As we traversed Montana highways and crossed the Continental Divide in an ML350 Bluetec, acceleration proved most urgent in the midrange stretch of the power band, where torque peaks between 1600 and 2400 rpm; passing slower traffic requires careful management of shift patterns while avoiding the engine's wheezy upper rev ranges, where oomph tapers off. (automobilemag.com)
The in - line - six is ultra smooth at idle but sings a happy tune in the upper rev ranges. (automobilemag.com)
The vast majority of buyers, though, will take the CVT, and at least the one in the Accord is less offensive than many, mostly because the engine it's attached to is fairly pleasant sounding when the CVT sends it into the upper rev range and keeps it there. (automobilemag.com)