Driven #46:- 2011 Mercedes-Benz CL500

 

The current generation Mercedes-Benz CL500 (CL550 in some markets) is absolutely glorious. It offers a lot of the exquisite comfort of an S-Class with a big injection of added indulgence. It's also almost preposterously quick, the 4.6 litre V8 thumping out 435 growly, thunderous horsepower, enough to hurl the vast machine to sixty in less than five seconds. To put this into perspective, that's only a second slower than the AMG CL65; and that has an extra 177 horses and costs a further fifty grand.

In all honesty, it was never really in doubt that the CL was a bit of a masterpiece. I mean, it would be absolutely criminal for the flagship Mercedes coupé to be anything less. But what really struck me about my time with the CL, for all its pleasure, for all that power, was how many systems it has to take your mind off driving it.

Click to read more....

Driven #33:- Mercedes-Benz AMG SLS, Part One

So, 49 years after the original Mercedes-Benz decided to recapture some of the drama of their original Gullwing, the 300SL.

Of course, the SL has moved on, or rather regressed a long way since the W198 of the ‘50s. At that point the fuel-injected, 150 mph beast was straight out of the annals of science fiction; a costly, hi-tech wonder far beyond the reach of mortal man. But soon, time and progress did their inevitable dance. Mercedes had to broaden the appeal of their flagship, so it got gradually bigger and more practical. And as it got bigger, it required more power. The engines offered on subsequent SLs rose in size through 350, 380, 420, 450, 500 and 560 in R107 shape, which didn’t really have any pretence of sportiness left at all, then up to 600 in the far more on-message R129 of the 'nineties.

Today, the R230 model is far closer to the sporting ideal of the W198, but the 300SL is right down at the bottom of the range, struggling to crack sixty in much less than eight seconds. So, rightly, the new Gullwing has a new name. They call it SLS, and it’s  Mercedes’ signature dish. This is everything the three-pointed-star knows about building a fast car.

Click to read more....

Driven #18:- 335d SE

The turbocharged, go-faster Volvo 850T-5 caused something of a stir on its release in the early nineties. For a start, it was a Volvo, and Volvo were more associated with ever-so-sensible brick shaped cars best suited for carrying elderly people and antiques. Then there was the power, the modernity, the fact that the car represented totally new ground for the staid old firm. Then, in ’94, Volvo took the 850 racing in the British Touring Car Championship. And, as if looking to take the piss totally, the combatant they fielded was an estate car.

Click to read more....

Driven #4;- 2010 Smart ForTwo Brabus.

It had been a windy day, the gustiest I had experienced for a while. I had enjoyed a foretaste of the weather when I flew my kite the previous evening. The wind at the weekend had been so unpredictable that I elected to fly my practice kite, and not risk crashing my pride and joy into the ground through poor kitemanship.

Leaving the house this morning it still looked to be windy out, the voices on the radio spoke of bridges closed to high-sided vehicles and I drove with some caution. But there was no fuss through the steering wheel of my A4, no sense that any lapse of concentration would cost me dear. Later, that same day, in the Smart things couldn't have been more different.

Click to read more....

Uninsured? Undeclared? Unintelligent.

Kids like cars, kids like going fast in cars, so kids like fast cars. And kids will do everything they can to try to create the illusion of speed in their own cars, whether it be the sound of speed by fitting oversized, over-loud exhaust systems, or what they perceive as being the look of speed, with wide wheelarches, extra grilles, spoilers and wide alloy wheels, all of which ironically add to the weight of whatever 1.2 litre shopping trolley they’re nailed to.

Click to read more....