Now you can purchase a Mercedes-Benz SL-Class that has as many seats as its engine has cylinders. By no means earlier than within the 69-year historical past of the Mercedes SL has that been the case, however it’s now – for the primary time for the reason that unique 190 SL, you will get a four-cylinder below the hood. That unique automobile did not have 4 seats, although, and it was an unimaginable, light-weight machine that was developed for racing first and highway use second.
Formally dubbed the Mercedes-AMG SL 43, this can be a wholly-AMG-developed SL with 2+2 seating, a chassis shared with the upcoming AMG GT, rear-wheel drive, and a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine up entrance delivering 375 horsepower and 354 lb-ft of torque with a little bit hybrid help.
On the southern tip of Africa, across the famed Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, I acquired my first few laps behind the wheel of the SL 43, which was sufficient for me to understand the world would not want a four-cylinder SL.
The Good: Supermodel Seems to be
The brand new Mercedes-AMG SL is a looker. Mercedes acquired the proportions proper on this one, regardless of one way or the other shoving in an additional pair of seats. And on appears to be like alone, you’ll by no means think about something aside from a V8 below the hood.
It additionally feels pretty – the inside is significantly better than I assumed it might be, and even the large infotainment display within the middle would not look misplaced. Keep in mind that on a race monitor, the very last thing I used to be twiddling with was the touchscreen. Nonetheless, the seats drop low into the chassis, and on a chilly southern hemisphere winter afternoon, the heated seats work nice.
The steering wheel feels good in hand, too, and for somebody six-foot-two as I’m, the seating place was spot on.
Preliminary Impressions: Chassis, Braking, Steering
The seventh-generation SL is a Mercedes-AMG developed mannequin from the bottom up, and its platform will underpin the brand new AMG GT sports activities automobile/supercar. This reveals, as by high- and low-speed corners, the SL 43 stays planted and well-composed. Underneath braking, there isn’t any nose-diving or unsettling of the rear, which suggests an inherent steadiness to the platform AMG is working with.
The steering agrees, and the turn-in is tight with exact weighting, albeit not giving probably the most suggestions. Nonetheless, with a four-cylinder engine up entrance, one would count on keener turn-in than what you get from its bigger eight-cylinder brethren.
Braking efficiency additionally appeared first rate, with robust suggestions from the pedal and the flexibility to shed velocity effectively and get the automobile perched properly on the entrance axle.
The basics appear proper, however one facet allow them to down.
The Dangerous: An SL Is No Place For A 4-Pot
I’ve by no means been one to slag off a automobile for having a four-cylinder engine or perhaps a three-pot, however a Mercedes SL is not simply any automobile. It is the S-Class of sports activities automobiles, a automobile that when wholly embodied Mercedes’ racing ethos. And in one thing like that, a four-cylinder would not work.
The two.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder has an electrical turbocharger to mitigate lag and a 48-volt mild-hybrid system for an additional dose of torque. Its on-paper figures of 375 hp and 354 lb-ft appear high-quality, too, and with peak energy at 6,750 rpm and torque between 3,250 and 5,000 rpm, it looks as if a automobile that’ll be glad to rev out to reward the driving force.
But it surely feels limp.
Maybe the direct comparability to a 416-hp/369-lb-ft Mercedes-AMG A45 S hyper-hatch forward of me left me wanting, however for a automobile totally developed by AMG to have weaker efficiency than a run-of-the-mill hatch tuned by the division is a giant drawback.
It revs out high-quality, picks up velocity decently, and the nine-speed computerized gearbox does a good job of being in the correct gear on the proper time. However the engine feels flat, lacks character because it revs out, and since it would not have the DCT of the A forty five and CLA 45, it would not give off the identical flatulent upshifts.
Extra energy and noise might be a treatment – giving it the engine tune from the facelifted A forty five S ought to’ve been a no brainer – however I believe this may be a Band-Assist on a bullet wound. When the AMG SL lineup goes to be headlined by an 800-plus-hp plug-in hybrid V8 with AWD, a four-cylinder looks as if a weak try to scrape up the remaining consumers who can not get a brand new Mercedes-AMG SLC. These aren’t SL consumers, and cheapening the SL nameplate to cheapen the admission worth (if six figures may be thought of low-cost) is a disservice to a product that in any other case impresses and leaves the door open for consumers to search out extra cylinders and noise elsewhere.
I am certain it will have greater than sufficient energy in a real-world situation, however the Mercedes SL has by no means been described as ‘sufficient’ or ‘ample.’ The SL is supposed to be superlative – a feast for the senses. At idle and low-speed trundling, the engine must trace that there is extra to be unleashed, and on tune, I count on to be assaulted by an acoustic symphony. The SL 43 would not do this.
Disclaimer: Race Tracks Suck For First Drives
This text could also be labeled a primary drive, however the reality is that I skilled the SL 43 in a really restricted surroundings, on the pristine tarmac of an FIA Grade 2 circuit the place its suspension rides as easily in Consolation because it does in Sport +. My time behind the wheel was restricted to just some laps, too, so these are very temporary, very rudimentary impressions, most of which warrant additional investigation on a week-long take a look at drive, which is able to occur quickly.
Inside the confines of a race monitor, you possibly can’t consider journey high quality, and your thoughts is (or ought to be) so centered on the act of driving a lot which you can’t actually have a look at inside particulars.
A race monitor is a good place for producers to launch a product and a horrible place for a primary drive, as a lot of the on a regular basis expertise is not seen or felt on a monitor, and simply being on an amazing monitor instantly places any gearhead automobile tester in a greater mind set than being behind a keyboard.
Bear in mind this the subsequent time you see first drive impressions from a track-only launch. There’s extra to a automobile than its conduct in a conditions-controlled surroundings.