Driving the 2022 Mercedes-AMG SL made me question the future
The cynic may say that some thing receives branded “an icon” if it makes the carmobile enterprise sufficient money, however the Mercedes-Benz SL merits the halo greater than maximum. Boasting valid racing heritage, supermegacelebrity connections, and proper luxurious bonafides, the SL has set tendencies greater regularly than following them. For the 2022 Mercedes-AMG SL, though, the automaker’s tuning department has taken the wheel completely, and that’s now no longer the simplest upending of tradition.
There’s all-wheel power for the primary time, and long past is the folding hardtop roof which had endured for the beyond 3 generations. Inside, it’s a 2+2 with the aid of using default, a configuration Mercedes hasn’t presented at the SL because the third-technology roadster released withinside the early ’70s.
You don’t want to move again to 1952 and the first actual SL to apprehend today’s automobile, however it doesn’t hurt. First constructed for motorsports, the unique racer brought on the three hundred SL Gullwing in 1954, after which a Roadster alternative 3 years later. Either manner, the pitch became in large part the identical: preserve the Grand Prix-prevailing kudos, however layer on a number of the posh that deep-pocketed Mercedes customers expected.
In the intervening decades, the top class charge tag remained however a number of the achingly conventional layout fell with the aid of using the wayside. By the time the sixth-gen SL landed in 2012, awkward styling and dynamics that fell quick of de-facto opponents just like the Porsche 911 advised Mercedes’ stalwart may’ve misplaced its manner.
Enter AMG, taking on the SL altogether and staining the cease of ‘Benz badging on the automobile. Where as soon as the tuners had been accountable for simplest the maximum powerful iterations of the roadster, for the seventh-gen convertible they name all of the shots. There’s a very new architecture, with a light-weight composite aluminum chassis boasting 18% stiffer torsional stiffness, and all-wheel power is trendy as opposed to rear-wheel power just like the vintage SL.
Out is going the slick however hefty concertina hardtop, with a brand new 3-layer gentle roof alternative. The reality that it trims greater than forty six kilos as opposed to the metallic roof is the headline advantage, sure, however given the space-saving Z-fold layout additionally reduces trunk contain and lowers the general middle of gravity of the automobile method its advantages are as multitudinous as its hinges.
Quite honestly, it appears better, too. Mercedes’ electricity hardtops had been smart matters, however now no longer absolutely swish from each attitude. This new SL merits better, to supplement its formidable however now no longer outsized grille, elongated lines, and balanced proportions.
There are versions, the 2022 AMG SL fifty five and the SL sixty three. Both use AMG’s 4.0-liter V8 biturbo engine: the SL fifty five receives 469 horsepower and 516 lb-feet of torque, whilst the SL sixty three is tuned for 577 horsepower and 590 lb-feet. Zero-60 MPH arrives in 3.eight seconds or 3.five seconds, respectively, whilst pinnacle pace is 183 MPH or 196 MPH.
A 9-pace MCT 9G automated transmission is trendy, along side rear axle steerage. The latter permits the rear wheels to show both counter to the ones on the the front, assisting maneuverability at low pace, or in tandem with them, boosting excessive-pace stability. A light-weight forged metal brake gadget is trendy, whilst ceramic composite brakes are an option.
For the SL fifty five, AMG makes use of metal suspension with its Ride Control gadget. That has strain comfort valves for every damper, independently controlling launch and compression. Available – and trendy at the SL sixty three – is AMG Active Ride Control, a brand new hydraulic gadget that ousts the vintage mechanical anti-roll bars. Mercedes says it’s now no longer simplest quicker than the preceding gadget, however has a broader variety from consolation thru to sportier driving.
It’s an vital alternate due to the fact AMG can’t virtually make the brand new SL a purist sports activities automobile. The new roadster represents greater handily than maximum the mission Mercedes faces here, poised among the pitch of overall performance superlatives and the truth of simply who buys an SL and the way they absolutely power it.
It’s why – spoiling the marvel of my very last verdict here – the SL fifty five makes the maximum feel. Certainly, you lose out on a few bragging rights with the aid of using keeping off the V8’s maximum powerful tune, however simplest racing drivers and automobile mag covers actually need that most horsepower. Either manner, you get the identical gracefully quite layout, 1,000,000 instances stepped forward over the angular awkwardness of the outgoing automobile, and a cabin with a usually captivating stability of tech and consolation.
