Velvet glove, iron fist. A ground-bound rocket, this, the
CLK320 Cabriolet. Get a load of this – the car has a 3200cc V6, that lets loose a stomping 220 horses at 5700 revs. In a car that weighs 1700 kilos, this is sufficient for some torrid acceleration figures. I did put the stopwatch on the 320. With the top down, and with four people (including me) in the car, the CLK320 still blasted from 0 – 100kmph in all of 10.02 seconds, which was simply superb!
The car itself is big, and luxury-oriented, and the styling – front and rear – looks like the E-Class. Classy, but with only two doors, and a top that goes down, dramatic as well! This 2+2 Cabriolet is well-appointed inside, with
leather and wood and all kinds of power adjustments galore. This, gentlemen, is the real deal!
Get inside and start it up, and you are greeted by a subdued exhaust note which, in spite of not rasping and howling like a Ferrari, still lets you know that the 3.2Litre V6 means business. The five-speed auto transmission
ensures that you move off smoothly, which, for me, is a bit of a disappointment really. I mean, if I’m spending Rupees Fifty Lakhs on a ragtop sports car, then let me spin the rear wheels at least, please! Lack of tyre-smoking getaways
notwithstanding, shoving the juice pedal to the floor results in relentless forward motion at any given engine speed. The 310Nm of torque that this V6 produces at 3000 revs is enough to propel you forward with alacrity – with nary a stumble and no hesitation. Back again on the Pune Expressway, we saw speeds of 215kmph on the speedo, before we had to button off. Though the Expressway road itself
is well up to it, the difference between your speed and that of rest of the traffic, is so great that the slightest mistake one anyone’s part could mean curtains, so 215 it was, in spite of the car being willing for more.
Again, at high speed, the low-profile 205/55 Pirellis (riding on 16-inch alloys) provided a lot of stick, with the car sticking precisely to the chosen line. Even applying the brakes midcorner refuses to upset the handling, and at very high speeds, that becomes very important on the road, where you might suddenly come
upon a car that has changed lanes without signaling its intent. As with other MB cars I’ve tested in the recent past, on this one too, MB engineers have done well to engineer ride-compliance as well as taut handling into
the same package. Another notable aspect of this convertible is the fact that even deep into the triple-digit- speed zone, with the soft-top down, wind-noise is not too obtrusive for carrying on a conversation. Not that I recommend yakking into your Nokia at 200kmph though!
So practicality married to sport – a very nice package, this. It will carry four people (getting into, and out of the back seats is easy– the front seats fold down, and slide ahead…) when you want to, and when you are so inclined, it will also utterly decimate your local backroads. Massive grin-inducing factor here. In fact I
wished we had been driving this car in the Ghats instead of taking it down the Pune Expressway...
The only other thing I would wish for, in this car, is a manual gearbox. Sure, the state-of-the-art automatic is very competent, and the manual override option gives it an added edge, but still, a “sports car” has to have manual shift. This one deserves a six-speed manual, no question about that. Next year, perhaps…?