Mercedes-Benz SLS first drive by Autocar
Sep 10, 2009 | 01:53 AM
#1
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| TS Official Automotive Enthusiast
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Mercedes-Benz SLS first drive by Autocar
Mercedes-Benz SLS
What is it
For years, AMG has felt constrained by its role as an engine builder and modifier of existing Mercedes models, and has yearned to build a serious supercar from the ground up.
The all-new, all-AMG SLS is that car – an alloy-chassis gullwing coupe that shaves nearly 200kg off the SLR’s 1800kg kerb weight, even though its overall length (4.64m) and wheelbase (2.68m) are very close to those of its British-made predecessor.
The roof-mounted gullwing doors and a certain fullness in the SLS’s curvaceous shape instantly recall the legendary Mercedes 300SL Gullwing, the most famous post-war Merc of all, but AMG boss Volker Mornhinweg denies that intent.
What’s it like?
You prove the doors’ practicality as soon as you get into the car. There’s no wide sill as in the original 300SL, so no special contortions of the body are needed. There isn’t even a low roof to avoid, because that has moved upward with the door.
The seat is power-assisted and shaped to fit you snugly. Look up and you’ll see that the door uppers are shaped to allow driver and passenger to wear helmets. But you do need long arms to reach the handle at the bottom of your gullwing door, to pull it closed.
The interior layout is very businesslike, with no gimmicks. Some switchgear is recognisable from other production Mercs; the steering wheel functions are the same as those of the E63 AMG. The only foreign piece is the stubby T-bar lever in the centre console that controls the seven-speed, dual-clutch gearbox. You actuate it either via the lever or by flipping a conventional set of steering column paddles.
The two-dial instrument cluster is clear and easy to read, and blends well with a quartet of round dash air vents. The console is dressed with aluminium, or carbonfibre if you insist.
Thumb the console-mounted starter button and the 6.2-litre V8 engine (codenamed M159 and misleadingly badged as a 6.3) awakens instantly and settles into a smooth, deep rumble.
The motor is a developed, dry-sump version of AMG’s M156 V8, familiar in many top-line Mercs (S63, SL63, E63, C63) but with an all-new magnesium intake system, a reworked valvetrain and more power-oriented camshafts. Its tubular steel exhaust headers are computer-optimised for flow.
The SLS also gets new Bosch engine electronics that include sophisticated alternator management so the battery is charged mostly on deceleration. The result is a 45bhp power gain, to 563bhp at 6800rpm, and maximum torque is now 480lb ft at 4750rpm (up 15lb ft). AMG engineers reckon 22mpg is a real-world overall fuel consumption figure.
You select first gear with the right-hand paddle, then squeeze the accelerator. The car moves effortlessly away as you flick up through the gears. The Getrag dual-clutch gearbox is part of a rear transaxle with a limited-slip diff. This transaxle is connected directly to the engine via a torque tube, and the carbonfibre tailshaft inside it turns at engine speed.
As with all the best paddle shifts, SLS gearchanges are quick and smooth; on downshifts the gearshift electronics blip the accelerator to match revs with gear and speed.
A knob on the console offers you a choice of four driving modes that vary from comfortable to extremely sporty. And if you’re feeling really aggressive there’s launch control, called Race Start.
During our test of a pre-production SLS we drove mostly in manual mode, with the ESP set to Sport. The Sport setting lets the car slide a bit but rescues you if you get it completely wrong.
Push the pedal to the metal with the car stationary and the 295/30 ZR20 rear tyres bite the asphalt with hardly a squeak because wheelspin is controlled both by electronics and diff. The wheels grip, the long nose rises a little and the SLS erupts away from the start. Engine response matches Ferrari standards.
When you reach the 6800rpm rev limit the engine feels so smooth and strong that you’d swear 8000rpm was reasonable. The limiter prevents such excesses, but not before you’ve stormed past 60mph in 3.6sec and reached 125mph inside 12 seconds. Persist and the speed limiter will intervene just before 200mph.
No corner can upset the SLS chassis, whose strong, almost roll-free turn-in and powerful grip match the best in the class.
