If you’re bored of Stuttgart’s shinning stars known as Merc SL & CLs you now have a powerful rival originated from Bavaria. This beast has been in darkness for 14 years & it is still unknown whether it will be a sufficient successor for a great predecessor.
The car now comes under the name of 645 Ci & will be on show in Frankfurt soon so you better get ready to pack your bags & get a ticket for that great event.
This monster’s main mission is to expand the Bavarian range to new boundaries; with 4.4 liters,333bhp and 332lb ft, the V8 engine is capable of pushing the car to 62 mph in a mere 5.6 secs & a top speed of 155 mph.
3 gear boxes are available: Manual, Steptronic auto and full sequential units, and there's a fun button to sharpen up engine response, speed up shift times and add more feel to the steering.
50:50 weight distribution has just proved great but if you’re still not satisfied there is a motorized anti-roll bars for flatter cornering.
An option from the 7ser has been adopted here: the iDrive system which a lot of people are confused of it but still considered as a revolutionary way to take control of the car.
A convertible is yet to be launched in March 2004.If you can’t wait that long you may get your 645 Ci coupe in December(UK only).
Original article was written by TOPGEAR's Alan Kidd and can be found @:
http://www.topgear.com/content/news/stories/331/