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Mercedes Sls Amg

Supra_Natural

By Supra_Natural
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Supra_Natural Apprentice

Supra_Natural

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The boys at Jalopnik have been given first dibs at driving the new SLS Gullwing apparently (well at any rate they're the first to get the story out)

2011 Mercedes SLS AMG: First Drive

Wes Siler - Jalopnik.com

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The 2011 Mercedes SLS AMG is the first clean sheet design from AMG and the new flagship for the entire company. As a modern re-interpretation of the 300SL it's also a return to the fast, striking Mercedes of yore.

Full Disclosure: Mercedes wanted us to drive the SLS AMG so badly they flew us out to San Francisco and put us up in a fancy hotel on the ocean. Also, I got in really late so I missed dinner and helped myself to a free Snickers bar and a bottle of OJ from the minibar. I know that's not a healthy diet, but these are the sacrifices we'll make in order to bring you car reviews.

From the first moment you get into the SLS there's no escaping the improbably long nose. The nearest equivalent car I can think of that sits the driver so far from the front axle is the 2009 BMW Z4, but where that car's been described as a clown shoe, Pulitzer Prize-winning auto hack Dan Neil says the SLS looks like "a hairbrush." Unlike that car, the SLS is also wide (76 inches) so guiding it out of a parking lot is a daunting task, requiring placing the front wheels with guestimation versus vision. Open the hood and there's a good foot of clear space between the radiator and the airboxes mounted just in front of the engine. Good packaging this is not, but this long nose lends the understated super car the only visual drama it really has; the abbreviated cabin and low roof help to emphasize just what the big Merc is packing up front. The cabin is also further midship than it feels, with the relatively large 22-gallon tank sitting between the seats and the rear axle.

At speed, those awkward proportions cease to negatively impact the driving experience and the SLS actually manifests some steering feel, mostly felt over bumps and cat's eyes rather than in corners, but that's OK, because the car is heavily biased toward oversteer so it's only really the rear you need to feel. Actually, let's take a quick step back. The 9.5" wide front wheels wearing 265/35 low profiles and 11" rears with 295/30s don't really have an issue with grip. The problem is the 6.2-plus-change-liter (ignore the badges) V8 and its 571 HP just makes pushing the limits of what's possible way too easy.

slsengine.jpg

Heavily modified over the standard AMG V8 that's in everything from the C63 to the S63, this M159 6.2-and-change (same capacity as all the other M156 engines) breathes much freer thanks to an all-new intake system, more aggressive valve timing, tubular steel headers and a de-throttled exhaust. It also switches to dry sump lubrication so the engine can be mounted lower in the chassis. In addition to that 571 HP at 6,800 RPM, it now develops 479 Lb-Ft of torque at 4,750 RPM, delivering the unique mix of high-revving power with low-RPM torque. That's also a healthy increase over the 525 HP the M156 normally develops and all it has to motivate is a 3,571 Lbs curb weight gull-winged bird of prey (703 Lbs lighter than the SL63 and 326 Lbs lighter than the SLR thanks to an aluminum chassis and body). Weight distribution is 47% front, 53% rear (unintuitive by look, but makes sense when you consider the aforementioned extra crumple zone space), aiding traction but still failing to overcome the fast-revving engine's ability to easily overcome the rear.

Driving an oversteer-biased car at a corner-biased track like Laguna Seca, like we did yesterday, is actually kind of refreshing. Where most cars would understeer into turn 2 and push the front around turn 11 and onto the back straight, the SLS is aggressively trying to step out the rear, even on a constant throttle. Credit for recovering the slides goes to the almost unbeatable stability control system. While you can push enough buttons to make it say "ESP-OFF", that doesn't fully shut down the system, with it still moderating acceleration-related wheelspin and re-engaging automatically the second you tap the brakes. While the SLS is a fast and engaging car even with all the nanny systems fully on, we of course mourn the loss of full driver control. My planned photo for the top of this review was a doors-up burnout, but sadly the car just wouldn't spin up the rear tires from a standstill.

That same system acts to control wheelspin on a hard launch, contributing to a manufacturer-reported 3.8-second 0-to-60 MPH time, eventually reaching a limited top speed of 197 MPH.

