Discussion
Just bought one myself three weeks ago.....it replaced a new Jaguar XKR-S, which itself was an extremely capable machine.
Bang & Olufsen audio system excepted (it is, quite frankly, sh!t), it is an awesome piece of kit and extremely useable on a daily basis. My car history is varied and this is as good as any to really live with, yet, it's also a true supercar at the same time, a combination which isn't all that common - heres a few observations from my limited time with it so far....
The doors are perfectly useable and in fact, in tight spaces they work better than normal doors as they need so little width to open
Width is a subject all on it's own for this car - it's a good job the doors are effective because the car is soooo wide, you often have little space either side of it! You notice the width in multi-storey car parks and on narrow country roads but, so far, it's not stopped me taking it anywhere. It does have one advantage though....it clears those small speed bumps cleanly so you can drive over them faster than anything else
Noise - I can't see how you'll ever tire of this noise and after owning previous AMG's, this is more of the same but turned up to 11
Performance - one of my previous cars was a manual Gen-2 997 Turbo and, off-the-line traction excepted, this is as fast once rolling. That means it is very quick!
Dynamics - The car rides very firmly, easily the firmest car I have owned and quite a shock after the most hardcore of Jag's. This doesn't detract from it's ability though, which is to say it is the most planted, stable and direct car I've driven. The steering is worthy of note -the front end is so pointy and direct it's almost kart like and how they have combined this with such rock solid directional stability is immensely impressive. It feels much more pointy and sharp than the Porsche ever did, although I appreciate that was 4wd and in reality, was the more 'capable' and technically perfect of the two. It wasn't half the fun that this AMG is though!
Refinement - considering the SLS is a true supercar, it's refinement and build quality seems to set it apart from it's key competitors from Ferrari/Aston etc. You can drive this car comfortably everywhere without being deafened (by road/wind noise or rattles!), it's feels very tight, solid and simply just very well (over) engineered. The structure in particular feels unbreakable and the torsional rigidity can be felt over every bump and every time you turn the wheel - theres just no flex in this cars chassis!
Practicalities - the boring bits....it does around 13mpg in town and will not do over 22mpg no matter how gentle you are with it. So don't bother. It has 12.5k service intervals like any other AMG so will probably be much more reasonable to run as a daily drive than most of it's competitors. The boot is small and theres no door pockets The stereo, as I've already said, is appalling and if you're buying new, do not shell out the £5k for this drivel (I'm actually in 'discussion' with AMG in Germany on this subject such is the poor quality of it). The driving position is perfect and the seats are best I've sat in for an overall combination of comfort and support.
Make sure you try a couple before buying so you're confident you're getting a good one - these cars are often not cherished and not all I saw seemed to be as tight or in as good a condition as the one I bought.
One final thing - you'd have to be mad to buy one of these new. My car was spec'd to a whisker under £190k yet, just 1 year and just 3.5k miles on, I paid a ridiculously low amount compared to the new price (from a main dealer too). You can probably get 15% off a new one (if the broker prices are anything to go by) but that just doesn't cut it against the prices of 6-12 month old examples.
Hope that helps....I'll be doing a more detailed thread in the 'readers cars' section in the next few weeks after I've returned from my factory tour in Afflaterbach in 2 weeks
Bang & Olufsen audio system excepted (it is, quite frankly, sh!t), it is an awesome piece of kit and extremely useable on a daily basis. My car history is varied and this is as good as any to really live with, yet, it's also a true supercar at the same time, a combination which isn't all that common - heres a few observations from my limited time with it so far....
The doors are perfectly useable and in fact, in tight spaces they work better than normal doors as they need so little width to open
Width is a subject all on it's own for this car - it's a good job the doors are effective because the car is soooo wide, you often have little space either side of it! You notice the width in multi-storey car parks and on narrow country roads but, so far, it's not stopped me taking it anywhere. It does have one advantage though....it clears those small speed bumps cleanly so you can drive over them faster than anything else
Noise - I can't see how you'll ever tire of this noise and after owning previous AMG's, this is more of the same but turned up to 11
Performance - one of my previous cars was a manual Gen-2 997 Turbo and, off-the-line traction excepted, this is as fast once rolling. That means it is very quick!
