 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. Click image to enlarge |
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2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG
San Francisco, California – Please don’t call it “the new SLR McLaren.”
Mercedes-Benz is emphatic that its magnificent new SLS AMG bears no relationship to the now-discontinued earlier supercar and is based on an all-new platform. Also, the SLS was developed and engineered by AMG itself, rather than Mercedes-Benz – a “first” for the manufacturer’s famed tuning division which normally devotes itself to engine building and tuning.
It almost goes without saying that given recent events in the world of Formula 1 and the plans for a stand-alone Mercedes-Benz team, McLaren was never involved in the new car at all and is at any event readying a supercar of its own.
 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG; photo by Tony Whitney. Click image to enlarge |
There’s an interesting – if tenuous – Canadian angle in that the SLS’s aluminum bodywork is built under contract by a European arm of Canadian firm, Magna International.
The SLS AMG won’t arrive in North America until well into next year as a 2011 model and no prices have been announced yet. Reports from Europe say that orders are already being taken for the SLS at a starting price of 149,000 euros (around 234,000 Canadian dollars) but this is no guide at all to what the sticker will be here. More than likely, the Mercedes-Benz marketers and accountants in North America are still working this out.
What is clear is that the car will likely cost about half the price of its predecessor and is thus another example of the people at Mercedes-Benz sharpening their pencils to meet the demands of prevailing markets – something they’ve been doing with great success right through their various product ranges. The SLS is no “cheapie” by any stretch of the imagination, but now the Stuttgart automaker’s supercar is highly competitive in its segment and promises to be not that much more expensive than a “full house” SL model.
  2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG; top photo by Tony Whitney. Click image to enlarge |
The SLS borrows all kinds of wonderful styling details from Mercedes-Benz sports cars of years gone by, but above all, its gullwing doors reflect Mercedes-Benz’ heritage. They hark back, of course, to the truly memorable 300 SL of the mid-1950s – a car that even today is a breathtaking sight for anyone with the least interest in fine cars. Other reminders of the 300 SL are the wide radiator grille with its huge three-pointed star and the intakes on the hood and flanks. The SLR McLaren had what might be called “semi gullwing” doors hinged at the windshield pillar, but the SLS doors pivot from the central part of the roof, just like the fabled 300 SL.
Gullwing doors are exceptionally difficult to engineer and that’s probably why so few cars have used them over the years. One AMG engineer told me that the doors on the old 300 SL were a “masterpiece of simplicity” but that back in the 1950s, designers didn’t have to contend with side impact protection and other aspects of modern cars. When AMG decided to go with gullwing doors, they actually tried to track down any remaining engineers who had worked on the 300 SL, but sadly, they had all long passed on.
In practice, the doors work well. Even at their widest “swing point” they don’t protrude that much, though I took the precaution of parallel parking my test car when I stopped for coffee, rather than parking between two other vehicles and face the horror and embarrassment of being “trapped.” It’s a bit of a stretch to reach the door to pull it shut and this should be done before fastening the seatbelt. AMG did consider a hanging strap to help with this, but ultimately considered it “too fussy.”
 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG; photo by Tony Whitney. Click image to enlarge |
But enough of doors and let’s take a look at the SLS as a high performance “exoticar.”
Power comes from a 6.3-litre V8 with dry sump lubrication that develops 571 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque. Obviously, this engine is an AMG development, and each unit is hand-assembled by one technician at the division’s plant in Affalterbach, Germany. The plant has a hospital-like cleanliness about it and visitors are usually mightily impressed to see the technicians trundling their engines around the assembly shop on wheeled trollies from one station to another until they’re complete. The assembled engine is “signed off” by its builder and you’ll find the name of the AMG employee responsible on a nifty little plate located on the engine cover.
Although the SLS AMG powerplant doesn’t have the horsepower of the old SLR McLaren (626) and is, in fact, less powerful in terms of straightforward horses than some SL variants, this doesn’t really show thanks to the lightness of the SLS’s superbly-crafted aluminum spaceframe body structure. Even the drive shaft – which handles an awful lot of power – is a superlight carbon fibre tube.
  2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG; photo by Tony Whitney. Click image to enlarge |
Give the SLS a little throttle and it roars in the most impressive way and there’s no doubt that there’s a very potent V8 located in the front/mid position beneath the elegant hood. The SLS AMG will hit 100 km/h in a speedy 3.8-seconds and the top speed (governed) is 317 km/h. The claimed average fuel consumption of 13.2 litres/100 km is quite possibly a “best in class.”
The SLS uses a transaxle system which contributes towards better weight distribution (47/53, front/rear). The transmission is an AMG Speedshift DCT 7-speed “manumatic” with four driving modes and although there are the usual steering wheel paddles, I found that power was available so quickly whenever it was needed that being lazy and relying on the automatic mode was just fine. The car is much more driver-friendly than the SLR McLaren and is just as happy burbling around town as it is being unleashed with all its might on the track.
The brakes, especially, are way better than the SLR’s, which snatched and squealed with even the smoothest driver at the wheel. Made by Brembo for Mercedes-Benz, they can be ordered with carbon ceramic discs and these proved to be the best in this material I’d ever tried. Other safety features include up to eight air bags and a “suite” of electronic stability and emergency braking aids.
    2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG; photo by Tony Whitney. Click image to enlarge |
The suspension uses a fairly straightforward double wishbone arrangement and the SLS handles as well as it goes. Poor road surfaces are broadcast to the driver fairly easily, but the same can be said of most high-performance cars with seriously good handling – drivers who want their car to iron out every little bump in the road should be looking at an S-Class or a Maybach. The SLS uses 19 or 20-inch wheels, according to options chosen, and my primary test car was fitted with Continental tires.
Climbing into the car is quite easy, despite the wide and fairly high sills (not as high as the monsters on the 300 SL, though!) and a little caution will avoid any bumped heads on the door. It’s certainly possible to get a bruise or two, but I’d guess that owner familiarity would take care of that problem in a matter of days. I never banged my head in three days around the car and I’m quite tall. The seats are exceptionally grippy and comfortable and once strapped in, everything is very easy to reach. Although the layout is entirely new, there is some “cockpit commonality” with other Mercedes models and I never had any trouble finding everything. Even the navigation system was easy to use without recourse to the owner’s manual.
Stowage around the cabin is quite poor and there are few places to stash odds and ends. Part of the problem lies with the gullwing doors, which can’t have pockets because everything would fall out when they’re opened. Elasticized net pockets on the insides of the footwells would be handy, though. The trunk is quite roomy for a car in this class and a couple would have no problem stowing soft bags for a week-long road trip. Some models I tried boasted an absolute symphony of carbon fibre trim which looked wonderful, but will probably carry a daunting price. As one might expect, even the most basic SLS is trimmed and finish to the highest imaginable standards.
Thanks to its (expected) price, this car will be a far more familiar sight on our roads than the rare SLR McLaren. It’s a usable, drivable supercar that melds impressively advanced technology with a heritage that very few automakers can approach. And it’d be worth buying one just to see the looks on the faces of the parking valets at your favourite restaurant when the gullwing doors open.
