Re: Merc SL63 AMG

Wednesday 2nd May 2012

Driven: Mercedes SL63 AMG

Harris drives the new twin-turbo SL63 and starts pondering finance options - nuff said? Not quite...



With the optional £9,000 performance pack fitted, the new Mercedes SL63 AMG has 663lb ft of torque. This biblical force is digested by the familiar seven-speed MCT automatic transmission and then burped onto the road surface via a 285-section tyre. I found myself looking at one of those poor, abused tyres the way I do a sub-standard Rodeo rider being rag-dolled by an especially vindictive horse. I mean what the hell must it feel like to have 663lb ft coursing through your steel-carcass? Naffing uncomfortable I'd guess, and not especially handy for one's longevity - but more of that anon.

Competence, AMG style
Competence, AMG style
I am much, much more interested in the new SL63 than I was the last SL63 AMG. When that car was launched back in 2008 I assumed it was just a facelifted SL55 minus a heap of torque and with added ugliness. This opinion was shattered in 2009 when, for reasons I still don't quite understand, I ended up running one for a year. It was a revelation. So much better than the SL55 because it had a decent gearbox, was genuinely fast and interesting on account of that V8 and was obviously adaptable because of that folding hard-top. In my mid-30s, I'd become a Mercedes SL devotee - well, an SL AMG devotee, which I suppose is slightly more acceptable.

Californi-who?
The new SL63 is faster, more powerful, physically bigger and up to 30 per cent more efficient. It is also another good reason not to buy a Ferrari California.

564hp Performance Pack upgrade if you need it
564hp Performance Pack upgrade if you need it
The intended operating window for this car must make it one of the more challenging development prospects. On the one hand it must dawdle the way many of its owners will expect it to: obedient, refined, operable with almost zero thought. But at the other end of the spectrum it has to stand up to thugs like me expecting it to match fast Porsches and it must justify those three letters on its bootlid. These are not mutually compatible areas of excellence and creating a machine that can do both must be a nightmare. And that's before you've been told to work with a bodyshell that has no roof structure.

Luckily for the AMG team, the new aluminium SL platform is a corker. Far stiffer than the outgoing steel effort and 110kg lighter. More than anything else this is the component that allows the SL63 to push the boundaries of this open GT/sportster genre further than any other car.

That rigid structure houses the M157 5.5-litre bi-turbo V8 already seen in numerous other AMGs. This time it offers 537hp (up from 525hp in the old car) and 590lb ft, which isn't even comparable with the 465lb ft of the outgoing model. It doesn't end there either: the test car is fitted with the optional performance pack which boosts power to 564hp and torque to 663lb ft. The Ferrari California has 372lb ft.

You want toys? You got 'em...
You want toys? You got 'em...
Solid foundations
New springs and adaptive dampers are fitted, everything is rebushed, the top mounts are new, most of the components for the rear axle are new and cast from aluminium. AMG has retuned the electro-mechanical steering with a direct ratio and a different weighting for Comfort and Sport modes. Those designations are actually transmission maps for the MCT 7-speed, wet-clutch gearbox (ergo: fast shift, heavy steering) which is mechanically identical to the last model's. It aims to offer the benefits of creep and genuinely slushed-shifts, with a snappy manual mode for those who want to make time.

This car is startlingly fast. Mercedes claims it will reach 124mph from a standing start in 12.6 seconds, which feels a little pessimistic given the alarming force with which it slams you down the road under even the smallest throttle opening. It lacks the sharpness of the old M156 normally aspirated motor, but for the job of lumping about an 1,860kg plutocratic open GT with minimum effort it makes the old engine feel like a little Honda VTEC. The gearbox is superb in its comfort setting, often correctly choosing to lean on that torque figure rather than punctuate proceedings with an uncouth downshift. In Sport mode it is more aggressive, bringing burbly blips on downshifts and hanging onto gears longer. Sport Plus goes further with even more engine braking and munitions-grade bangs and cracks on downshifts. Manual does what it says on the tin: slightly slower than a good dual-clutch transmission, but still faster than Merc's own double-clutch in the SLS.

