BUSINESS FIRST INNER 39-82:Layout 1 9/6/08 16:54 Page 70
70
COULDWELL ON
CARS
What you could buy
of all is the 612 PS Mercedes-Benz S 65 AMG, a limousine with near
Bugatti performance. The downside? Whopping CO2 output. At the
recent RS 6 launch Audi caused some amusement by claiming,
Robert Couldwell fears the global warming brigade
correctly, that its RS 6 offered the lowest CO2 emissions and the
may be winning the war on big, expensive cars.
best fuel consumption in its class – that’s 333 grams per kilometre
Undaunted, he showcases some big beasts of the
nearly 3 times the proposed London congestion charge exemption
limit and 20.3 mpg on the combined cycle which probably means
road, indulges in some nostalgia – and suggests a
16 in the real world!
couple of good buys should you feel an onrush of
responsibility to the planet.
These cars have a lot in common but feel very different. They are
all typically Teutonic with watch-like engineering, they are all big
When thinking of fast cars it may be the Italians that come to mind
and beautifully appointed. When I drove the new RS 6 recently I
with Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini but it is actually the Germans
was actually slightly disappointed as I had in my mind my first drive
that you should thank for the bewildering choice of supercars.
of the original RS 6 at the launch six years ago. At the time, I hadn’t
Porsche has always been a ‘fast’ brand since its establishment by
driven anything anywhere near so powerful and was absolutely
Beetle creator, Ferdinand Porsche after World War 2, but it is the
stunned by the performance – of almost being somewhere before
originally conservative Audi, BMW and Mercedes which have made
you left if you see what I mean. I subsequently borrowed the car for
a week and became totally acclimatised and able to make very
the running in the horsepower race.
quick journeys without exceeding speed limits owing to the
phenomenal overtaking capacity. The new RS 6, despite its extra
Admittedly these brands have built powerful cars for years but they
130 PS over the original, is so much more civilised and although
tended to be designed for transporting ‘Kapitans’ of industry over
quicker in the mid range doesn’t feel it. The AMG Mercs are more
long autobahn journeys in comfort with little sporting pretension.
like the original RS 6 with a very raw edge and great fun for a short
Yes, there were sports cars, the finely honed BMW 328 of the thirties
period although perhaps not nearly so easy to live with. Mind you
and the incredible Mercedes 300 SL ‘Gull Wing’ Roadster and the
the noise they make complete with popping and banging on the
fabulous, now almost priceless BMW 507 of the fifties. But these
overrun is truly awesome and even addictive.
were no-compromise street racers with few concessions to
practicality. Now there is a plethora of hyper saloons and estates
The BMW is civilised enough with similar performance but for every
which will still cater for magnates while keeping up with Ferraris and day use suffers from its electronic manual gearbox which only really
Lambos on the twisty bits. works effectively in ‘maximum attack’ mood. The rest of the time,
left to its own devices, it’s coarse, with every change seeming to
Cars like the newly ‘buffed’ Audi RS 6 Avant with its twin turbo 580 PS
take forever. As a machine to live with, the more prosaic 550 M
V10 and room for a Labrador, the lairy Mercedes-Benz CLS 63 AMG
Sport with proper automatic is nearly as quick but so much
Coupé and the 507 PS BMW M5 saloon and estate, but the craziest
smoother and easier to drive.
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