Benz coupe can be yours
- for just $345,500

THE storming Mercedes-Benz CL55 AMG has gone on sale in Australia - for a lazy $345,500. The CL55 joins the "mainstream" CL500 and CL600 in the S-class sedan based coupe range. And if you can afford the asking price, you are guaranteed exclusivity, as Mercedes-Benz Australia forecasts around seven sales per year.

Benz's sports and racing experts at AMG have extracted 265 kilowatts and 530 Newton-metres of torque from the 5439cc V8, up 40kW and 70Nm from the 5.0-litre engine they started with. A 0-100km/h sprint of 6.0 seconds and a governed top speed of 255km/h are claimed.

The visual appearance of the CL55 AMG has been adapted to the car's sporty character with a styling pack including modified front air dam and rear apron, as well as new rocker panels. Also prominent are 18-inch AMG wheels, which work with a suspension system unchanged from the standard CL which incorporates the Active Body Control (ABC) system.

Equipment levels are up to the usual CL standard including full leather, wood trim in a choice of burred walnut or chestnut, bi-xenon headlamps, integral seats complete with Easy Entry function for the driver and front passenger plus a newly developed multi-link door hinge for improved entry and exit.

The technical innovations of the Mercedes-Benz S-class are also available for the AMG variant of the flagship coupé - including navigation system and the "Keyless Go" chip-card controlled drive authorisation system.

Other equipment includes an AMG instrument cluster with speedo range extended to 320km/h AMG exhaust system the brake system from the CL600 V12 and sporty transmission set-up.

With the introduction of the new CL55 AMG, the Mercedes-Benz range in Australia now includes high-performance AMG variants for E-class, CLK-class, ML-class and CL-class. Mercedes-Benz plans to further expand the Mercedes-AMG line-up later this year with the introduction of the 260kW SLK 32 AMG roadster and C32 AMG sedan in limited volumes.