5 Big Honkin' V8s

The Mercedes is roughly 300 lighter than the Cadillac and 11 inches shorter than the Chrysler. It was headed for first place, based on overall quality and balance, until the final lap, when the 7-speed manual automatic transmission put a stop to our fun, programmed to retreat with a nosedive out of Sport mode and into a limp-home mode when things get hot. After just two laps? Over-protective German engineering.

Otherwise it's a magnificent car. It's the first Mercedes-Benz AMG designed and built by AMG, as opposed to just enhanced by them. Chassis corners, suspension, brakes, engine, aerodynamic tweaks, the works. The result is even more dynamic cornering, big-time braking, throttle-blipping downshifting 7-speed, and all-aluminum 6.2-liter DOHC V8 with lots of down-low torque. It's assembled by hand at the AMG factory, each engine bearing the name of the individual builder.