The particular SL Mercedes-Benz provided to us for this year’s COTY was a 550, meaning it was powered by the automaker’s 4.7-liter, 429-hp V-8. Which, after driving it, darkly reminded us of its ominous 518-hp, SL63 AMG big brother. Why so dark and ominous? Because Mercedes has been building a string of sporting cars recently with more horsepower than handling poise (excepting the wonderfully anomalous C63 AMG, which gets it completely right).
Not surprisingly, the test team struggled to control the SL550 around our figure-eight course. But it was crazy quick in a straight line, and granite-stable well into triple-digit speeds. Said associate editor Rory Jurnecka: “Super-planted at 120 mph on the straight — totally unflappable.” These are two different cars: the cornering SL and the straight-line SL.
Slow the pace and look around, and you’ll find an impressive chunk of Mercedes-Benz here. The SL’s interior is replete with technology so extreme, you wonder if we’re getting to the point where carmakers are coming up with stuff just to startle customers. One example is AirScarf, warm air that bathes your neck on cool top-down evenings. And there’s Magic Sky Control, an “electro-chromatic technology” that changes an ordinary-looking glass roof nearly opaque at the press of a button.
In his notes, editor-in-chief Edward Loh said, “I think thousands of Orange County-ians will simply appreciate the big star on the long nose.” That’s about right.
Courtesy of motortrend.com
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