2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.comEdmunds.com Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 10,316
edited September 2014 in Mercedes-Benz

image2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG Long-Term Road Test

Performance Testing our 9-year-old, 604-horsepower 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG.

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  • arcticbluetsxarcticbluetsx Member Posts: 79
    You say that the tires are very hard? Maybe the pressure is too high in them? Or maybe MB Spec pressure is a very high number?
  • juddholl10juddholl10 Member Posts: 84
    You need to put some wider summer rubber on there. 265 and 295 spec summer tires would easily improve this performance all around compared to the 245 275 spec that I had on my X3. Some Michelin Pilot Super Sports, please.
  • bankerdannybankerdanny Member Posts: 1,021
    I disagree judd. This isn't a sports sedan. Look at the weight 4700 pounds! This is an autobahn cruiser, a car to drive to Alaska and back really fast, not a car to tear up a canyon road or a switchback filled euro mountain road. Summer tires would be a waste of money.
  • duck87duck87 Member Posts: 649
    Torque (lb-ft @ rpm): 738 @ 2,000. I think that, plus the 4800 max hp rpm says it all. Tires are sized OK for this kind of weight and power output. 245mm section tires on the front for this weight class is par for the course. 275mm is essentially considering the power output (i.e. the Model S could benefit from at least 10mm wider rears... if it didn't have so much trouble maintaining geometry). Brake rotors are bigger than wheel sizes on compact cars from the early 2000s.
  • fordson1fordson1 Unconfirmed Posts: 1,512
    I think he means that those tires have been on there for awhile...it's a 9-year-old car with 59,000 miles on it. But it says they're Pilot Sports A/S 3s, which is a newer tire, and not a rock-hard tire, either. Whatever the reason they're so hard, I'm puzzled that it only seems to occur to him that that may be a problem in the slalom test, but not the other tests...even though he keeps talking about wheelspin. With stickier tires, this car would do 0-60 in 4 flat and the quarter in 12 flat.
  • fordson1fordson1 Unconfirmed Posts: 1,512
    Here we go...incredible disappearing comments again...
  • dgcamerodgcamero Member Posts: 148
    I think the listed tires are currently the best handling all-season tires in production. Imagine if it had *gasp* Kumhos, or something!
  • stovt001_stovt001_ Member Posts: 799
    @dgcamero: Ha, I had Kumho A/Ss on my Miata. If you've ever wondered if it is actually possible to under-tire a Miata, I have that answer. All sorts of slideways fun with that setup.
  • fordson1fordson1 Unconfirmed Posts: 1,512
    dgcamero is right, if those tires are what the specs in the post say they are. If they are, then these particular ones on this car are pretty new, because they're been out less than a year. If that's what they are, I don't know where he is getting this rock-hard business. They're great tires - I will probably be getting a set for my GTI come spring.
  • quadricyclequadricycle Member Posts: 827
    The current tires are brand new, put on by the dealership who (rightly, in my opinion) decided that while this car needs a tire with decent grip, it still doesn't need a full fledged summer tire. Bankerdanny gives some reasons why. The Edmunds staff who went to pick up the SL tried to get some summer tires thrown into the purchase, but failed. As for the rock hard comment from the writer, I don't think that he literally meant that they felt hard when he touched them, but that all season tires are figuratively hard compared to the stickier, softer compound summer tires that were on the other three models in the test.
  • 330joy330joy Member Posts: 2
    Would love to see some other timed runs that really showcase the torque like 0 - 150, 50 - 100, etc.
  • rwatsonrwatson Member Posts: 144
    Imagine what this thing did when new. Of course, you will dyno-test this thing eventually, right? I'm curious to see how much it's lost over the years.
  • fordson1fordson1 Unconfirmed Posts: 1,512
    Ah, quadricycle - you checked up on this for us. I just read Tire Rack's test of this tire - "Conclusion: An athletic tire that resets the performance standard for Ultra High Performance All-Season tires...From behind the wheel the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 delivered the best overall handling of the group, feeling very responsive and stable. It's hard to quantify, but the tactile feel through the steering wheel has much of the characteristic directness of a performance summer tire rather than the subtle imprecision of the typical Ultra High Performance All-Season tire...Out on the track, the Pilot Sport A/S 3's handling prowess stood out from the others, with excellent ultimate traction, precision and very good composure when driving at the limit. This tire is so good it tempts you to carry a little too much speed through the corners...In the wet, the Pilot Sport A/S 3 again led the way with a clear advantage in overall wet traction, stability and predictability during abrupt maneuvers...Michelin has reset the performance standard for an all-season tire with their Pilot Sport A/S 3, which delivers impressive handling in both dry and wet conditions." So yeah - rock-hard all-seasons.
  • bassrockerxbassrockerx Member Posts: 24
    i think 4600 pounds and 740 foot pounds is a bit more than the french had in mind when they designed this tire lmao but that is respectable considering. i would be looking at a set of supersports at least when its time to replace those tires.
  • bassrockerxbassrockerx Member Posts: 24
    no way summer tires are a waste of money on a car like this not only do they provide better dry AND wet weather grip they are also WAY quieter and provide a much much improved ride. with 740 foot pounds i would be looking at a set of summer tires and a set of winter tires if i lived in the cold. no way i would i trust the cars electronics to save me from low grip all seasons with that much power.
  • mercedesfanmercedesfan Member Posts: 365
    I very much disagree with the argument that summer tires are a waste on this car. It was originally spec'ed with Michelin Pilot Sports in 2005. AMG clearly put summer tires on their for a reason. In many cases the entire ride/handling balance of a car can be fundamentally changed simply by going with a different type of tire than its engineers intended. Summer tires certainly won't make it handle any sharper, but it will ride better and be far better able to put its power down.
  • fordson1fordson1 Unconfirmed Posts: 1,512
    Hey, if you want to put a set of Pilot Super Sports on this car now, yeah - that would be great. I would however doubt that the generation of Pilot Sports they put on this car 9 years ago was better than what's on it now, gripwise. In leading-edge street tire technology, 9 years is an age. I looked at Tire Rack's tests of the PSS and the PS A/S 3 - in the same car, on the same dry track, the PSS lapped in 30.13 and the PS A/S in 30.16. Wet, it was 33.17 vs. 33.82. Skidpad, the A/S tire was .01G down dry, .01G BETTER in the wet. In the dry slalom, the A/S tire was quite a bit faster. In the reviews, there a lots of folks who normally run summer tires who have switched to this tire to extend the season in the spring and fall - it's really that good. I don't understand the remarks by the tester - this is just a super-heavy car with a boatload of torque. You can't suspend the laws of physics.
  • ne_blackshirtsne_blackshirts Member Posts: 56
    I think it be a blast with a set of Drag Radials!!!! Or even better a nice ECU tune with Drag Radials.
  • agentorangeagentorange Member Posts: 893
    I wouldn't use any high end Michelin in the LA basin, it's too dry. Michelin high performance tyres die in months here in Las Vegas. A lot of shops don't like to fit them because of customers complaining about cracking after as little as six months.
  • juddholl10juddholl10 Member Posts: 84
    @bankerdanny

