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Carsales Staff1 Mar 2001
REVIEW

Mercedes-Benz ML55

There's just no accounting for taste. Can you believe the ML55 is the most popular AMG in the world? That around the globe the go-fast 4WD outsells the E55 and the CLK55 combined?

Taken at face value, the ML55 appears to be a bargain. It has, after all, one of the most charismatic high performance V8's ever created. And at $139 900 it's a much less expensive way to obtain 5.4 litres of AMG magic than either sedan or coupe. Both these are up in $200K territory. Really serious money. The ML55's price, on he other hand, is only $10 000 more than a Lexus LX470.

The ML55's engine isn't exactly the same as in the E55 and CLK55. With 255kW, maximum power is five fewer - an inevitable consequence of the reshaping of the engine's torque curve. According to the specification sheet maximum torque falls by 20N to 510N, but this quantity is available anywhere between 2800 and 4500rpm.

Weight is the obvious reason for the engine alterations. The ML, with its separate ladder-frame chassis and steel body, is a chubby thing even before it's stuffed with all the comfort; safety and impress-the-neighbours stuff expected in something that wears a $140 000 price tag. Monstrous tyres also contribute a hefty number of kilograms to a kerb weight that's well beyond two tonnes.

The consequences of mass are inescapable. In the E55, AMG's V8 feels invincibly effective. Its thrusts the car towards the horizon with irresistible force. The several hundred additional kilos of the ML55 make a big difference. Absurdly fast for a 4WD, yes. But awesome it isn't.

Check out our acceleration figures. The ML55 takes fully two seconds longer to reach 100km/h than the last E55 tested by this magazine. The difference in the 400-meter run is almost as great.

The ML55's acceleration is undramatic for other reasons, too. The ML is a full time 4WD. This in combination with the ML55's massive Dunlops, mean there's next to no chance of breaking traction during straight-ahead wide-open throttle acceleration on dry road.

But drive the ML55 with anything like exuberance and you begin to wonder about the wisdom of endowing a 4WD with this much performance. AMG's expertise in making cars handle, steer and brake is considerable. But doing the business on a 4WD appears to be beyond their ability.

Even with the whopper Dunlops doing their best, the ML55 doesn't respond to the steering with anything gratifying immediacy. There's a fair amount of understeer as the rubber struggles to pursuade two tonnes to alter course. Further understeer is almost certain if a speedy exit is sought from tight corners. In this situation the ML55's standard electronic stability system will seek to prevent the situation deteriorating. But while the ESP operates with commendable subtlety in the similarly equipped E55, its activity in the ML55 is annoyingly jerky as it seeks to curb understeer by cutting the production of torque. It operates with all of the finesse of a cab driver. None.

The ML55's brakes are impressive. There's a lot of room inside the 18in wheels, and in this case its pretty much filled with slow-down hardware.

Anyone who expects a driving experience from the ML55 that's truly special is sure to be disappointed. That said, there's something both majestically impressive and quite novel about a 4WD that's can do what the ML55 does. But a fast and above averagely agile hippopotamus remains a hippo, no matter what.

What's amazing is that there are many people who find such a creature to their taste.

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Written byCarsales Staff
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