Dynamics - The car rides very firmly, easily the firmest car I have owned and quite a shock after the most hardcore of Jag's. This doesn't detract from it's ability though, which is to say it is the most planted, stable and direct car I've driven. The steering is worthy of note -the front end is so pointy and direct it's almost kart like and how they have combined this with such rock solid directional stability is immensely impressive. It feels much more pointy and sharp than the Porsche ever did, although I appreciate that was 4wd and in reality, was the more 'capable' and technically perfect of the two. It wasn't half the fun that this AMG is though!
Refinement - considering the SLS is a true supercar, it's refinement and build quality seems to set it apart from it's key competitors from Ferrari/Aston etc. You can drive this car comfortably everywhere without being deafened (by road/wind noise or rattles!), it's feels very tight, solid and simply just very well (over) engineered. The structure in particular feels unbreakable and the torsional rigidity can be felt over every bump and every time you turn the wheel - theres just no flex in this cars chassis!
Practicalities - the boring bits....it does around 13mpg in town and will not do over 22mpg no matter how gentle you are with it. So don't bother. It has 12.5k service intervals like any other AMG so will probably be much more reasonable to run as a daily drive than most of it's competitors. The boot is small and theres no door pockets
The stereo, as I've already said, is appalling and if you're buying new, do not shell out the £5k for this drivel (I'm actually in 'discussion' with AMG in Germany on this subject such is the poor quality of it). The driving position is perfect and the seats are best I've sat in for an overall combination of comfort and support. Make sure you try a couple before buying so you're confident you're getting a good one - these cars are often not cherished and not all I saw seemed to be as tight or in as good a condition as the one I bought.
One final thing - you'd have to be mad to buy one of these new. My car was spec'd to a whisker under £190k yet, just 1 year and just 3.5k miles on, I paid a ridiculously low amount compared to the new price (from a main dealer too). You can probably get 15% off a new one (if the broker prices are anything to go by) but that just doesn't cut it against the prices of 6-12 month old examples.
Hope that helps....I'll be doing a more detailed thread in the 'readers cars' section in the next few weeks after I've returned from my factory tour in Afflaterbach in 2 weeks
Edited by Palmball on Monday 11th February 01:16
I'm in that 'honeymoon' period so presently very excited about it! I think (hope) the enthusiasm will stay because I can't currently think of much else that I'd rather have, at any price. Theres not much else out there that can do the supercar aesthetics, thrills and performance whilst at the same time being so well built and capable to actually enable it to be used properly.
Palmballs review is absolutely spot on, although the B&O system in ours sounds great (not as good as the B&W in the XKR-S though).
Ours now has nearly 40k on the clock and it runs like a dream, still no creaks, rattles and groans. Servicing costs are reasonable, especially compared to Ferrari, McLaren et al. Drives like it has just come out of the factory, not too heavy on brakes etc, but budget for rear tyres every 6-8k!!
For absolute fun, not much comes close, I would probably choose the XKR-S as an everyday car due to practicality - I can squeeze my 8 year old twins in the back for the school run.
A used SLS would make a great buy.
Ours now has nearly 40k on the clock and it runs like a dream, still no creaks, rattles and groans. Servicing costs are reasonable, especially compared to Ferrari, McLaren et al. Drives like it has just come out of the factory, not too heavy on brakes etc, but budget for rear tyres every 6-8k!!
For absolute fun, not much comes close, I would probably choose the XKR-S as an everyday car due to practicality - I can squeeze my 8 year old twins in the back for the school run.
A used SLS would make a great buy.
propaganda said:
How firm is the drive? Is it Lotus Elise crashy? I found the AM V8 Vantage with sports suspension overly firm, whereas the Gallardo LP560 was fine. My R8 is very comfortable.