MCT autobox nails the target audience
MCT autobox nails the target audience
Do-it-all, quickly
The chassis is fundamentally more talented than before, the stiff structure means no creaks over drainage covers and pot-holes. It's firmer than the SL500, but still very comfortable and it retains control at very high speed on tricky, technical roads. I didn't really bother with the Sport damper setting. It was firmer and flatter, but the less aggressive setting was an excellent one-stop compromise. Combined with accurate steering and massive propulsive force, you have a feeling of crushing superiority over most fellow road users, all the time with the added bonus of knowing that at the push of a button and a 19sec wait you can cruise any boulevard, exposed to the elements, with your arse being warmed and cooled. It's a compelling package.

A locking differential comes as a part of the Performance Pack - you need it to really enjoy the car because good though the systems are, they have to call time too early. There's a touch more lock on drive now than before, but you don't feel any more push from the front axle and you still have to be reasonably brutal to make it pull big slides. Actually, once the tyres are a bit over-warm, that 660lb ft can bring angles well into third gear. It's all very controllable and immense fun. Owners will need friends on the board of a tyre company if they want to do this regularly.

Looks aren't everything but other than that...
Looks aren't everything but other than that...
All bases covered
Buffeting is minimal with the electric wind-deflector lowered, non-existent with it raised. Magic Vision wipers squirt without wetting one's head and, when the roof is down, only do so on the down stroke. Can't quite believe I just wrote that. The Airscarf warms your neck and the vast chair really clinches that hard-earned back-fat. Roof up, it's quieter than an XK Coupe. In short, if you require a bigger spread of skills from your hardtop-sports-GT thing, then you'll need to move to another galaxy far, far away.

Sitting 5mm lower on optional forged wheels and with those gold calipers for the, again optional 390mm/ 360mm carbon ceramic brakes, the SL63 looks way better than the standard SL, but it's still not a car you find yourself actively craving just for the way it looks. That's a real shame, because I think it would be an even more compelling everyday performance machine than the last version. Does the Mercedes website do finance quotations?


MERCEDES SL63 AMG
Engine:
5,461cc V8 twin-turbo
Transmission: 7-speed auto, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 537@5,500rpm (564@5,500rpm with AMG Performance Package)
Torque (lb ft): 590@2,000rpm (663@2,250rpm with AMG Performance Package)0-62mph: 4.3 sec (4.2 sec with AMG Performance Package)
Top speed: 155mph (limited)
Weight: 1,845kg
MPG: 28.5mpg (NEDC combined)
CO2: 231g/km
Price: £112,000

 

 

 

Author
Discussion

Crunchy Nutter

Original Poster:

246 posts

193 months

Wednesday 2nd May 2012
quotequote all
Sounds impressive, to be sure. But (prepares can o' worms) isn't it just going to be far too fast to really enjoy, like the uber-boat that is the latest M5?

gumsie

680 posts

208 months

Wednesday 2nd May 2012
quotequote all
Crunchy Nutter said:
........ far too fast to really enjoy
Didn't realise that was possible.

Beefmeister

16,482 posts

229 months

Wednesday 2nd May 2012
quotequote all
The old SL63 was a very endearing car, the power was addictive. Can only imagine how this one feels.

Incidentally, just browsing the German Merc site to configure a new SL63 and noticed these wheels on the base SL350. Are these the most awful wheels offered by a manufacturer?


sutts

896 posts

147 months

Wednesday 2nd May 2012
quotequote all
"....really clinches that hard-earned back-fat"

Eloquent description of the typical owner demographic - loving your work!

SFO

5,162 posts

182 months

Wednesday 2nd May 2012
quotequote all
663lb ft torque!!!!

what's than in NM?


kambites

67,460 posts

220 months

Wednesday 2nd May 2012
quotequote all
SFO said:
663lb ft torque!!!!

what's than in NM?
900, roughly.

chiefski26

815 posts

200 months

Wednesday 2nd May 2012
quotequote all
Chris this or a c63 black ?

