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The whole notion of heading to sunny Daytona Beach, Florida, on spring break never appealed to me, not even when I was in college in the cold, gray Northeast. The all-night parties, bad dancing, and inordinate amount of vomiting wasn't my idea of a good time. I much preferred my springtime stimulation in vehicular form. You know - jumping cars over enormous frost heaves. And perfecting rally-style e-brake turns through snow-covered hairpins. And seeing if I could get my brake rotors to glow white by the bottom of a badly paved, tree-lined downhill section of my favorite back road.

The new Infiniti M56 is a masterpiece of style, both inside and out. The great curves over the front wheels give way to an opulent cabin with wonderful leather and wood in a spacious, airy package. This Infiniti interior is essentially my definition of luxury. I find the controls easy to use, but it seems that by now the rotary controller should be located on the center console, not a full arm's length away perched atop the center stack.

With the arrival of the 2011 CL-class, Mercedes-Benz has the opportunity to show off its latest advancements in powertrain, luxury, and safety, all wrapped in a two-door package. The big news for Mercedes' freshened coupe is under the hood of the CL550 4Matic, with the introduction of a new 4.6-liter V-8 producing 429 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque, coupled to a seven-speed automatic transmission.