The new Mercedes-Benz C55 AMG is quite simply the most uncompromising sports saloon available. From the outside it advertises its attitude with the longer nose of the CLK55, a boot-lid spoiler, 18” AMG alloy rims, a rear skirt and a snazzy exhaust that ends up in aggressive twin tail pipes. The car’s loaded to the gunwales with trickery in the suspension and brake department too, in case you think the styling is just fancy-dress.
The best thing about the C55 AMG is undoubtedly its brilliant engine. The muscular 5,5 litre V8 — pinched from the CLK55 AMG — churns out a monstrous 270 kW of power and 510 Nm of torque, which gets the car up to 100 km/hr just 5,2 seconds after launch, on its way to a 250 km/hr electronically-limited top speed.
The Mercedes-Benz C55 AMG with its spoilers is LOW, so you have to be on permanent watch for even the smallest kerb or speed hump. The car is thoroughly uncompromising, so if you’re after a comfortable and relaxing ride you’d be better off looking elsewhere — wheel travel feels virtually non existent. The pay-off comes in the superb handling — the Merc can be thrown around like a go-kart without any bad manners coming to the fore.
The sound effects generated by the quad-cam 32 valve V8 are awesome, and so is the power delivery. The engine pulls like a locomotive from way down right up to the red line, and the auto gearbox shifts beautifully. Changes can be made manually via paddles on the steering wheel or by moving the gear lever across the gate, and — unlike many — the manual mode works well.
The C55 AMG is equipped with lots of electronic gimmickry to keep bold drivers out of trouble, which is probably just as well. With the traction control off the car lights up the massive rear tyres without hesitation when the loud pedal is booted — great fun, but expensive to do too often.
Despite feeling like a race-car, the AMG has all the normal luxuries and safety features we’ve come to expect from Mercedes-Benz. The C55 spec list includes electrically adjustable leather sports seats, dual front and side airbags, electric windows, Bi-Xenon headlamps with lens cleaners, a rain sensor, climate control, a superb sound system and satellite navigation. Most of them I hardly noticed while I had the car, however, because this Merc is all about DRIVING.
My only problem with the Mercedes-Benz C55AMG is that I know I’d end up in big trouble with the law if I owned one. It’s just so much fun to drive aggressively that I’d have difficulty driving it any other way. Still, if you have R585 000 to spend on this marvellous toy, you could probably find another R150 000 for a cheap family commuter to use the rest of the time.