- 2014 Mercedes-Benz SL Class Review
- Interior / Exterior »
It rests somewhere between the most dramatically- and subtly-designed SLs of yore, in many ways mending the shortcomings of some recent models. The front end is more imposing, but not weighty–thanks largely to new European safety regulations to protect pedestrians in accidents. That leaves the SL with a larger nose, more like those of the Sixties, and the profile looks a little more formal. The oversized grille and large air dams help negate some of that front end’s apparent size, and so many of those unnecessary creases in the last model have been ironed out by large, rounded headlights and the angles of LED running lights. Best from the front quarters, the SL’s doors are stamped with straked C-scoops that pierce the door handles. From the rear, the SL has a lot in common with the SLK and SLS coupes and roadsters: with the top up, the slope of the roofline and teardrop-shaped taillamps are out of balance with the front end, but with the top down, they fall more smoothly into line.
Inside, the two-seat cockpit feels more technical, more masculine in its execution than the former SL. Four gimbaled vents are chrome-tipped with four-pointed stars, and they anchor the dash, split up here and there by a pair of cut-tube gauges, a large TFT screen, an optional hooded analog clock, and a band of warm polished wood–unless it’s been upgraded to a lighter tone, or stained a darker color, or changed out entirely for aluminum. The leather’s stitched with twin needles, the steering wheel’s gone slightly flat at its bottom, there’s enough metallic trim to embarrass an Audi, and most noticeably, the shifter has shrunk to a nubbin. Who needs another power totem at this price point?
- Performance »
On the ride and handling front, we suggest you reread the first paragraph one more time. Then you’ll understand better how a body that’s stiffer and 275 pounds lighter, and how a boatload of add-on electronics, have changed and can change the driving character of the SL. Thanks to lots of aluminum, it’s lighter to its core, a feeling amplified by electric power steering that’s new to the luxury roadster. Engineers have set up the Direct Steer system with one programmed set of responses that depends on vehicle speed and distance off center, while transmission and suspension settings have at least two driver-selectable modes. Direct Steer lets the SL feel more stable on center, while it gets quicker responses farther off center to minimize wheel movement. But like other electric steering systems, it’s given up some ground, some vital feedback, and some steering heft–some of the haptic stuff that’s arguably a hallmark of Mercedes cars.
At the same time, the SL comes either with a conventional multi-link suspension with two-mode adjustable shocks or with the upgrade Active Body Control active suspension. It also has torque vectoring–inside-wheel anti-lock braking that tightens cornering. After a couple of hundred miles split among all versions (there’s a sport package on base models), we grokked more to the base car’s more natural feel. It’s comfortably tuned without overstepping into loosely plush too often. Long, low rises can set up bounding motions in the suspension, and body roll’s never far away, but the same holds true for a base Jaguar XK or Maserati GranTurismo. Good weight balance helps the SL turn in neutral feel in tight esses, and just a nudge of the throttle liberates all that torque, and pulls a wide line closer to true.
Adding on the ABC suspension doesn’t add much to the SL driving experience, in our view. It does as promised–it flattens out the SL’s ride, but that raises the sporting stakes. Great in sweeping turns and lightly undulating surfaces, the quick throttle, light and nonlinear steering, torque-adjusting brakes, and constantly adjusting shocks don’t work as well during hotter performance runs. Turn in sharply on an ABC-equipped car, and the quickest transitions go soft-focus, just when the brakes want to hone the corner down further, just while the suspension is still filtering off the abrupt highs and lows it’s finding in the corner.
The 4.7-liter twin-turbo V-8 in the SL 550 whips out 429 horsepower, up strongly from the prior car’s normally aspirated base V-8. More astonishing is the torque, which escalates from 391 pound-feet to 516 lb-ft. Power’s capped at a 6300-rpm redline, but most of it is available at 1600 rpm, giving the SL 550 extremely powerful acceleration. Mercedes pegs 0-60 mph times at 4.5 seconds, almost a second quicker than last year’s edition, and top speed in this model is limited to 130 mph.
A seven-speed automatic with paddle controls does its part to keep the SL’s rear wheels in good graces with the massive output, and with the EPA. With manual, eco, and sport-shift modes, the gearbox has less real range in its acting portfolio than you’d think, but it’s consistently a good, quick performer. No official economy numbers have been logged, but Mercedes says gas mileage should improve by as much as 30 percent; the same drivetrain in an S550 sedan netted us 25.5 mpg on a five-hour, 85-mph interstate trip just last month.
