The Mercedes-Benz SL series has been the flagship GT sports car of Mercedes-Benz for more than 60 years. Since the design of the 300SL gull wing door in the 1950s, it has stood under the challenge of various competitors – whether it is the BMW 8 Series from Germany or jaguar and Aston Martin across the English Channel, the SL series has always had a firm place in it. In the face of the gradual efforts of major manufacturers in the field of GT luxury sports cars in recent years, Mercedes-Benz has finally brought a new SL series based on the next-generation AMG GT chassis. I was also fortunate to come to Los Angeles in the United States to bring you the world's first media trial of Mercedes-Benz's first all-wheel drive GT luxury roadster ever. Go and get a feel for what makes this luxury convertible two-door 2+2-seat GT sports car that Mercedes-Benz has pinned high hopes on.
The front and rear design differences are obvious, but the 20-inch double-piece rim and 6-piston caliper can still easily identify its AMG identity
The new generation of AMG SL as a whole still maintains the design style of AMG's usual movement, and the straight waterfall shape of the middle net and lower lip with the slender predator headlights slightly upwards are very aggressive. It was also designed to allow the car in front of it to recognize at a glance on the Autobahn in Germany that it was a brand new SL AMG sports car, thus giving way to the lane.
Coming to the side, the body lines are not as slender as the previous generation of AMG GT in appearance and feel, and they have become much flatter. Carbon fiber mirrors and carbon fiber skirts are also standard for this AMG. The silhouette of the body is more rounded than almost all of the two-door GT models introduced by Mercedes-Benz before it (especially in the case of open canopy). But the 21-inch AMG rim and the over-400mm diameter brake disc and the golden six-piston calipers all emphasize its AMG identity all the time. In addition, Mercedes-Benz is available in 20-inch and 19-inch rim sizes.
The rear of the car is in stark contrast to the front face, with flat and rounded lines plus slender taillights, like the 300SL, which is also a tribute to the original SL by Mercedes-Benz. However, compared to the front of the car, the visual feeling of the rear of the car is obviously much more convergent, even if there are four exhausts in the back surrounded by black piano paint.
The ceremonial process of opening and closing the roof is very strong, and the utilization of the space in the trunk after folding is still amazing
To say that the highlight of this new SL AMG, in addition to the 4 Matic+ four-wheel drive system that is standard in the whole series, is the Z-fold soft-top convertible that they should be proud of. It has a very good performance in the overall quality, the space after folding. With the canopy fully recepted, the trunk space can still reach 213 litres, enough to fit two sets of golf bags, outperforming other competitors of the same class. If there is also a small handbag, the two rear seats that can accommodate 1.5 children in the new AMG SL 2+2 layout also provide enough storage space. Because there is only a soft-top option, the weight of the canopy is 21Kg lighter than that of the previous generation, which is also helpful for reducing fuel consumption. However, the focus is still on the design of the spinnaker shaped gear cover on both sides when the canopy is switched, which is definitely the finishing touch of the design of this generation of models, and the sense of ceremony of opening and closing the canopy is dead by Mercedes-Benz this time.
Typical AMG combat interior, MBUX AI operation feels explosive, and the variable angle of the central control 12-inch screen is innovative but not practical
As a two-door sports car, in terms of interior, Mercedes-Benz also uses a large number of fur and carbon fiber panels this time, covering almost everything outside the dashboard; coupled with the bright yellow seat belt matching the body color as an embellishment, the hyperanalogue's cockpit is full of combat atmosphere. But the 12.3-inch instrument screen and the 11.9-inch multimedia information screen directly in front of me also remind me all the time - this is a product that integrates the latest Technology of Mercedes-Benz. The UI of the MBUX system launched by Mercedes-Benz this time has a very high degree of completion, and the Engineers of Mercedes-Benz have considered the details very well, such as the connection between the physical buttons and the touch screen, which is very user-friendly, so that you can adapt to the operation of this car more quickly. Secondly, the angle of the multimedia screen can be adjusted 12-32 degrees according to the driver's own preference. Although this design seems to be practical, it is not used a lot in the actual operation process, and it will not be moved after finding its own suitable angle.
Meet the short and medium distance daily commute, the canopy noise control is excellent, but the tire noise problem is obvious
At the cocktail party before dinner on the day of arrival, Mercedes-Benz executives kept emphasizing a concept that was "Easy to drive". This is also the fundamental reason why Mercedes-Benz engineers chose to install this performance monster with a maximum power of 585Ps and a peak torque of 800 N·m as standard with a four-wheel drive system and four-wheel steering. With that anticipation in mind, the next day I chose an optional AMG sport kit, the SL 63 AMG, to travel to Pram spring from the hotel I stayed at the night before. The first feeling of sitting in the car is that the field of view is much wider than that of the previous AMG GT - the A-pillar in front does not occupy a large number of blind spots in my field of vision, and the driver's sitting height is controlled in a relatively low position, which makes it easier for me to get on and off the car. For my height of 174cm, the space of a punch and a half punch in the head when closing the canopy can only be regarded as decent.
