The actual numbers for the CLK 55 AMG vs. 645Ci & Maser

[SL65amg]

As everyone in the world knows now, in the May 2004 edition of Car & Driver magazine, the CLK 55 AMG got Zero to 60 in 4.5 seconds, pretty impressive. It also got zero to 100 in 11.0, to 120 MPH in 16.3, and the 1/4 mile in 13.1 @ 109. It's rolling start from 5 MPH to 60 MPH was 4.6 seconds, from 30 to 50 MPH in 2.5 seconds, and from 50 to 70 MPH in 2.9 seconds. The competing Maserati Coupe had a 6 speed automated manual and got zero to 60 MPH in 4.8 seconds, to 100 in 11.5 seconds, to 120 in 16.8 sec, the 1/4 mile in 13.3 @109, the rolling start 5 to 60 MPH in 5.0 seconds, the 30 to 50 in 5.4 seconds, the 50 to 70 in 6.7 seconds. The BMW 645 Ci got Zero to 60 MPH in 5.3 seconds (one other magazine got 5.7 seconds, so this 645 was quite a bit faster than that one), zero to 100 MPH in 13.4 seconds, to 120 MPH in 19.7, the 1/4 mile in 13.9 seconds @102 MPH, the rolling start 5 to 60 MPH in 5.6 seconds, the 30 to 50 MPH in 2.6 seconds, the 50 to 70 MPH in 3.7 seconds. Looking forward to seeing a comparison competition in the magazines between maybe a 2007 model M6 coupe against a 2007 model CLS 65 AMG. That will be one bad-ass comparo for sure. With the lighter weight of a CLS body with the monster 65 engine and the quick SpeedShift AMG auto trans programming, especially with a sticky set of P-Zero Rosso Corso's on it, I don't see why the CLS 65 shouldn't be able to hit 60 MPH in the low 3's with the 1/4 Mile in the low 11's , especially since now we know what the regular 600's are capable of, what with the SL 600's hitting 60 MPH in 3.6 seconds and the 1/4 Mile in 11.9 ... the lighter and more powerful CLS should be able to smoke an SL 600, which is pretty cool .....

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[Ebrigham]

Another data point is that C&D themselves did 0-60 in 4.7 sec and the 1/4 mile in 13.2 when they tested the Maser coupe in a previous issue. MT also got better results when they did an M3, SVT, Maser comparison. R&T got some weak numbers when they reviewed the coupe in late 2002 but qualified the data, arguing the car had low miles and was not broken in.

All around, these latest numbers (accel, skidpad) by C&D are on the low end of the range I have seen for the Maserati, but we could well be within the realm of statistical noise. Ofcourse, if C&D did not manually shift the car themselves during these tests, these numbers are not very relavent at all. Also, their reference to "valve lifters pump up on the skidpad" is curious and not something I have experienced.

Having previously owned a CLK and 2 Maser coupes, I can attest to the fact that both cars' performance increase significantly after break in - the Maser perhaps more so.