Subtle performance improvements
Under the hood, however, the 2009 CLS550 is exactly the same as last year, meaning the familiar 5.5L V8 still effortlessly produces 382 horsepower. Likewise, driving dynamics are equally entertaining: the car swallowed the many corners and switchbacks of the Vienna suburbs with no hesitation.

The 5.5-litre V8 has 382 hp and 391 lbs-ft of torque to offer.

Even better, the selectable Comfort and Sport modes allow you to orchestrate pretty exciting maneuvers if you ask me. At the same time, though, stability and line trajectory are never in jeopardy. Sure, the car feels somewhat heavy at times, but you have to remember that the CLS favors comfort and luxury over performance.

The fearsome CLS63 AMG, on the other hand, is without a doubt entirely focused on devouring the road. Braking, cornering and passing maneuvers are successively performed with disconcerting ease and power despite the car's impressive girth.

The naturally aspirated V8 (that's right: no turbo or supercharger) purrs at idle and as soon as you dip the throttle, it produces an emphatic growl -- as if to remind us that it's alive and well. For 2009, engineers added more purpose to the engine sound by applying minor revisions to the exhaust to make it even more enjoyable.

That being said, the highlight of the new AMG is the 7G-tronic automatic transmission with Speedshift manual mode. Under acceleration, the benefits are huge; power is delivered through an extremely addictive gearshift waltz.

It gets even better as you decelerate: a new setting allows the transmission to perform true "heel-toe" downshifts to maintain the engine speed at its sweet spot, making re-accelerations more effective.

Basically, the new autobox reacts exactly like a racecar driver: at the slightest downshift, it increases the engine speed to the exact spot in the powerband where optimum accelerations can later be achieved. Every downshift is actually marked by a sweet little "throttle blip".

While this modification has little to no impact on highways (even in Austria where there are no speed limits, like in Germany), the car feels a lot more aggressive on winding roads and the driving experience is more rewarding.

Braking and passing maneuvers are performed with disconcerting ease despite the car's impressive girth.