As the day wears on, the clouds below, quite a beautiful sight in themselves, part to reveal the shimmering blue waters of the Pacific. The air is crystalline, lacking that damp lugubriousness suffered by the plebian set down below. The Mercedes-Benz CLK 430 Cabriolet fits right into this world. And, as is usually the case, money buys things that aren't accessible to the have-nots. The CLK is a thoroughbred Mercedes in the grandest tradition, with a typically Teutonic suspension that perfectly manages the significant weight of 3,665 pounds, virtually rendering body roll and wallow obsolete.
Road surface is conveyed to the driver, but with no harshness.
The brakes, though one driver noted significant fade after a canyon run, were superbly calibrated and robust, yielding consistent stopping distances of 112 feet during 60-0 deceleration runs, the second best we've tested. The only way to do so was to passive-aggressively criticize the car for its flaws. The greatest is the deficiency of low-end grunt. While the five-speed automatic transmission will upshift promptly, it downshifts with a bit of hesitation. When we tried the TouchShift automanual feature, we found that at times, the shift didn't take quickly enough to keep us out of the rev limiter.