    Not looking for cornering benefits. Looking for a better way to put the power down. That MB decided 275mm rear was enough with 738 lb-ft on tap is ridiculous. The M5 has relatively WAY less power yet uses 295 out back. The X5, which is AWD
  • joefrompajoefrompa Member Posts: 64
    12.2 second quarter mile in this and you paid WHAT???

    Holy crap for that weight and that price this merc is fast.

    Makes the 13 second/108-109mph quarter mile passes in my e39 m5 downright pedestrian.

    See, visiting this website is bad for my wallet. I had convinced myself I'd be fine with my next car running 105-108mph traps and 13.1-13.4 ETs.

    But noooo....had to visit edmunds.
  • dgcamerodgcamero Member Posts: 148
    @fordson1 fwiw I'm on my 3rd set of tires on my '07 GTI...stock ContiProContacts (fine, but kinda loud the entire time, rolly sidewalls, and not good in [light] snow), Sumitomo HTR A/S P01 (horrible horrible horrible in *every* way except dry handling aft
  • dgcamerodgcamero Member Posts: 148
    ...and my tread on the Nittos is only down to 7/32" in 25k miles, so they'll last well beyond their warranted 60k miles.
  • kevm14kevm14 Member Posts: 423
    How come no comparison to the 02 Z06? It was about as fast if I recall.
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