I test-drove the AMG 63, the top-of-the-line version of the new SL AMG. This time, Mercedes-Benz launched a total of 2 SL AMG models, as the top AMG 63 horsepower to the maximum 585Ps, 100 km/h acceleration time of 3.6 seconds, the extreme speed of 350 km / h. For this performance monster, Mercedes offers 5 different driving modes this time, including snow, comfort, sport, sport+ and track mode. In order to allow us to experience the performance of different driving modes, the route arranged this time includes 20% of the town traffic, 40% of the interstate highway, and 40% of the mountain road curves.
Driving at 55km/h in Comfort Mode, the car's performance on city roads is basically impeccable, the throttle brakes are soft, and the necessary overtaking can be done by deeply pressing the throttle and flicking the paddle shifters. The strength and feedback of the steering wheel is also very gentle, it can be easily controlled with one hand, and with the real-time rebound and compression adjustment of the electromagnetic suspension, this sports car with only 35 flat rate tires does not have any driving discomfort; the maximum support of 60km/h opening speed does not have to make me stare at the speed of the car all the time. However, when the speed is increased to about 65km/h, the tire noise gradually increases, which is also because the car is equipped with Michelin PS4S tires of the front 275mm and the rear 305mm. Fortunately, the soft-top 3-layer sound insulation design suppresses most of the wind noise very well, and makes up a lot of points in NVH. However, in terms of seat comfort, this highly wrapped AMG optional half-barrel chair will still have some fatigue after sitting for a long time, which is much harder than the ordinary version of the standard seat.
Thanks to the wind resistance coefficient of 0.30, even when driving at 110km/h on the canopy, the air flow above the body still slides smoothly, and there is basically no discomfort. At the same time, the air conditioner outlet at the headrest of the seat can also keep your upper body warm. In addition, the 4.0T V8 engine code-named M177 is not only powerful, but also has a closed cylinder function, so that the fuel consumption is always maintained at about 13L/100km, so that users do not have the trouble of frequently going to and from the gas station.
Six degrees of freedom without dead-end adjustments, making it a true easy to drive
While driving to the multi-winding mountain section of San Jacinto, I finally had the opportunity to switch my driving mode to Sport+ via the knob on the right-hand side, unlocking the car's potential. At the moment of switching, you can immediately hear the thick exhaust sound of this 4.0T V8 twin-turbo engine more clearly, accompanied by a small amount of exhaust tempering sound, which fully mobilizes the driver's senses. In the corner, in addition to mercedes-Benz's dynamic control system to make the vehicle's vibration feedback more direct, the rear wheel 100km/h below the maximum +/- 2.5 degrees of steering will also allow the car in some 40km/h speed limit hairpin bends. The front of the car is like being locked in an inner bend, as if led by an invisible track, and the car drives through one low-speed bend after another at an unbelievable dynamic speed. In high-speed corners with a 100km/h speed limit, the low center of gravity of the front engine combined with the 5-axle multi-link suspension system, plus the highly rigid body composed of three materials, gives people enough confidence to step on the accelerator and apply more pressure to the four tires. If you are close to the tipping point, you don't need to worry, traction control will monitor the condition of the tires in real time and adjust the power output of each wheel, with the automatic adjustment of the rear wing and front lip, basically do not give you the opportunity to make mistakes. "Easy to drive" is a hammer!
Summary of the full text
Happy times are always short-lived, and I wanted to try track mode, but I gave up when I found that there was no way to turn off the traction control completely. But think about it, driving a nearly 600-horsepower car on an open road without traction control is a very irresponsible thing. It must be because the new SL AMG is so easy to drive and gives me too much driving confidence. Whether compared to the previous generation of SL or AMG GT, the new generation of SL AMG is easy to open, coupled with a more user-friendly configuration and a good trunk space and more horsepower, Mercedes-Benz is opening its doors for consumers of all ages. Now more and more cars from mechanical domination to electronic dominance, Mercedes-Benz is also found this trend to join this camp without hesitation, with their latest technology to make up for the lack of experience of drivers, and such a new Mercedes-Benz SL AMG may be the spark before the fire.
Photo/Text Wang Yu, special correspondent of Yiche in North America