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[extract] Sometimes, tuners take a cue from an official manufacturer special like Anderson over here. They

Less than a month after taking the wraps off the regular CL-Class facelift models, Mercedes-Benz went ahead and revealed the flagship versions of its luxury coupe, the CL63 and CL65 AMG models. Both cars will have their world premiere at the Paris Motor Show. On the outside, there are some subtle styling tweaks on both AMG models such as the redesigned front bumper with LED daytime running lights, a more pronounced "V"-shaped grille, larger headlamps and a reworked rear bumper with newly styled tail pipes. Interior revisions are limited to the new steering wheel, higher quality trim materials and different color options. The most important changes are hidden underneath the bonnet. Starting with the CL63 AMG, out goes the old naturally-aspirated 6.2-liter V8 and in comes the smaller yet more powerful 5.5-liter V8 with twin-turbocharging and direct-injection technology, hooked up to an AMG Speedshift 7-speed automatic. It churns out 536HP at 5,500 rpm and 590 lb-ft of torque from 2,000 to 4,500 rpm, propelling the CL63 AMG from zero to 60mph in 4.4 seconds. Add the optional AMG performance package and the output climbs to 563HP and 664 lb-ft of torque, allowing the coupe to reach the 60mph mark in 4.3 seconds. Despite better performance, the new CL63 is more environmentally friendly than its predecessor. Meanwhile, the range-topping CL65 AMG continues to use a 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12 mated to a five-speed automatic transmission (unacceptable in my opinion). However, AMG engineers have tweaked the V12 unit which now produces an additional 17HP for a total output of 621HP. Torque remains the same at 738 lb-ft. The car is capable of accelerating from 0-60mph in 4.2 seconds. It looks like the street performance of the CL65 is not much better than its lesser brethren.

Road test Mercedes - CL 65 AMG The spokesman was very clear on one particular point. "It's the most powerful road car we've ever made," he said, "until the end of this week, anyway." Mercedes-Benz makes so many rocket ships these days, it's a statistical certainty that it must lose some of them down the back of the sofa. You know things have come to a pretty pass when your new 612bhp super-coupe has but seven days of glory before being eclipsed by something even more potent (in this case the official world debut of the long-awaited SLR McLaren). Then again, nobody does one-upmanship quite like the Germans. It must have hurt Mercedes to watch as last summer's pin-up, the Bentley Continental GT, strutted its 'fastest four-seater' stuff all over town. But while the Bentley hogged the headlines, AMG's mad professors were tucked away concocting what is surely one of the silliest cars ever: the CL65. It too has four seats, yet it can accelerate to 125mph in about 13secs. Perfect for the family man in an intergalactic hurry. Did I mention that it has 612bhp? Coincidentally, that's exactly the same power output as 1998's terrifying Le Mans-contesting homologation special, the CLK-GTR. Now obviously, the CL weighs substantially more, but the very fact that this thing tips the scales at well over two tonnes somehow makes it all the more absurdly enjoyable. Cars this size simply shouldn't be able to do what the CL65 can do. It makes the world wibble in the same way it wibbles in The Matrix when Keanu Reeves' character does his Zen superhero thing. Achieving this state of grace naturally necessitates one or two refinements over the existing CL range. The engine is a six-litre V12 biturbo unit based on the one in the Maybach, and features a bigger bore and longer stroke, forged pistons, an upgraded cooling system and bigger turbochargers. Given that the new car produces 738lb ft of torque from 2,000-4,000rpm, its transmission and driveshafts have also been 'optimised'. With granite, presumably. Mercedes' ABC active suspension technology has been further tweaked in this latest AMG guise, with a firmer damping response and the ability to adjust automatically depending on load. And the brakes are as immense as you would hope: huge eight-piston calipers grab inner-ventilated perforated composite discs at the rear, with four-piston calipers and slightly smaller discs at the front. Our base for this power trip is a yacht moored in Monte Carlo, complete with bar-stools trimmed in whale's foreskin. An upholstery choice that's about as politically correct as the CL65. Not that you'd really know to look at it. In renewed AMG guise, a reasonably discreet bodykit - deep front air-dam, sill extensions, boot-lid spoiler - grafts on some welcome visual menace, the quad exhaust set-up being the biggest clue to its ludicrous potential. The interior plays it pretty straight, too - the seats are as generously padded as the backsides that will most likely end up gracing them, the dials and instruments are beautifully illuminated, the leather richly aromatic, the overall effect soothing but frankly pretty dull. I'm not asking for whale willy, but a little more sense of occasion certainly wouldn't go amiss for your