No price pack
The Mercedes-Benz SL has of course never been a bargain, but the new Mercedes-AMG SL distances itself further than ever from the term ‘price packer’. The new Mercedes-AMG SL has a starting price of more than €230,000.
The previous generation Mercedes-Benz SL was in the order books from around €135,000. For that amount you got the SL 400 with 367 hp 3.0 V6. The brand new Mercedes-AMG SL has a starting price that is almost a ton higher at €231.004. You do get the Mercedes-AMG SL 55 4Matic+ for that, the version with 476 hp and 700 Nm strong 4.0 V8 with two turbos. In comparison, the less extreme of the two AMG versions of the previous SL – the 585 hp SL 63 AMG – changed hands from €228,809.
Of course, the new SL will not be available in just one flavour. The absolute cream of the crop is the Mercedes-AMG SL 63 4Matic+, the version with the 585 hp and 800 Nm strong variant of the well-known biturbo 4.0 V8. With that power source, the SL accelerates to 100 km/h in 3.6 seconds, only to throw in the proverbial towel at 315 km/h. Bloody fast of course, although the slip-on SL 55 is not even noticeably slower. In that version you reach a speed of 100 km/h in 3.9 seconds and you continue until the speedometer indicates 295 km/h. In the long run, Mercedes-AMG will come up with a hybrid E-Performance variant of the SL.
Mercedes-Benz SL
The new SL does a lot differently than its predecessors. It is in fact the first SL that has been developed primarily by Mercedes-AMG. This means that every SL is in fact an AMG model from now on. Every SL flavor also has 4Matic four-wheel drive. In addition, the SL simply has a fabric hood again and no longer has a steel folding roof as the SL had since the introduction of the R230 generation in 2001. Another point the SL brings up with its predecessor: Behind the front seats is a small rear seat. That makes the SL a 2+2 for the first time in years. Thanks to its rear seat, the new SL somewhat fills the gap left by the S-class Cabriolet, which has disappeared from the market, although the seat in the back of the SL is only intended for people who are up to 1.5 meters tall. Incidentally, it is not inconceivable that the SL will eventually replace the AMG GT Roadster. An important model, despite the niche segment in which the car operates.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl