Review Roundup: Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG, S450 4MATIC, CLC 200K And Maybach 62

Kicking things off this balmy Monday afternoon comes the first of two Mercedes Review Roundup installments, starting with one that looks at the Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG, the S450 4MATIC, the CLC 200K and the Maybach 62 S. As is the case with all our Review Roundups, you can find excerpts from each review as well the links back to the full articles immediately below.

Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG

"Delivery of the car to our office was delayed as a previous loan put in 'bad fuel'. I'm not sure if this meant bad quality or low octane but all was sorted and it showed up at our office. During the first 200 miles or so, the S65 didn't feel as crazy fast or powerful as I remembered. Sure, it is blistering on the highway but it didn't feel much faster than the S63. I ran the car until the reserve light came on and then filled it up at a Sunoco station with 94 octane. Wow, did it make a difference. The freight train pull was back and I felt the full power of that mega V-12. It looks like the S65 wants to drink the good stuff. And does it drink. On a lengthy highway journey running just over 80 mph, it averaged 17 mpg. I guess that's better than many full size SUVs.

In the end, I'm still not sold on these 'sporty' S-Class models but they are fast. They're quite pointless and I can't understand why Mercedes insists on tuning in so much weight into the steering. Plus, the ride can get a little rough on broken pavement. I'd save the cash and get an S550.

One last thing, both the S63 and S65 sound great when you start them up from cold. Both raise up the revs at idle when cold and sound fantastic. OK, maybe that's where the extra money goes."

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