feet longer than the
performance of some 4000-pound M5s we've tested. Worse, the brake pedal feels
as if it has no mechanical connection to the brakes. This is because it doesn't.
Like all E-classes, the E55 has electrohydraulic brakes. The car
"reads" the position of the pedal and determines how much pressure to
apply to the brakes. The pedal is supposed to mimic the feedback you would get
from a conventional pedal, but it doesn't. You cannot smoothly modulate the
brakes. You might as well get used to the alternating lunging and halting that
accompanies every stop.
Likewise, the myriad programs involving electronic
stability, traction control, brake proportioning, and semiactive suspension are
constantly doing things you didn't ask them to do. These are good systems that
can keep your $70,000-plus car from pirouetting into the nearest telephone
pole. But the insistence of the Mercedes systems adds an unwanted layer of
isolation to the driving experience. The steering doesn't communicate openly
with the driver, either. The weight feels artificial, and there's a certain
wooden touch to its action. You can choose among three suspension settings for
the Airmatic suspenders, and even the stiffest is not disconcertingly so. But
the E55 rolls more than you might expect for such a machine. And even with wide
Continental summer tires (245/40 front; 265/35 rear), the E55 pulls a middling
0.83 g on the skidpad--less grip than an E320 with a Sport package. The E55
feels distant, aloof.
Its looks are subdued. Eighteen-inch twin-spoke wheels are
standard, and the ride height is lowered (about half an inch) from that of
stock E-classes. The low, long biomorphic shape of the E55 and its four chrome
exhaust tips make the car look something like a gigantic gecko wearing jewelry.
The interior gets similarly subtle upgrades. Bright white gauges grace the
dash. Otherwise, the interior looks and feels as stately as that of lower-level
E-classes.
We'd like a bit more visual differentiation between the AMG
and base E-classes, but we can't complain about price. Mercedes says the new
E55 will be priced at about $74,000. That's only a thousand or so more than the
BMW M5 or the outgoing E55, a relative bargain.
Sadly, that price does not include the cost of paying every
other driver on the road to stay the hell out of your way
Source: http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/mercedes-benz-e55-amg-road-test-counterpoint-page-3
by Daniel Pund
Photography by Jeffrey G. Russell
by Daniel Pund
Photography by Jeffrey G. Russell
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