That engine also feels far more alive than in any other AMG application. It pops and burbles on the overrun and, mated to the seven speed dual clutch gearbox, is fast to rev and shift. It's also somewhat awkward in any of the three automatic modes, somehow always managing to be in the wrong gear, no matter the setting. The manual paddle shifter improves that, but compared to competitors, are a little slow to shift. Mercedes claims the transmission takes as little as 100 milliseconds to shift, but in practice it feels far slower, with a pronounced delay between a pull of the paddle and the transmission actually doing what you told it to.

The seven-speed rear-mounted transaxle is connected to the engine, as is the fashion these days, by a rigid torque tube containing a carbon fiber drive shaft. This arrangement maximizes the connection between the rear wheels and the engine, while minimizing the torque's impact on the handling and reciprocation mass.

I came into this drive expecting a luxury grand tourer that was also fast, but instead found a track-oriented super car that is also luxurious. On the road, the limitations of this incredibly fast car are relatively easy to reach, yet hard to live up to. It's also firmly sprung, always loud (both from road and engine noise) and fairly cramped. The SL63 would probably make an equally fast, yet more refined, spacious and comfortable road car, but the SLS would literally drive circles round that car on the track. Still, this combination of outright performance with extreme luxury is relatively rare. The 911 GT2 is harsh and edgy on the road, a 599 is way more expensive, as is the even-faster Lexus LFA. On the opposite end of the spectrum the Audi R8 does luxury a little better but track performance is a little less involving. At an estimate $200,000, the SLS carves a performance-oriented, luxury-capable niche all its own, something that's aided by the classy, restrained looks and the visual drama of the doors.

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Is the Mercedes SLS AMG the fastest, most exciting super car on the market? No. Is it the most luxurious GT? Not by a long shot. Does it have significant flaws, most glaringly from the gearbox? Totally. But, fercrissakes, have you seen how sexy those Gullwing doors are when they pop open?

Source: Jalopnik.com

Edited by Supra_Natural
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Supra_Natural Apprentice

Supra_Natural

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Just to provide a counterpoint. Here are the views of Autocar Online, who generally manage to bag first access to interesting vehicles by NEVER saying a single nasty word about them. Holds true here, interesting to note that the very points jalopnik have mentioned as being slight negatives (Transmission, ride quality) have been marked out as "Superb" by the Autocar reviewer. Autocar have always been zealous worshipers of MB, BMW, Audi and all the other Euro manufacturers, but this kinda illustrates the degree of blind admiration they have.

No wonder car magazine sales are dropping honestly.

Mercedes SLS AMG

Test date 02 November 2009 Price as tested TBA

Greg Kable

What is it?

The fabulous new Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. Unveiled at the Frankfurt motor show back in September, the distinctively styled coupe is expected to go on sale in the UK next June at a price AMG’s boss, Volker Mornhinweg, says will pitch it at slightly above ₤150,000, making it ₤47,000 more than the SL63 AMG.

Developed from the ground up by AMG at its engineering headquarters in Affalterbach, Germany, the new two-seater not only aims to project Mercedes-Benz back into the thick of the supercar rank,s following the disappointment of the considerably more expensive ₤350,000 SLR, but also sets out to resurrect the spirit of one of the most revered sports cars of all time: the classic 1954 300 SL, or Gullwing.

This is a menacing-looking car: low, wide and tremendously well planted. At 4638mm in length, 1939mm in width and 1262mm in height, it is 35mm longer and 123mm wider but 36mm lower than the SL63 AMG, which it is positioned directly above within the AMG line-up.

What’s it like?

Brilliant. This car is so well resolved it is going to give Ferrari and all the other established supercar heavyweights, Lamborghini and Porsche included, something to ponder when it goes on sale next year.

This is the first time we’ve had a chance to put the SLS AMG through its paces on public roads, and it’s clear that it is a much more convincing proposition than the car it replaces in the Mercedes-Benz line-up, the McLaren-built SLR.

Still, with massive sills and those traditional gullwing doors, it is not at all an easy car to get into. The best procedure upon entry seems to be to sit on the high sill then swivel your legs down into driver’s footwell and pull the overhead hinged door down as lower yourself into the thinly padded but generously adjustable driver’s seat.

