This car has presence. Rarely has a car so hot looked so graceful. Our CLK55 AMG was black on black, and it was elegant. Never has a square chrome grille looked so sleek, with its windswept rake. There are no untidy or gratuitous strokes on the monochromatic body, while the sweeping arc of the rear roof pillars sweetens the shape and helps bring in an aerodynamic 0.31 Cd (drag coefficient).The 17-inch AMG alloy Monobloc wheels are aptly named. They're very full, yet remarkably easy to not notice. Wheels with more pizazz might be in order, but maybe the Monoblocs are meant to complement the car's shape by being invisible. More likely, they were designed with the E-Class in mind and re-used. But because they don't draw attention to the car, they allow a low personal profile. The CLK55 AMG does not shout "Look at me!" But when you do, you whistle. The wide-profile Michelin Pilots are swallowed by fenders that have virtually no flares, yet the 55 doesn't look wide. The stance is understated and belies the power. The two wide chrome exhaust tips that exit together under the left taillight are the only real hint of horsepower, at least 342 of it. Nowadays there's not much to be gained by looking under the hood at a powerful engine; it's not like looking down on a 454 Chevy any more. Under the CLK55 AMG hood, what you mostly see is plastic. A huge black air intake box covers the engine, offering intriguing glimpses of plumbing down below. Here's what's you can't see. A super-stiff forged steel crankshaft churns inside the pressure-cast aluminum block of this chain-driven single overhead-cam V8 with two intake and one exhaust valves per cylinder, as well as 16 coils and 16 spark plugs. The complex dual-resonance intake manifold with carefully tuned runners is mostly what delivers the torque, which requires a beefy differential and four-bolt driveshaft that's four inches in diameter. The engine displaces 332 cubic inches, bored and stroked up from the CLK430's 260 cu. in., and has an explosive compression ratio of 10.5:1. The five-speed automatic transmission is adapted from the gearbox used in the V-12 S-class models, because that gearbox can take the torque. The suspension is upgraded with stiffer springs, tighter shock valving, thicker stabilizer bars and firmer suspension bushings. It rides on AMG Monoblock alloy wheels, 7.5" front and 8.5" rear, shod with 225/45ZR17 and 245/40ZR17 Michelin Pilots. The front vented discs are 13.2 inches in diameter and the rears 11.8, which increases the braking swept area by about 7.6 percent over the CLK320 and CLK430. The rotors are pin-mounted, a racing technique which keeps them cooler.
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