George H

14,706 posts

163 months

Wednesday 2nd May 2012
quotequote all
Beefmeister said:
Are these the most awful wheels offered by a manufacturer?
No, that accolade goes to Audi for the TT-RS Plus / RS3 red and black alloys yuck

Back on topic, I love AMG SLs but this one just doesn't seem to do anything for me. I'll take an R129 SL60 instead please yum

RevOne

49 posts

151 months

Wednesday 2nd May 2012
quotequote all
"....but it's still not a car you find yourself actively craving just for the way it looks"

Agreed, with a £100K+ GT car the looks need to stack up and this just looks too generic(?), basically an enlarged SLK...

MB said they were getting back to the original meaning of SL (sports light) with this new model, maybe they should aim to be as attractively designed as the original also.

Matt0812

1,450 posts

204 months

PH Reportery Lad

Wednesday 2nd May 2012
quotequote all
Now let's see if you can actually get 28.5mpg out of it...

Bash Brannigan

211 posts

186 months

Wednesday 2nd May 2012
quotequote all
RevOne said:
MB said they were getting back to the original meaning of SL (sports light) with this new model, maybe they should aim to be as attractively designed as the original also.

At 1850kg, which is only 30kg lighter than the Maserati Granturismo that everyone seems to say is a fatty, I'd say that they failed on both counts.

I will forever associate SL AMGs with obnoxious middle aged men who only buy the AMG version because the guy with the space next to them at work has the SL500.

philmots

4,630 posts

259 months

Wednesday 2nd May 2012
quotequote all
Am I the only one hoping the engine makes an appearence in a C63 ?

chiefski26

815 posts

200 months

Wednesday 2nd May 2012
quotequote all
philmots said:
Am I the only one hoping the engine makes an appearence in a C63 ?
No but i doubt it will i hear it will not fit in the engine bay.

kambites

67,460 posts

220 months

Wednesday 2nd May 2012
quotequote all
Bash Brannigan said:
RevOne said:
MB said they were getting back to the original meaning of SL (sports light) with this new model, maybe they should aim to be as attractively designed as the original also.
At 1850kg, which is only 30kg lighter than the Maserati Granturismo that everyone seems to say is a fatty, I'd say that they failed on both counts.
You're comparing it to the tin-top GranTourismo. The convertible is about two tonnes, IIRC.

This certainly isn't light, but at least it's lighterer.

Edited by kambites on Wednesday 2nd May 12:37

Dr Interceptor

7,742 posts

195 months

Wednesday 2nd May 2012
quotequote all
I think it looks stunning... biggrin

Ticks every box for me... however, price is similar to an XKR-S Convertible, and given a lottery win, it'd be a tough choice between the two!

Eeeeny Meeeny..

MIP1983

210 posts

204 months

Wednesday 2nd May 2012
quotequote all
What an astonishingly ugly car. As gopping as an SC430.

CliveM

525 posts

184 months

Wednesday 2nd May 2012
quotequote all
For the performance and spread of ability on offer, £112K looks good value too (insert "can't believe I just wrote that" reference).

Gatsods

388 posts

167 months

Wednesday 2nd May 2012
quotequote all
kambites said:
Bash Brannigan said:
RevOne said:
MB said they were getting back to the original meaning of SL (sports light) with this new model, maybe they should aim to be as attractively designed as the original also.
At 1850kg, which is only 30kg lighter than the Maserati Granturismo that everyone seems to say is a fatty, I'd say that they failed on both counts.
You're comparing it to the tin-top GranTourismo. The convertible is about two tonnes, IIRC.

This certainly isn't light, but at least it's lighterer.

Edited by kambites on Wednesday 2nd May 12:37
Not to mention the GranCabrio also has nothing like the power of this car, wouldn't see which way the SL went.

In defence of the Maser's weight though, it does seat four.

kambites

67,460 posts

220 months

Wednesday 2nd May 2012
quotequote all
Gatsods said:
In defence of the Maser's weight though, it does seat four.
True, although I don't think I've ever seen anyone in the back of one. smile

Twoshoe

847 posts

183 months

Wednesday 2nd May 2012
quotequote all
MIP1983 said:
What an astonishingly ugly car. As gopping as an SC430.
I actually think it looks dated too.