Meet the 2011 Mercedes-Benz CL-Class. The Silver Arrow has been kind enough to dish the goods on next year’s version of the company’s flagship coupe and even threw in a passel of photos to boot. So what’s new? For starters, the CL550 4MATIC now packs an all-new twin-turbo 4.7-liter V8 engine with around 429 horsepower and a beefy 516 lb-ft of torque. The keen-eyed among you will notice that the eight-pot is down in displacement by almost a full liter, but still manages to crank out 47 more horsepower and a massive 125 lb-ft of torque compared to last year’s powerplant. Isn’t progress great?
All of that extra grunt means the CL550 4MATIC can scoot to 60 mph in a scant 4.9 seconds, but that’s nothing compared to the big-boy CL600. The range-topping coupe can click off the dash to 60 mph in a mere 4.5-seconds – that’s within spitting distance of a base Chevrolet Corvette. If you’re trying to wrap your brain around how a 4,900-pound two-door can manage to bend the laws of nature, look no further than the 510 horsepower, 612 lb-ft of torque 5.5-liter V12 lurking beneath the sheetmetal. Yeah, that’ll do. Hit the jump for the full press release, and sit tight for live photos from the car’s debut at this weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.
