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Originally posted by S. Texan:
thought I would bring this full circle as I finally pulled the trigger. I bought a low mileage 2007 Mercedes CL600. Love the pillarless styling of these coupes. Have had it for about 3 months now and I'm pleased with the car but not in love. It is quiet and nicely appointed inside, and has power to spare with the V12, but I'm still trying to get used to the turbo lag. Also, the suspension is springy, even in its Sports mode - very different from my sports car experience. thanks for all the ideas

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Originally posted by FMC:
When I "liked" Mercedes I really loved the supercharged AMGs as you had the benefit of the nice torque of a big V8 on steroids being blown.
Never drove a supercharged Benz. My first & only experience in one was an American made one. A 1990 Bonneville SST with a supercharged 3800. Quiet as a church mouse and when coerced it set me back in the seat.. Way more powerful than the 350 small block Corvettes I drove at the dealership. I had an S 55 and SL 55, I preferred the supercharged AMGs over the 12's. I thought the 550TT wasn't out-shined by much by the V-12. Not much to gain or so it seemed on paper. (Got pissed when they dropped the superchargers) Turbo lag sucked in those era cars.

Furthermore, by default a V8 will have more grunt, esp low end when compared to the torque of a V12. V12s shine in having the torque band better suited for the higher rpms of spirited driving. Ferrari's clear their throats below 5,000 rpms and start to really sing at 7-8500. Peak torque in my F12 is at 8500 RPM.

Factory settings can be adjusted a bit richer at low end to lose the lazy. Might lose some efficiency. The trick is to find the guy who can do it and not have the engine flunk the sniffer at inspection time. A friend's F430 felt like it was ill until the Ferrari shop in Philly tweaked the fuel curve. They found the sweet spot. He never revs over 4000. Won't let me drive it. He knows better I guess.


Current turbos with the dual set ups and variable vanes behave more like superchargers. Instant torque at all speeds all gears. Some do it better than others: My Panamera Turbo is perfect because of the above, the S 550 Coupe it replaced suffered tremendously from turbo lag. A dog shit care and my last MB.



The newer 'twin spool' turbos are a jump in performance and efficiency. But, I'm still done with newer Benz's. Not much to get excited about anymore. I had a new 2018 E300 (2.3T?) on loan while my GLK timing chain was replaced. The car felt a little watered down compared to our 2010 and 2013's, yet on the positive side the engine had no stumbles at off idle, nothing. Acceleration was respectable up to about 65 mph, then it got lazy. Must be a twin spool turbo tuned for daily driving. I expect larger engines might use the same technology. The newer 'twin spool' turbos are a jump in performance and efficiency though. Are they variable? Well it's about time technology got caught up. I had a new E300 (2.3T?) on loan while my GLK timing chain was replaced. The engine had no stumbles at off idle, nothing. Acceleration was respectable up to about 65 mph, then it got lazy. Must be a twin spool turbo. I expect larger engines might use the same technology.

Regardless, the SLs are really nice and comfortable cars (my wife also had an SL 550), they're not sports cars by any means- too fat and chunky to throw around, but really nice comfortable daily drivers. And MBs are autos, not real paddleshifts..........

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Originally posted by subsailor74:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Snowwolfe:
I vote for a Corvette. You can buy a new 2017 1LT model with auto for roughly $8-10K under your budget.

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What!!!! Never revs over 4000- pussy. Those cars are made to bounce off the rev limiter. I always made sure to burn the carbon off my plugs every time I took my 360 out.

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when dago flat dago wop wop.