 2014 Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG. Click image to enlarge |
Review and photos by Michael Bettencourt
Willow Springs, CA – Think the exotic SLS AMG GT Roadster is the priciest of Mercedes-Benz’s many convertibles, now at an eye-watering 2014 base price of $224,200? Good guess, but nope. That title goes to the vehicle you see here, the SL 65 AMG.
Sure, this range-topping two-seat Benz may not look much different from your garden-variety 124 grand SL 550 hardtop convertible – especially with some strategically chosen options. But the SL 65’s $242,500 base price not only sits atop the widest range of convertibles of any brand in North America, but it’s also a crushing $83,500 more than the SL 63 AMG, a similarly performance-fortified hardtop convertible. And that SL 63 AMG can be spec’d out to look exactly like the SL 65, outside of the subtle V12 badging.
Yes, those badges are the only sign that the SL 65 AMG features a massive 6.0L twin-turbocharged V12 engine squeezed under the SL’s dashing hood, which is long for a convertible, but a whole lot smaller than the CL 65 AMG coupe, which is the only other Mercedes-Benz model to now share this huge engine. All that displacement and those 12 cylinders add up to a supercar-worthy 621 hp, but the truly eye-popping number here is the inertia-ripping 737 lb-ft of torque, available as low as 2,300 rpm.
So flooring the accelerator with this massive thrust behind it must be like launching the space shuttle, no? Well, it can be, and when you’re in a low gear with the transmission set to Sport, it’s almost a surreal experience. The SL 65 will take a split second to gather itself from a dead stop, then jumps forward smoothly but silently, as if it’s an on-duty butler trying to pull off a sneaky sprint down the street to tap the shoulder of a long lost friend. It soon moves at full warp speed, but feels like it’s still trying hard to look and sound dignified, with only the most subdued and refined of engine pulses making it through to the cabin.
  2014 Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG. Click image to enlarge |
Frankly, after taking a brief back-to-back spin in this SL 65 and the much less expensive 2014 SL 63 AMG, the ‘little’ brother 63 felt faster most of the time, because it was louder, firmer and more raucous – refined still, but to a sharper tone. Top speeds are the same at an electronically limited 300 km/h, if one orders the AMG Performance package on the SL 63, with Mercedes-Benz’s official acceleration numbers barely registering an advantage for the V12-launched 65: 0-100 km/h comes up in 4.1 seconds versus 4.3 for the regular SL 63, and 4.2 if that 63 has the aforementioned APP.
There’s slightly more differentiation inside, where a fair amount of optional equipment in the SL 63 becomes standard in the 65: rear-view camera, a Night View Assist system that highlights people and animals, active lane and blind spot assist safety systems, a 900-watt Bang & Olufsen 14-speaker sound system, the heavenly AirScarf that pours warm air from neck-level seat vents, and the high-tech Magic Sky Control roof that can become clear at the touch of a button, while virtually eliminating UV rays and wind noise.
Both AMG SLs offer the distinctive metallic looped shifter from the SLS, mated to seven-speed automatic transmissions with shift paddles, though the SL 63’s seems tuned for quicker and more aggressive shifts, even in default mode. Compared to a fully loaded SL 63, the SL 65 boasts a couple of exclusive quilted patterns on the sports seats and headliner, but the main other difference inside is a unique AMG logo on the seatbacks.