It is very firm, more so than the LP560 and certainly more than the R8 with Suspension in Sport. I would have a good drive before buying on varied roads and surfaces. I drove ours to Dundee and back last week, no problem whatsoever, mainly motorway and A roads though - plus a bit of Snow for added FUN!
pb1695 said:
propaganda said:
How firm is the drive? Is it Lotus Elise crashy? I found the AM V8 Vantage with sports suspension overly firm, whereas the Gallardo LP560 was fine. My R8 is very comfortable.
It is very firm, more so than the LP560 and certainly more than the R8 with Suspension in Sport. I would have a good drive before buying on varied roads and surfaces. I drove ours to Dundee and back last week, no problem whatsoever, mainly motorway and A roads though - plus a bit of Snow for added FUN!
It really is very good on the motorway - still very firm but also incredibly stable and well damped body movements. If you've ever driven a GT-R, where the body movement is constantly 'busy', even on a smooth motorway, it is far more pleasant and nowhere near the tiresome drive of that car.
Lagerlout said:
Been told Mercedes will contribute £25k for non-black series and £35k for Black on brand new ones. GT is due out just before summer I believe.
Very interesting indeed - that means a nice £40k off could be achievable as, with a bit of effort, you'd likely get another £15k from the dealer.So on car spec'd to £180k, paying £140k for a brand new one is reasonably appealing.
pb1695 said:
Palmballs review is absolutely spot on, although the B&O system in ours sounds great (not as good as the B&W in the XKR-S though).
Ours now has nearly 40k on the clock and it runs like a dream, still no creaks, rattles and groans.
I would concur that B&O is great on some music.....it seems that the trashy house and R&B that I listen to defeats the capability of the subs.Ours now has nearly 40k on the clock and it runs like a dream, still no creaks, rattles and groans.
I have today just had confirmation of a goodwill contribution to have the rear subwoofers dealt with outside of the Mercedes dealer network so I have engaged a highly recommended car audio specialist and see what they can do with it in a couple of weeks. If they can get it somewhere close to the Bowers & Wilkins in the Jag (or even the HK in my E Class) than I'll be a happy chappy.
Good to hear of it's tightness after 40k miles - I hate any out-of-the-ordinary noises like rattles, creaks etc and I'll be doing a good 20k miles a year in mine.
I prefer the Gull Wing
When I first saw them I always thought it lends itself to being a convertible but I now think it's lost its appeal and quirkiness.
The doors make it very special.
I've only picked mine up late yesterday and done about 50 miles home. I must admit to being concerned over the comments about a harsh ride.......pleased to say it's not, well not compared to my usual transport. Suspension is perfect as it the crackling exhaust on overrun
Awesome car, very pleased
When I first saw them I always thought it lends itself to being a convertible but I now think it's lost its appeal and quirkiness.
The doors make it very special.
I've only picked mine up late yesterday and done about 50 miles home. I must admit to being concerned over the comments about a harsh ride.......pleased to say it's not, well not compared to my usual transport. Suspension is perfect as it the crackling exhaust on overrun
Awesome car, very pleased
vpr said:
I've only picked mine up late yesterday and done about 50 miles home. I must admit to being concerned over the comments about a harsh ride.......pleased to say it's not, well not compared to my usual transport. Suspension is perfect as it the crackling exhaust on overrun
Awesome car, very pleased
And what is your usual transport?Awesome car, very pleased
propaganda said:
vpr said:
I've only picked mine up late yesterday and done about 50 miles home. I must admit to being concerned over the comments about a harsh ride.......pleased to say it's not, well not compared to my usual transport. Suspension is perfect as it the crackling exhaust on overrun
Awesome car, very pleased
And what is your usual transport?Awesome car, very pleased
No pics yet as its always dark or raining...maybe weekend.
Lagerlout said:
Been told Mercedes will contribute £25k for non-black series and £35k for Black on brand new ones. GT is due out just before summer I believe.
I am sure that they will discount by more than this, they were selling them for list less £50,000 in December 2011 when they were still a new model. Brand new for £130,000 it made no sense buying used as most of the used cars were more expensive. Gassing Station | Mercedes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff