Road and Track Review 2018 Mercedes Benz Sl63
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By Jonathan Hunker
Introduction
The ultimate Mercedes SL 'R231'-series model wasn't the about powerful V12 one. It was this model, the SL 63 AMG, later re-named the Mercedes-AMG SL 63. More than just a very powerful sporting luxury convertible, it aimed to snare supercar buyers as well and seemed at launch to have the engine, the looks and the technology to do information technology. How does it fare as a used buy?
Models
2dr Cabriolet (4.0, 6.0 petrol]
History
Can a automobile designed starting time and foremost to be a luxury sports car, if appropriately powered and fettled, really take itself to the adjacent level and transform itself into a fully-fledged 6-figure supercar? Back in 2012, the bear witness of recent years suggested not. With the arguable exception of Porsche'southward 911, we found in that menses that a more powerful, stiffer, tauter version of a luxury sports automobile remained exactly that. Desirable, yes, but you wouldn't seriously consider i as a apparent alternative to an Aston Martin, a Ferrari or even a Maserati. Even though models from these famous brands wouldn't reel in the horizon any faster than powerful luxury sports car contenders of the menstruum similar BMW's M6, Jaguar's XKR-S or indeed, the model we're going to expect at here, Mercedes' SL 63 AMG.
With this 'R231'-series SL 63 though, Mercedes assured u.s. that things were changing. Prior to its launch in 2012, the success of the SLS AMG gullwing model had proved the Stuttgart brand's supercar credentials beyond doubt and many of the same engineers who created it reckoned that this car was every flake as expert, about equally fast, 35% cheaper to purchase and far less expensive to run. They were also determined nigh the fact that this model's parentage, based on an 'ordinary' SL, was no disadvantage. Afterward all, the sixth generation version of this iconic model line featured a more dynamic prepare of underpinnings than whatever we'd seen in an SL since the Fifties. Matched here to a new twin-turbocharged 5.5-litre V8 engine that not only delivered more power but sounded just as practiced as anything from Maranello.
In 2016, this model got a far-reaching update, at which point it was re-named the Mercedes-AMG SL 63, in line with new Mercedes policy. Production finally finished in 2019, with the terminal examples sold in early 2020. This car was ultimately replaced by a Mercedes-AMG 'R232'-serial model in late 2021.
What Yous Become
This 'R231'-series SL 63 AMG model's more athletic stance is undeniably purposeful. The central characteristic is a twin-bract grille in loftier-sheen chrome, with the iii-pointed star mounted on two blade-like louvres profiled like an shipping wing. Below the twin-blade grille, at that place'southward a stylised 'A' - a characteristic feature of AMG models - plus a fine black fin at the lower edge of the opening which channels air over the cooling modules. Moving down the side of the car, there are AMG side sill panels and "V8 BITURBO" logos on the vent grilles with fins in silver chrome. At the rear, you'll spy an AMG spoiler lip, four chromed tailpipes for the sports frazzle system and a diffuser-style rear apron with a body-coloured insert.
Merely it'due south what you can't see that'due south important here. 'SL' may correspond 'Sport Leicht' but historically, this model has ever been something of a sporting heavy hitter, large in majority and to compensate, well provided for in power. It was a combination hardly in keeping with these eco-conscious times and when early development suggested that despite the engineers' best efforts, this sixth generation 'R231' model would be fifty-fifty lardier, the Stuttgart lath took a deep breath and decided to turn the clock back. The very showtime SL in 1952 was fabricated from aluminium: so too, would exist this sixth generation version. That, they knew, would make it expensive for the Bremen factory to build. But a weight saving for this AMG model of up to 170kg would too make it a lot less costly for owners to run.
Of course, this car could have been a lot lighter still if the designers had dispensed with the bulky electrically operated Vario metal folding roof that by 2012, only Mercedes was still providing in this segment. It eats into boot space and makes information technology incommunicable for this automobile to offer the pair of occasional rear seats yous'll discover in competitors from Jaguar, BMW and Porsche but it's besides one of the things that almost appeals well-nigh this automobile to city-based buyers. The mechanism is withal slower than a fabric hood would exist and, different a rag top, has the disadvantage that information technology tin can't exist operated at dull speeds on the move. However, it was speeded upwardly with this generation model to raise or lower the elaborate metallic panels in a respectably rapid twenty seconds.
Of grade, in our miserable climate, you'll be travelling acme-up rather a lot of the time but at least when y'all are, there'll be more than of a light and airy feeling if you get yourself a machine whose original owner ticked the box to specify the roof either in panoramic glass form with a depict-beyond blind or with what Mercedes calls 'MAGIC SKY Control'. It'due south a neat touch that uses electro-reactive particles to switch the roof panel from calorie-free to dark at the printing of a push. Which means that roof-upward motoring can be a lilliputian more pleasant. Roof-downwardly progress can as well exist more comfy if you become a car whose original owner specified the neat AIRSCARF cervix-level heating organisation that'll brand you more tempted to travel alfresco on chilly mornings
Some things didn't alter here though. In period, this remained the nigh spacious car in its course for forepart seat occupants, thanks to the fact that this electric current generation model grew by 50mm in length and 57mm in width. The effect is the most un-sportscar-like feeling of beingness able to spread out a little within the beautifully-finished cabin. For the motel, influences were fatigued from the world of aviation, with gorgeous jet-turbine-style air vents dominating a wing-shaped nuance with a heart console modelled on the flight deck of an aircraft.
Buyers of this superlative sporting model become AMG sports seats in single tone or two-tone Nappa leather, AMG carbonfibre trim, AMG illuminated door sill panels, an AMG performance steering wheel with logo in the lower metal insert, AMG instruments with a TFT colour monitor and an AMG commencement-up display with RACETIMER mode.
To your left, the dash is dominated by the huge COMMAND infotainment display screen the controller for which is down near the pocket-size just exquisitely-styled DIRECT SELECT gearshift lever. The only change nosotros wouldn't have made over the previous blueprint was the improver of an electrically-operated parking brake. Withal, that freed upwardly more cabin storage space. Talking of which, the fact that at that place'southward but room for ii people inside does at least free up room for a lockable box behind the passenger seat for keeping valuables abroad from prying eyes.
What You Pay
If you tin can stretch to the facelifted version of the 'R231'-serial SL 63 AMG we're looking at here, produced from 2016 onwards, and then values sit down in the £57,100-£67,400 bracket (2016-2019 period - £63,700-£74,200 retail). All quoted values are sourced through industry experts cap hpi. Click hither for a costless valuation.
What to Wait For
Overall, it turns out that this 'R231'-series MK6 SL is i of the more than reliable sports cars out there. The problems that exercise arise tend to exist more related to electronic gremlins than the engine. Apparently buy with care - there are a lot of electrical features that could go wrong and you need to make sure that all the powered seat systems work properly and infotainment screen and instrument displays function equally they should. Obviously, check the powered roof for water leaks - maybe with a trip to the local motorcar wash. And insist on a fully stamped-upwards dealer history and inspect the big blend wheels for scuffs that could require a price reduction. We oasis't heard of any issues with the optional 'ABC' 'Active Trunk Control' pause arrangement only of grade information technology'll cost a lot to put right if information technology goes wrong, and then you lot might desire to target a car with the standard pause prepare-upwardly instead.
There were a number of recalls for this model that you should exist enlightened of. For the rear suspension mounting (models congenital in April 2019), the passenger door lock (for models built between October 2017 to Apr 2018) and the passenger airbag (models made betwixt March and November 2018).
Replacement Parts
(approx based on a 2017 SL 63 - Ex Vat) An air filter is around £40. An oil filter is around £24. Forepart brake pads sit in the £167 subclass for a set (for rears it'due south effectually £283-£342). An outer tail lamp is around £337-£351. A pollen filter is around £17-£60.
On the Road
What would sell this car to you? The sound possibly, a mixture of NASCAR V8, Vulcan bomber and American muscle motorcar all rolled into one glorious burbling roar. Despite the retentivity of the '63' part of the SL AMG bluecoat for this 'R231'-series model, there was no longer the same 6.2-litre V8 under the bonnet that featured in this car's 'R230'-serial predecessor, the unit of measurement indeed that at the time of this model's launch in 2012 y'all could still observe in Mercedes' SLS AMG gullwing model. For this 'R231'-seres SL AMG though, a more than efficient twin-turbocharged 5.5-litre V8 took that bigger engine's identify, a powerplant that though smaller offered a off-white chip more than grunt, ability creeping up from 525 to 544bhp. Or more that with cars featuring the actress cost AMG Performance Packet that teased peak ability up to 572bhp and pushed torque upwardly from 800 to 900Nm. This extra cost feature also dealt with the pesky 155mph speed limit put in by Mercedes to satisfy the light-green vestibule, so with that Package fitted, if you've a handy runway or autobahn nearby, you'll exist able to take this automobile up to 186mph flat out. A limited-slip differential and red restriction calipers were also part of this rather serious Package. The facelift post-2016-era Mercedes-AMG SL 63 model got a power hike to 585bhp in standard class.
