2011 Mercedes Benz E550 Cabriolet

By Ron Amadon, MarketWatch

HOBOKEN, N.J. (MarketWatch) -- Mother Nature did not care one whit about the fancy engineering in this car or the special devices that keep one's hair from being tossed about when the roof is down.

About the time I crossed from Pennsylvania to New Jersey on I-78, the skies turned very dark. Then the wind picked up, bending small trees to near their breaking point. That was followed by very heavy rain, along with frequent lightning and thunder that stayed with the Mercedes and me off and on right to Newark Airport.

All this prompted frequent checks with National Weather Service radio, which is just a click away on the Merc. That is when I heard about the tornado watches and warnings. All news radio 1010 WINS amplified on the Weather Service and made me wonder if there would be a hotel there for dinner that night.

Nature gave it one last mighty push as I drove by the airport, with rain coming at me sideways at times and the words of a pilot rattling in my brain, "We expect a bit of a bumpy landing at Newark today, so please make sure your seat belts are fastened and your trays are ..." well, you know the rest of it.

I want to report that all through this the E hung on to the road like Gorilla glue. Never once did the tires slip an inch. The top was 100% water proof and shy of the tornados, which thankfully never did show up, I had the feeling that this car could handle anything.

The slower speeds meant that I missed a formal dinner, yet the hotel was still there. It was quite refreshing to see how the city of Hoboken upgraded the downtown area into a most tempting little place. And the nighttime view of Gotham right across the river was great.

With sunny skies and moderate temperatures, the very familiar trip home down I-95 gave me more time to concentrate on the E.

The test car carried the 550 designation because under the hood was a 5.5-liter V-8 good for 382 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 391 lb-ft of torque from 2,800 to 4,800 rpm. A very well thought out seven-speed automatic was the transmission and you can expect 0-60 to come up in an easy five seconds.

The engine and tranny, of course, have graduated with honors from refinement school. The tranny was so smooth and quick, there was little reason to use the paddle shifts.

On I-95 heading home it was easy to exceed the 65 mph speed limit and I was constantly thinking, "back her down, Roscoe" before I ran afoul of any radar traps. (I didn't.) Comfort is the word out of the interior, not to mention elegance.

Great engineering doesn't come cheap

The trip down 95 is so familiar as to be beyond boring but the car was so comfy that it seemed to pass more quickly than it actually did. The audio system was spectacular, and the traffic reports were most helpful. Many of these systems alert you to traffic jams that have long been cleared up; that did not happen once with the Merc.

"Did you try the aircap?" one Mercedes engineer asked me in Jersey. I was going to attempt humor and say I left my Mercedes BlueTec cap home but I had read up on the car and knew what he was talking about. It is basically a spoiler that deploys over the windshield when the canvas top is down and is designed to direct the airflow above the interior.

It did that in good measure and also deflected the wind from rear seat passengers as well. It does look a little weird, however. A further benefit: It does give the driver a chance to appreciate the fine wood and leather of the interior.

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