Quick and agile it may be, but AMG engineers have also worked hard to make the SLS a practical proposition for long-distance holiday trips or shopping – within the limits of a predicted £155,000 UK price. There’s a big boot, the cabin has eight airbags, and the three-point seatbelts (with tensioners and force limiters) combine technology with convenience.
Should I buy one?
Clearly, Mercedes’ new AMG gullwing coupe is going to be a big player in a hard-fought market, something that will surely bother Ferrari, Lamborghini and especially McLaren, whose all-new MP4-12C is still more than a year away from showrooms.
Mercedes-Benz SLS - Road Test First Drive - Autocar.co.uk
What is it
For years, AMG has felt constrained by its role as an engine builder and modifier of existing Mercedes models, and has yearned to build a serious supercar from the ground up.
The all-new, all-AMG SLS is that car – an alloy-chassis gullwing coupe that shaves nearly 200kg off the SLR’s 1800kg kerb weight, even though its overall length (4.64m) and wheelbase (2.68m) are very close to those of its British-made predecessor.
The roof-mounted gullwing doors and a certain fullness in the SLS’s curvaceous shape instantly recall the legendary Mercedes 300SL Gullwing, the most famous post-war Merc of all, but AMG boss Volker Mornhinweg denies that intent.
What’s it like?
You prove the doors’ practicality as soon as you get into the car. There’s no wide sill as in the original 300SL, so no special contortions of the body are needed. There isn’t even a low roof to avoid, because that has moved upward with the door.
The seat is power-assisted and shaped to fit you snugly. Look up and you’ll see that the door uppers are shaped to allow driver and passenger to wear helmets. But you do need long arms to reach the handle at the bottom of your gullwing door, to pull it closed.
The interior layout is very businesslike, with no gimmicks. Some switchgear is recognisable from other production Mercs; the steering wheel functions are the same as those of the E63 AMG. The only foreign piece is the stubby T-bar lever in the centre console that controls the seven-speed, dual-clutch gearbox. You actuate it either via the lever or by flipping a conventional set of steering column paddles.
The two-dial instrument cluster is clear and easy to read, and blends well with a quartet of round dash air vents. The console is dressed with aluminium, or carbonfibre if you insist.
Thumb the console-mounted starter button and the 6.2-litre V8 engine (codenamed M159 and misleadingly badged as a 6.3) awakens instantly and settles into a smooth, deep rumble.
The motor is a developed, dry-sump version of AMG’s M156 V8, familiar in many top-line Mercs (S63, SL63, E63, C63) but with an all-new magnesium intake system, a reworked valvetrain and more power-oriented camshafts. Its tubular steel exhaust headers are computer-optimised for flow.
The SLS also gets new Bosch engine electronics that include sophisticated alternator management so the battery is charged mostly on deceleration. The result is a 45bhp power gain, to 563bhp at 6800rpm, and maximum torque is now 480lb ft at 4750rpm (up 15lb ft). AMG engineers reckon 22mpg is a real-world overall fuel consumption figure.
You select first gear with the right-hand paddle, then squeeze the accelerator. The car moves effortlessly away as you flick up through the gears. The Getrag dual-clutch gearbox is part of a rear transaxle with a limited-slip diff. This transaxle is connected directly to the engine via a torque tube, and the carbonfibre tailshaft inside it turns at engine speed.
As with all the best paddle shifts, SLS gearchanges are quick and smooth; on downshifts the gearshift electronics blip the accelerator to match revs with gear and speed.
A knob on the console offers you a choice of four driving modes that vary from comfortable to extremely sporty. And if you’re feeling really aggressive there’s launch control, called Race Start.
During our test of a pre-production SLS we drove mostly in manual mode, with the ESP set to Sport. The Sport setting lets the car slide a bit but rescues you if you get it completely wrong.
Push the pedal to the metal with the car stationary and the 295/30 ZR20 rear tyres bite the asphalt with hardly a squeak because wheelspin is controlled both by electronics and diff. The wheels grip, the long nose rises a little and the SLS erupts away from the start. Engine response matches Ferrari standards.
