Ride of the Valkyries

Imagine the tranquil German countryside complete with lush green forests on both sides and right in the middle, a four-lane billiard ball smooth winding road. It’s morning and fine German mist hides the otherwise glaring midday sun. Suddenly, an unearthly howl shakes the eight-inch cement and asphalt road, making the birds flutter away and stopping the moose dead in their tracks. An earthquake? Too close. The devil? Maybe. A brilliant silver arrow darts by at 250 km/h, then two then three. Welcome to the world of the German autobahn and its new kings, the Mercedes-Benz AMG brethren composed of the E55 AMG, S55 AMG and CL55 AMG.

Mercedes-Benz and its tuning arm, AMG are no strangers to the world of producing Teutonic muscle cars. Before, it has taken on the Group C racing by storm and more recently international events such as the FIA GT Championship and the DTM with specially designed and tuned CLKs. For the road, AMG has done wonders with its big block C43 and E55 sedans.

Keen to up the ante, AMG decided that just dropping in a massive 5.5-liter SOHC 24-valve V8 into the bonnet of a Mercedes-Benz saloon just isn’t enough. This is where the supercharger comes in. Called internally as ‘Kompressor’, it was introduced first in the SLK 230; since then Mercedes-Benz has applied this technology with mixed results on most of their entire line capping off with the devilish C32 AMG with a 3.2-liter supercharged V6 that delivers 354 bhp out stripping the BMW M3 and even AMG’s own V8.

Now, AMG has decided to blow the muscular 5.5-liter V8 transforming it from a relatively genteel grand tourer into a full-blown sports car. The results are staggering: close to or equaling 500 bhp and 71.3 kg-m of torque; that’s a 34 percent increase in power and 39 percent increase in torque. It first saw action in the jaw-dropping, top-line two-seater, SL55 AMG—a car that that delivered acceleration times of 0-100 km/h in 4.7 seconds and 0-200 km/h in a little over 15 seconds. As always, AMG wants to apply the same magic formula to the rest of the Mercedes-Benz range, hence the new E55 AMG, S55 AMG and the CL55 AMG.

The heart of the new V8 is its supercharger, located between the cylinder banks; it develops a maximum pressure of 0.9 bar. Also, the 5.5-liter V8 gains a newly designed crankcase and crankshaft; reinforced cylinder heads and valve train; and a more powerful oil pump—all developed thanks to the wealth of motor sports experience that AMG has gained through the years. All the new engines will be hand-built by a single engineer, whose name and signature will appear on a plate inside the engine bay, keeping AMG’s ‘One Engine, One Engineer’ philosophy.

Mated to the high-output V8 is AMG’s newly developed Formula 1-style steering-wheel mounted gearshift system called AMG Speedshift. Engineers at the Affalterbach plant incorporated new technologies into the five-speed gearbox. Adding the optimum gear function and active engine-braking system into the torque converter’s mechanical lock-up system give the Speedshift 35 percent faster gear changes compared to the regular Mercedes-Benz 5-speed gearbox. Moreover, it gives a more direct driving experience.

These changes are enough to propel the E55 AMG from 0-100 km/h in 4.7 seconds, while the S55 AMG and the CL55 AMG does it just 0.1 seconds slower. All three have an electronically limited top speed of 250 km/h.

The E55 AMG is placed in the Mercedes-Benz record books as the most powerful E-class of all time. However, quoting a Pirelli tagline, power is nothing without control; and so Mercedes-Benz and AMG have developed a brand new semi-active suspension system called AIRMATIC DC with ADS II. This new air sprung suspension system allows the driver to opt for a more comfortable or very sport ride. The damping and springing automatically adjusts to the given situation in fractions of a second. Required tuning can also be selected manually in three stages with a touch of a button.

To stop the E55 AMG, Mercedes-Benz upgraded the car’s Sensotronic Brake Control with internally ventilated perforated brake discs all around, sized 14 inches for the front and 13 inches for the rear. Eight fixed piston calipers give the front brakes a brake pad surface almost twice as large as the normal E500.

Meanwhile, its bigger brothers, the S55 and CL55 also gain a totally different character. The same supercharged V8 in the SL55 and E55 develops 500 bhp at 6,100 rpm and 700 Nm of torque at 2,750 rpm to 4,000 rpm on both of these models. Both of these cars can sprint to the 200 km/h mark in just 16.3 seconds.

Standard on both of the S55 and CL55 is Mercedes-Benz’s Active Body Control system or ABC, tuned by AMG to take on the heavier punishment these cars have to endure. The ABC significantly reduces the amount of pitch and roll. The driver can also select comfort-oriented or sporty characteristics by pressing a button on the dash, similar to the E55 AMG. Both of these cars also receive high-performance brakes with cross-drilled discs all around with eight-piston fixed calipers at the front.

To give all three AMG brothers an added muscular stance, Z-rated 18-inch tires are standard. The front 245/40 ZR 18 tires and rear 265/35 ZR 18 tires are mounted on new light-weight AMG twin-spoke alloy wheels. In addition, they all receive some discreet aerodynamic and styling touches such as AMG badging, a new front apron with larger air intakes and clear-glass fog lamps, aggressive side skirts and a distinctive rear apron topped off with two chromed twin exhaust pipes (the E55 AMG gets two chromed exhaust pipes on either side). The CL55 AMG gets a sportier diffuser at the rear as well.

Like all AMG cars, the interior of the E55 AMG, S55 AMG and CL55 AMG have been given more luxurious appointments such as nappa leather (the E55 AMG gets a nappa / nubuck leather combination); front sports seats with heavier bolstering; a new 320 km/h instrumentation cluster; bird’s eye maple wood trim and an AMG ergonomic sports steering wheel.

All three of these new breed of Mercedes-Benz AMG road rockets will be available starting the fall of 2002 as part of the company’s 2003 line-up. After that, it should come to no surprise as the German countryside won’t be as tranquil as before, as the eerie sound of a howling V8 Kompressor will go charging through the picturesque Bavarian landscape.

By Ulysses Ang | Photos Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz
Originally Published in the November 2002 Issue