First Look: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG
The Mercedes Benz 300 SL “Gullwing” is one of the coolest sports cars of all time. So named because of its unique, roof-hinged doors, the Gullwing was the Enzo of its era: stupendously fast, outrageously expensive, and styled to make an entrance. Clark Gable owned one; Andy Warhol painted one; Ava Gardner crashed one. No Mercedes sports car since, not even the Mercedes-McLaren SLR, has come close to matching the Gullwing’s iconic appeal. And now the Mercedes SLS.
The SLR was a bastard-child of a supercar that neither McLaren nor Mercedes-Benz engineers truly felt was their own. McLaren’s Gordon Murray, designer of award-winning Brabham and McLaren’s grand prix racers are the driving force behind it all, thought the SLR overweight, the antithesis of his personal automotive touch. For their part, the Mercedes-Benz engineers were uneasy with McLaren’s free-wheeling, fast-moving development culture, and skeptical of its methods. The culture-clash car that resulted was blindingly fast and supremely robust, but oddly styled and strangely uninvolving to drive.
All of which perhaps explains the new Mercedes SLS AMG, a lightweight, high-tech, 571 hp super-coupe that represents the distilled wisdom of some of the best and the brightest engineers at the world’s oldest automaker. And yes, it has gullwing doors.
Like the SLR, the SLS is a front mid-engine coupe, with its 6.3-liter V-8 (actually, it’s 6208 cc) positioned entirely behind the front axle center-line. Its engine is based on the M156 V-8 from the SL63 AMG model, but has been refurbished and pimped to warrant a new design- the M159. Mercedes SLS claims over 120 parts and components that have been redesigned. The very most notable change, however, is a very dry sump system that allows the M159 to nestle very low down its frame. The engine delivers 571 hp at 6800 rpm, and a 479 lb-ft. at 4750 rpm. Some 402 lb-ft is available from just 2500 rpm.
The engine drives the rear wheels via Mercedes SLS new 7-speed dual clutch transmission, repackaged in a transaxle housing at the rear of the vehicle to aid deliver the SLS’s 48/52 front/rear weight distribution. Engine and transmission are connected by a sand-cast aluminum torque-tube, inside which is a carbon-fiber drive shaft. The transmission offers four modes — basic, Sport, Sport+ and Manual — each with different shift protocols. The transmission also has a launch-control mode that allows full-commando starts with electronically controlled wheelspin to prevent the engine bogging down off the line.
