The CL500’s V8 feels as refined and smooth as any eight-cylinder petrol engine on the market, and a 0-60mph time of 5.6sec is more than acceptable.
The spread of power from the 5461cc V8 is outstanding, too. Maximum shove is developed at 6000rpm but peak torque – all 391lb ft of it – arrives as early as 2800rpm.
A flex of the right foot is enough to haul the CL convincingly past slower traffic without triggering multiple downshifts and, although there’s a manual override for the gearbox, choosing to shift gears via the steering wheel’s buttons is something you do for enjoyment, not out of necessity. We’ve also no qualms with the brakes, which repeatedly stop the CL in a short time and distance without significant fade, and with a reassuringly firm pedal feel.
Unlike the S-class, the CL is suspended on coil, not air springs and is fitted with standard hydraulic ABC active body control (available only on S500s and above), the latest generation of which allows the CL to corner with 60 per cent less body roll than the previous car. It hardly rolls at all.
It’s an unusual but not unsettling phenomenon and allows the CL to corner with a composure you’d scarcely credit a car this large and comfortable. There is a minor delay between turning the steering wheel in faster corners and the suspension applying some muscle to the outside pair of springs to flatten body movements, and the steering is as positive as you could expect.
It’s happy to turn its nose towards a corner and resists understeer strongly – right up to a lateral cornering force of 0.91g.
ESP quickly reins in proceedings when the CL starts to slide, and although it can be switched off, it refuses to relinquish control completely. Around our wet handling circuit the CL could be coaxed into an adjustable, playful slide until it reached 15 degrees or so off the straight-ahead, at which point both the ESP and Pre-Safe systems intervened.