With a special AMG-built 530-horsepower twin-turbo V-8 and wet-clutch seven-speed AMG automatic transmission, the SL 63 AMG is a serious step up in performance, and at about $40k more than the SL 550, it feels a lot more exotic from behind the wheel. The SL 63 AMG gets to 60 mph in a scorching 4.5 seconds, and with a $9,000 Performance Package you get up to 557 hp and 664 pound-feet, with a top speed bumped to 186 mph and 0-60 lowered to 3.9 seconds–accompanied by a glorious, pulsating bark of a soundtrack that far outdoes the M6′s muted whir.
And if that’s not enough, you can step up to the $209k SL 65 AMG and its twin-turbo V-12, making a mammoth 738 pound-feet of torque.
Over its 60 years on the market, the Mercedes-Benz SL has gained power, size, and a great deal of luxury. The current model was launched for 2012, and offers a driving experience that can be more intense than the previous model–but only if the owner wants it that way.
The latest SL-Class brings a new look that’s working its way back gradually to the glory days of Mercedes two-seaters. If you never cared for the bank vaults penned by Benz in the early 1990s, the exuberantly wide, brash new SL looks crisper, and more masculine. It’s emphatic from the front, charming with the top down, a bit of a mismatch from the rear where the slim rear end and taillamps seem to come from another car, another studio entirely. The cockpit? It’s executed with precision, drilled with aviation-style vents and implanted with a big LCD brain.
The cabin has great room and fine fittings. The chairs are wide, and for a surprising range of body types, they can be fitted snugly, thanks to 12-way adjustments, the most useful of which may be the seat extender. There’s more shoulder and elbow room, but less room now behind the seats themselves, only enough for a slim briefcase. The trunk holds a roll-on bag or two with the roof raised, or only soft-sided bags when it’s lowered, though a trunk button powers the roof panels up and out of the way for slightly easier cargo loading.
The standard engine is now a twin-turbo V-8 of 4.7 liters that delivers oodles of torque–516 lb-ft–and snappy responsiveness from its 429 horsepower. It accelerates faster to 60 mph, cutting almost a second from the old SL 550′s time and hitting the magic number in 4.5 seconds. The combination of a downsized engine, seven-speed automatic, and stop/start system also manages to earn a 20-mpg combined EPA fuel economy rating. Top speed for the U.S. is limited to a relaxed 130 mph.The SL 63 AMG is a step up from the SL 550, and it’s a big step as it makes this luxury roadster feel more serious about the performance promises built into its the racy roadster bodywork. The brawny, 530-horsepower twin-turbo AMG-built V-8 and special wet-clutch seven-speed AMG automatic transmission get you to 60 mph in a scorching 4.5 seconds, and with a $9,000 Performance Package you get up to 557 hp and 664 pound-feet, with a top speed bumped to 186 mph and 0-60 lowered to 3.9 seconds.
And if that’s not enough, you can step up to the $209k SL 65 AMG and its twin-turbo V-12 and seven-speed automatic transmission, making a mammoth 738 pound-feet of torque. There’s plenty of acceleration on hand, and what feels like more grip. Still, we’re happier with the SL’s base two-mode suspension, with or without the sport wheels and brakes, than with the exotic and expensive Active Body Control upgrade. A composed tourer with a “sport” mode that feels more like “comfort,” the stock SL handles wide sweepers with grace, and a fair amount of body roll. The SL’s electric power steering doesn’t offer up much in the way of feedback, and quickens the further it moves off-center, which makes for some uneven transitions. Human brains can handle that much data, but adding on the active suspension feels like overload. The ride flattens out as promised, but adds another complex handling dimension that’s not as linear or as predictable as a more conventional setup.
As usual, neither safety agency has crashed an SL roadster, but all the latest safety tech is available, everything from Bluetooth to knee airbags to adaptive cruise control. Attention Assist–the digital coffee-cup warning–is standard, and for more than a hundy, we think the rearview camera should be as well. It’s bundled in a safety option package along with parking sensors and parking assist, which dials the SL into a tight spot for you, while you manage only the brake.
The new SL’s impressive creature comforts include Airscarf neck vents and the folding hardtop, and Magic Sky Control, which turns the roof’s glass panel dark like a pair of pricey sunglasses. A Bang & Olufsen sound system can replace the standard Harman/Kardon setup, but we’re not sold on its bass response or its huge price tag. All SL models also come with Mercedes’ COMAND infotainment system, which includes a 7-inch display screen, a DVD changer, Web browsing with Google search functionality, and navigation.
Prices start at $106,375–and range up to the SL 65 AMG at $209,000 or so–and that’s before options. That’s one reason this is the “S-Class of sporty cars.”
Photo Gallery: Mercedes-Benz
0 Response to "2014 Mercedes-Benz SL Class"
Post a Comment