ROYAL FORD Globe Staff 7/3/2004
2004 Mercedes-Benz S55 AMG Kompressor
Muscle plus luxury, for $131,000

2004 Mercedes-Benz S55 AMG Kompressor  Read Cars.com profile

Time to suspend reality.

Suspend the notion that many of us could ever afford to buy this car at $131,000.

Suspend the notion that, even if we could, there would be an American Autobahn out there somewhere on which we could hammer it to the hilt -- that being 0-60 miles per hour in 4.6 seconds -- and reach a cruising speed approaching 160 miles per hour.

But the reality is that here is a luxury sedan -- and I am talking luxury that surpasses that of your basic million-dollar Manhattan apartment -- that is a flat-out muscle car.

I can talk about leather, burnished wood, heated/cooled seats front and rear, legroom for Bill Walton, seats that change shape and grip as your speed and cornering change, and suspension that changes with all of that. But first I need to tell you about the heart of this beast.

The 2004 Mercedes-Benz S55 AMG (AMG translated from German to Maine-speak means, ''Make this cah as powahful and fast as a competative lobstah boat") is powered by a V-8 engine that features 24 valves, two ignition coils, and two spark plugs per cylinder. All that is boosted by a high-pressure supercharger that is liquid-intercooled, meaning the air that finally hits the compression chamber is cooled, super-packed, and explosive. But how do you transmit 493 horsepower, and, more critically, 516 lb.-ft. of gear-eating torque, to the rear drive wheels? In many forms.

Start with an electronic five-speed transmission. Then add goodies.

Leave it alone and it shifts for you, seamlessly, without reaching any scary edges of performance. Click into manual and you can shift up or down with a left or right flick of the stick. Use Optimum and all you need do is hold the shifter left of drive for a second and the car upshifts and downshifts for best performance and engine braking. Go into a driver-selected Comfort mode and the car will start out in second, to save gas and limit takeoff, and use two gears in reverse. It's all about sane driving -- as if that will happen.