When you reach the 6800rpm rev limit the engine feels so smooth and strong that you’d swear 8000rpm was reasonable. The limiter prevents such excesses, but not before you’ve stormed past 60mph in 3.6sec and reached 125mph inside 12 seconds. Persist and the speed limiter will intervene just before 200mph.
No corner can upset the SLS chassis, whose strong, almost roll-free turn-in and powerful grip match the best in the class.
Quick and agile it may be, but AMG engineers have also worked hard to make the SLS a practical proposition for long-distance holiday trips or shopping – within the limits of a predicted £155,000 UK price. There’s a big boot, the cabin has eight airbags, and the three-point seatbelts (with tensioners and force limiters) combine technology with convenience.
Should I buy one?
Clearly, Mercedes’ new AMG gullwing coupe is going to be a big player in a hard-fought market, something that will surely bother Ferrari, Lamborghini and especially McLaren, whose all-new MP4-12C is still more than a year away from showrooms.
Mercedes-Benz SLS - Road Test First Drive - Autocar.co.uk
Last edited by D55L; Sep 10, 2009 at 07:31 AM.
Sep 10, 2009 | 02:16 AM
#2
Teamspeed Pro
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 7,647
From: Munich,Germany
hmmm sounds very "controlled" and civilized car as long as all the electronic aids are active
but the price is quite high imo...even though it`s a extremly well built high performance car the price should range at or below the 911 Turbo price
but the price is quite high imo...even though it`s a extremly well built high performance car the price should range at or below the 911 Turbo price
Sep 10, 2009 | 09:42 AM
#5
Teamspeed Pro
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 7,177
From: Stockholm
I don't see this as a competitor to the McLaren as stated in the article. This car is for 50+ year old men whereas the McLaren is for a younger and more dynamic generation and action junkies.
This is a bit like the Porsche Turbo, a race car for old people.
This is a bit like the Porsche Turbo, a race car for old people.
Sep 10, 2009 | 09:53 AM
#6
Teamspeed Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 236
That is quite a statement. A race car for old people?
Have you driven a CLK Black Series?
AMG is capable of building some incredible cars. The new SLS appears to be one of those cars from a performance standpoint. It has all the right bits and pieces.
Have you driven a CLK Black Series?
AMG is capable of building some incredible cars. The new SLS appears to be one of those cars from a performance standpoint. It has all the right bits and pieces.
Sep 10, 2009 | 12:32 PM
#8
AMGFanatic
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 15,965
From: MonteCarlo
Sep 10, 2009 | 05:22 PM
#9
Teamspeed Pro
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 7,647
From: Munich,Germany
a car for older people?
like the Turbo?
lol
well,maybe many of the drivers are not 16 because you have to have certain earinings to afford such a car
and if one looks into the technical details of the SLS it`s more than obvious that this car is stuffed with the most advanced technologies and built for performance not for relaxation or cruising down the blvd
btw,"older" people are often better drivers and some of them are called Walther Röhrl,Valentino Balboni or Michael Schumacher
like the Turbo?
lol
well,maybe many of the drivers are not 16 because you have to have certain earinings to afford such a car
and if one looks into the technical details of the SLS it`s more than obvious that this car is stuffed with the most advanced technologies and built for performance not for relaxation or cruising down the blvd
btw,"older" people are often better drivers and some of them are called Walther Röhrl,Valentino Balboni or Michael Schumacher
Sep 10, 2009 | 05:28 PM
#10
AMGFanatic
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 15,965
From: MonteCarlo
a car for older people?
like the Turbo?
lol
well,maybe many of the drivers are not 16 because you have to have certain earinings to afford such a car
and if one looks into the technical details of the SLS it`s more than obvious that this car is stuffed with the most advanced technologies and built for performance not for relaxation or cruising down the blvd
btw,"older" people are often better drivers and some of them are called Walther Röhrl,Valentino Balboni or Michael Schumacher
like the Turbo?
lol
well,maybe many of the drivers are not 16 because you have to have certain earinings to afford such a car
and if one looks into the technical details of the SLS it`s more than obvious that this car is stuffed with the most advanced technologies and built for performance not for relaxation or cruising down the blvd
btw,"older" people are often better drivers and some of them are called Walther Röhrl,Valentino Balboni or Michael Schumacher