The covers come off the new SL, well some of it
Since Mercedes allowed us an entire afternoon's worth of
Laguna Seca in a C63 AMG Black Series
we weren't about to complain when it wanted to us to take a sneak peak at the next generation SL in return. Even if it meant handing in the camera beforehand.
So, no, beyond this disguised test hack, covered in something akin to supplementary tank armour, we can't show you what the new SL looks like. Which is a shame, because it's not the 'nose off an SLS' rehash you might be forgiven for expecting. Yes SLK, looking at you.
To help your imagination along visually we'd describe the next-generation SL as very much a predator. The surface treatment is organic, joined-up lines stretched taut in places - most notably the bonnet - in a manner that gives the distinct impression of muscular and skeletal architecture. This animalistic appearance is set off by a very complex front light array and the semi-matt dark grey of the production prototype.
SL test mule offers clues to the overall shape
All very fancy. It's around 60mm longer and 57mm wider too, flattening the proportions and hiding the raised-rump look typical of folding hardtop convertibles. But the really significant thing about this new model - and it is properly, no messing, all-new - is that it will be Mercedes' first chiefly aluminium car. This is the first SL since the 300SL Gullwing to take the concept of Sports Leicht truly seriously.
89 per cent of the body-in-white is aluminium and some of the remaining 11 per cent is magnesium, though Mercedes has stuck to high-strength steel for the windscreen surround in the name of rollover protection. This makes it 110kg lighter than an equivalent all-steel structure with all the modern safety structures and will see Mercedes present a finished product at the Detroit Auto Show in January that is as much as 140kg lighter than its predecessor.
Longer, wider, sleeker new SL is also lighter
Despite this the car is also 20 per cent stiffer. The complexity of the engineering is just staggering, since in addition to stamped and extruded aluminium forms Mercedes is also using a high-tech 'hollow chill' casting process. This is so trick the casts are actually capable of flexing slightly under impact, rather than simply cracking. And the three-layer sandwich floor sections are joined together using a process called friction stir welding. This uses friction created by a spinning disc to 'plasticise' the aluminium, avoiding the need for additional material and creating warp-free joins.
The extruded aluminium sills, meanwhile, have no fewer than seven chambers for maximum rigidity. The sheet metal parts used elsewhere are produced from tailored blanks, where the aluminium varies in thickness depending on where additional strength is needed. Other components are 'optimised bionically', using forms from nature to reduce weight yet improve strength. The attention to detail is just outstanding. It's also something that only a manufacturer on the scale of Mercedes is really capable of, which makes you start to wonder how smaller volume sports car makers - the Aston Martins, the Lotuses, even Ferrari - are going to be able to compete in the future.
Windscreen surround one of few structural steel bits
All of this stuff ought to make for a sharper, more rewarding drive, especially when it comes to the inevitable AMG models. These will take the weight-saving further with extensive use of carbon fibre, structurally and for panels like the bootlid. But the SL is also intended to service those more interested in comfort and luxury, leading to the use of spray-on sound insulation. The interior meanwhile impresses with its quality, relative simplicity and beauty.
The SL's chief technical innovations are very much geared to quality of life stuff. Magic Vision Control joins the Magic Sky Control roof and Airscarf tech from the SLK and, while it sounds exciting, is actually a system for deploying water through holes in the wiper blades. FrontBass, meanwhile, mounts subwoofers in the front footwells to maximise audio performance without rattling the rear view mirror.
This was a brief acquaintance with the new SL, but an instructive one. Look out for the first pictures come December. Not least if you happen to work for the opposition.