The safety features on the Mercedes CL600 are nothing short of super-cool, implementing the latest technology to make your ride a safe one. For example, the Nightview Assist is an infrared system that scans the road ahead and presents on an 8-inch high resolution screen the road ahead upto 600 feet. Basically what you would be able to see if you had the highbeams on.
That's not cool enough for you? How about an automatic anti-rear-end-the-car-in-front-of-you feature. That's right! The Distronic Plus feature automatically senses when you are getting too close to the car in front of you and compares it with the speed you are travelling at. If it senses dangers, a warning sounds and the Mercedes CL600 automatically starts to apply the breaks if you don't make it to the pedal first. That's just way too cool.
We are still not done with all the cool. The CL600 also has a parking assist feature. With the help of radar, the system measures whether or not there is a suitable parking space for you, and it can do it while you are travelling up to speeds of 25 mph. It alerts you when there is a parking space available. Then once you are in position to park, a display screen gives a top view of the car and the space to help you guide yourself in.
The upside/downside of the CL600 is the great/terrible super-fast/super-inefficient V12 510 hp engine. The upside: this car is fast and responsive. Acceleration is effortless to the point of forcing you to constantly watch your speed to make sure you are breaking any laws. The downside: it basically sucks at fuel economy. I like speed like any other car buff does. However, we can't keep shirking off our responsibility to the environment just to save the notion that cars "are meant for speed". Therefore, I think the price and inefficiency of this vehicle puts it in a special category. That is, unless you can buy it with cash and only plan on using it as a "toy" car, then don't buy it. Do your daily commute to work in your hybrid and play with the Mercedes CL600 on the weekends.
By: Jim Mc