We're not sure nosotros'd want to be going that fast if we were travelling with the roof down, but the engineers did merits that up to 125mph, cabin occupants would remain unruffled and hands able to converse, something we verified for ourselves in this machine when lapping the Goodwood race rail. When y'all do want to operate the Vario top, it'south slightly annoying that, in contrast to rag top rivals, you have to finish before the machinery will piece of work. Still, the process only takes 20s and once all the panels take slotted Swiss regular army knife-style into place, there's the folding hard-top advantage of greater roof-upward refinement than a fabric convertible from this menses could provide, something further aided by the fitment of audio-visual film in the laminated windscreen.
It'southward a great engine, this 5.5-litre V8 - and non just from an audible perspective. Whereas the older half dozen.2-litre unit needed to exist revved a bit to requite of its best, the twin turbos hither serve up instant urge at well-nigh any engine speed. So exactly how fast are nosotros talking? Well, get this auto on a really grippy surface in perfect weather condition and you may simply replicate the quoted 4.3s 0-62mph sprint time. On newspaper, that's around half a 2nd slower than either the top SL, the 6.0-litre V12-powered SL65 AMG, or the SLS AMG model from this period. In exercise, take it from us: at that place's nothing in it. Truthful, a Porsche 911 Turbo, an Audi R8 V10 or a Ferrari California from this time would be slightly quicker - just not much. And anyway, nosotros'd trade a few tenths for that glorious AMG roar.
All those braked horses get translated onto the tarmac here via a more effective transmission too. The rather slothful 7G-Tronic car gearbox used in the previous generation 'R230' version of this car was replaced past a quicker-thinking 'Speedshift' MCT 7-speed set-upwards that had been breathed on by AMG engineers for burglarize shot-quick changes that notwithstanding all the same don't feel quite as precipitous as those in rival supercars, nonetheless quick you effort to be with these wheel-mounted gearshift paddles. Something else the engineers at Afalterbach needed to work more on here was the electro-mechanical speed-sensitive ability steering. We'd concur that it's better than the rack in the previous generation model, but in a grade that features steering systems as proficient equally that y'all'll find in Porsche's 911, merely existence 'ameliorate' simply isn't enough.
Still, if you're graduating to this machine from a previous generation SL AMG model, information technology'll experience very responsive indeed - in terms of chassis dynamics likewise as steering feel. And the reason isn't only downwards to the 170kg weight saving brought well-nigh by the aluminium underpinnings of this 6th 'R231' generation SL. There were some fundamental changes to the technology of this automobile too, primarily a wider track that gave greater stability, Torque Vectoring Brakes for tighter corner turn-in and the fitment of an AMG-specific iii-stage ESP stability control system which offered a 'SPORT Handling' manner for particularly smashing drivers.
Arguably more important than all of that though, was the standard inclusion for this motorcar of an improved version of Mercedes' ABC Agile Body Control system. Information technology uses sensors to measure the motility of the wheels and the forces acting on them before 'actively' moving the wheels upward and down to recoup for body movements. Which means that the auto doesn't pitch and gyre, with roll stiffness varied front and rear according to your speed. And the system's able to alter its settings when you select either 'Sport', 'Condolement' or 'AMG' driving modes from a centre panel button. Active Body Control automatically lowers the car at speed to bring downwardly its eye of gravity and the prepare-up can be raised for greater basis clearance over rough roads. In other words, it'southward very advanced indeed.
Overall
So, is this actually a supercar? Or but a sporting luxury convertible with a very powerful engine? You'll notice enough in this exalted marketplace with opinions either way. What's not up for debate is the fact that this SL 63 brought Mercedes' SL line closer to supercar status than whatsoever model earlier it. Not only does it have the right kind of raw power but information technology can too handle it likewise, cheers to lithe aluminium underpinnings, Agile Body Control and sharper responses than many will expect from a car of this kind - and specially from something with an AMG badge.
Only perhaps we shouldn't be surprised. AMG means something very different these days, a Mercedes tuning division that in this catamenia had already been lauded for its work on C 63 and SLS models that shocked established players in their corresponding sectors. This SL 63 AMG did the same. Quick, beautifully engineered and efficient, it can perform a dual office similar few other big roadsters from this time, chasing Ferraris one minute, then settling back into a French Riviera cruise the next. It was certainly skillful enough to make potential Mercedes SLS AMG Roadster buyers in this period question the demand for spending near £70,000 more. But volition it make Ferrari and Aston Martin people on the used market feel the aforementioned? That of course will be the acid test.
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Source: https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/car-reviews/mercedes-benz/sl/sl-63-amg-%5Br231%5D-2016-2020/