The SLS AMG pulls away lustily and handles low-speed running without any apparent slack within the driveline on part load. It feels incredibly solid and exceptionally well engineered at around town speeds.

There’s already 369lb ft of torque available at 2000rpm, and you can sense it in the way it rips through the lower part of the rev range the moment you give the command with an earnest application of your right foot.

There’s tremendous urgency through the mid-range; breaching the point where the engine develops peak torque at 4750rpm on a fully loaded throttle sees the new Mercedes-Benz thrust forward with all the rabid determination of a car claimed to hit 60mph in just 3.7sec and 124mph in less than 12.0sec – times that make it every bit as fast as the more powerful SLR in a straight line.

The engine is hugely responsive, its revs rising and dropping with greater urgency than you’ll find in any other Mercedes-Benz model up to around 6000rpm. It’s not quite Ferrari sharp, but it’s not far behind.

Above that the inherent urgency tails off slightly, but it still manages to hauls to the 7200rpm cut-out with great enthusiasm, the electronic limiter retarding the ignition in a smooth manner so as not to upset the car’s attitude during cornering. And it is here where the new Mercedes-Benz surprises the most.

The SLS AMG can scythe into one corner and then into the next with the sort of fluidity and accuracy that makes it a proper rival to the likes of the Ferrari F599 Fiorano. It feels secure and planted feel in a way no other series production Mercedes-Benz does over challenging stretches of blacktop.

Not even the uncommonly quick SL63 AMG comes close to matching this car's apparent calmness at high apex speeds. There’s no unruly weight transfer, no nervousness being telegraphed back through the steering wheel upon turn-in, no early penchant for the front end to run wide as you close down into a bend – just an addictive ability to faithfully follow your chosen line and change direction as commanded with very little body movement and with masses of lateral purchase.

Given the serious reserves lurking under your right foot, unsettling the rear end is not as easy as you might imagine, allowing you to confidently come off the power late into corners without any unnecessary interruption from the ESP (electronic stability program).

Still, there’s more to the SLS AMG than its awesome pace, engaging agility and determined stopping power. It’s also a terrific long-distance cruiser. Slotting the gearbox into comfort mode and winding back the revs allows it to eat up the miles with consummate ease. It’ll reach 75mph in seventh gear at just 2500rpm with levels of refinement that are unparalleled at this end of the performance spectrum.

The ride is tremendously well sorted, with superb levels of rebound damping. You can attack undulating roads with great confidence, knowing the SLS AMG will be quick to settle over crests and track faithfully through depressions. Nasty ruts and ridges are met with a decisive action of the suspension, which does without any electronic trickery and boasts superb composure.

With claimed combined-cycle fuel consumption of 21.4mpg, the SLS AMG possess a theoretical range of 400 miles on its 85 litres tank - theoretical because with some spirited driving consumption drops dramatically, as the 12.9mpg figure showing on the instant readout after our drive south from San Francisco and at the Laguna Seca circuit in California revealed.

Should I buy one?

The SLS AMG is without doubt the most engaging series production car to ever wear the three-pointed star. By way of comparison, it makes the SLR feels almost leaden in its actions. It truly sets new dynamic standards for the German car maker and is a tribute to the engineering prowess of its AMG performance car off-shoot.

It is not going to be cheap, but its ₤150,000 price tag makes it look like a bargain, making it the same price as the far less involving SL65 AMG and a whopping ₤200,000 cheaper than the now-discontinued SLR. Suddenly Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche can count Mercedes-Benz among their most serious rivals.

Source: Autocar Online

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Devinda_Z Apprentice

Devinda_Z

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Something about the lights in the first pic said "No" to me.

your not the only one - & despite how "cool" gullwings are, that big fat three pointed star being placed as obviously as it is, makes it about as desirable as a bright Gold Rolex <_< *& that was a mudalali sized dose of sarcasm* :lol:

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  • 3 years later...
Supra_Natural Apprentice

Supra_Natural

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the one on pic? thats a SLS for sure, and so is the silver one I saw. SLK is small and nofing like this. I can name a supercar mile away, but this one is a gullwing my mistake.

Hmm.. bit of a contradiction in terms there eh?

Anyhow, the Silver convertible you speak of is certainly not an SLS. It's a 2012 SL.

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