Mercedes-Benz SLS review

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Mercedes-Benz SLS 6.2 V8 AMG First Drive

Test date 08 September 2009 Price as tested TBA

: The SLS invokes the styling of the iconic 300SL

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 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 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.

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.

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.