The identical is going at the road, in which in a head-scratcher, I determined I a ways favored the SL fifty five to the SL sixty three. Both had the trick AMG Active Ride Control suspension fitted – trendy at the sixty three and covered withinside the Performance Line improve trim at the fifty five – and but the lesser-powered automobile felt greater keen in a manner that the minor weight distinction couldn’t pretty account for. My suspicion is that the (relatively speaking) decrease horsepower and unique torque curve suggest you want to push that little bit harder, be a touch greater engaged, if you want to acquire the most rewards: there’s one of these factor as an excessive amount of electricity, after all, for public roads, and the SL sixty three’s headroom is excessive above US limits.
Still, I can’t blame AMG for presenting that, simply as I can’t virtually criticize its Performance 4MATIC+ all-wheel power. You’d should visit actual attempt to unsettle the brand new SL, had been you so inclined. The identical is going for the AMG Active Ride Control, with which Comfort mode is probable too pliant. Sport mode looks like a miles greater balanced blend of refinement and punchiness, catering to ordinary use with out sacrificing both cosseting or the playfulness you need from a roadster.
Not all of Mercedes’ choices make best feel. The 2+2 cabin leaves rear seats first-class loved with the aid of using the smallest children, dogs, or handbags. Anyone else will discover themselves uncomfortably squashed in legroom, and likely with the pinnacle in their head sitting above the threshold of the windshield: a own circle of relatives automobile, the SL is now no longer. Think of it as a leather-wrapped parcel shelf that’s less complicated to attain than the trunk.
The 11.9-inch MBUX infotainment touchscreen is big and takes a touch being used to. Its adjustable attitude contains reflections relying on whether or not the roof is up or down, however I desire there has been a unmarried transfer to function that gentle pinnacle. Instead, you hit a bodily shortcut button after which drag and preserve your finger throughout the show: it takes approximately 15 seconds for the roof to open or close. A 12.3-inch driving force show is trendy, as is Airscarf neck-warming for the the front seats, massage, a 360-diploma camera, heating for the steerage wheel and each heating and air flow for the seats, and a Burmester Surround Sound System.
With the Active Ride Control you get a the front axle carry gadget, that may improve the SL to navigate steeper curbs and driveways. It’s GPS-linked, to automagically cause on every occasion you’re again at a niche in which its clearance is required. Groundbreaking? No, however actually useful.
Indeed there’s a lingering feel of that all through the brand new SL. It’s a roster of a number of AMG’s maximum dazzling trends in current years, from the all-wheel steer to the 4MATIC+ and that hand made biturbo V8, whilst the indoors receives the identical tech as an S-Class. The cease end result is each best and familiar: it breaks new floor for an SL, however now no longer for AMG as a whole.
As for pricing, Mercedes-AMG hasn’t showed that but. Count on six figures as the brand new SL is going up in opposition to the $137k Porsche 911 Carrera 4S Cabriolet.
2022 Mercedes-AMG SL Verdict
Heritage is a blessing and a curse. The 2022 AMG SL enjoys the rightful highlight as a descendent of the Gullwing, however expectancies are relatively higher, too. Mercedes has, for the maximum part, tiptoed alongside that stability line among wearing prowess and outright luxurious, and if the SL isn’t precisely unexpected as a end result then at the least it’s worth of its badge.
At the identical time, I can’t assist however marvel what may’ve befell had AMG driven matters a touch further. It’s no mystery that electrification is Mercedes’ future: even though the brand new SL wasn’t equipped to move all-in on EV just like the AMG EQS, you’d be forgiven for imagining how the AMG E Performance hybrid gadget may shake down on this good-looking roadster. We’ll see that first withinside the 2023 AMG GT sixty three S E Performance 4-door instead.
Is it an excessive amount of to invite for a brand new SL to additionally herald a brand new era? Perhaps so, and this seventh-technology automobile does appear to reclaim the various former glories its direct predecessors drifted from. The roadster’s opponents haven’t precisely suffered with the aid of using having an vintage-faculty fueloline engine at their heart, both. While the relaxation folks debate simply how a ways you could push an icon with out dropping its center identity, proprietors of this 2022 SL may be too busy taking part in a stately reinvention that doesn’t stray too a ways from Mercedes’ unique prevailing formula.
