THE owner of the black Gallardo doesn’t look impressed. In a parking lot in Hout Bay, this usually crowd-drawing slice of Italian exotica is at the receiving end of the odd cursory glance as a small group of bystanders file past to have a look round the charcoal-grey Mercedes-Benz SL500 parked nearby. Most comments are positive and the unexpected word “beautiful” is bandied about a couple of times, while some cocked heads and rubbed chins are just as present. Perhaps beautiful isn’t the word to describe Mercedes’ latest SL, but it’s doing exactly what the Stuttgart firm had hoped – causing quite the stir.
But beauty (admittedly a relative term when looking at the SL) is both subjective and only skin-deep. The SL is also about effortlessly wafting its occupants across long distances in cosseting comfort with the odd bit of sporty driving thrown in. Does the latest iteration tick all the right boxes?
Beyond the looks, which we’ll get to later, a great deal has happened to the SL since its last inception in 2002. Despite having dimensions similar to those of the outgoing car, the new Mercedes-Benz SL500 is 125 kg lighter and possessed of considerably more torsional rigidity than before thanks to the almost exclusive use of aluminium in its underpinnings and bodywork. Even that trick folding Vario roof, which can be raised or lowered in 20 seconds but unfortunately doesn’t like doing so at anything more than a snail’s pace, has been lightened by utilising magnesium composite in its construction.
At the SL’s heart lies what many of the CAR testers described as a “jewel of an engine” – Mercedes’s new twin-turbo, 4,7-litre V8 that develops 320 kW and a whopping 700 N.m of twist. It certainly covers the refined cruising and performance provisos levelled at the SL by virtue of a refreshing duality in nature. Gently press a loafer on the, admittedly sensitive, accelerator and it wafts the car effortlessly round town or on highways, with the rev needle scarcely lifting from its perch.
But, bury the throttle and things change dramatically. That quiet, laid-back burble from the pipes becomes a purposeful snarl interspersed with a hint of induction woofle and whine. Meanwhile, the tail squats as all of that torque sweeps in at just 1 800 r/min. It pulls like a freight train and goes like a rocket; 100 km/h is despatched from standstill in just 4,74 seconds before it broaches the kilometre mark 23,41 seconds after take-off at a speed of over 232 km/h. That’s impressive in itself, but that prodigious low-to-mid range torque also gives the SL great overtaking punch; 80 to 100 km/h takes just 1,3 seconds while 120 to 140 km/h elapses in 1,75 seconds.
Whatever antics the Mercedes-Benz SL500 gets up to, its seven-speed auto ‘box never feels fazed, operating almost imperceptibly when pottering or cruising, and gleefully dropping ratios when driven aggressively.
The mile-munching comfort/sporty driving balance begins to shift more to the former when pressing on. The electric power steering is light and slightly artificial in feel, but still precise enough to make placing the car where you want it easy enough. In fact, given the SL’s girth and luxury trappings, it’s quite a nimble car that can – to some degree – entertain on a twisty back road.
However, on a couple of occasions the adaptive-chassis-control system became flummoxed when suddenly opening the taps or chucking it into a corner, setting the car into a brief bout of disconcerting yawing. That said, you do have to bear in mind that thrashing the SL and hauling it into sharp bends is missing the point of this vehicle entirely.
Cruising, both across town and long-distance, is the SL’s raison d’etre. Driven in a smooth but not necessarily slow, leisurely fashion, the SL has to be one of the most composed drop-tops out there. The air-sprung suspension, chassis control and torsionally rigid body mean that there’s virtually nothing in the way of body flex, while the ride is standard-setting in its class; the SL pretty much irons out road surface imperfections in a manner you’d normally associate with top-end executive saloons.
Roof down, there’s little wind buffeting, and features such as AirScarf neck-level ventilation and a very effective heating and ventilation system for the seats mean alfresco roadstering is a pleasure. Roof-up, you might as well be in a coupé; wind and road noise are well suppressed.
The cabin is surprisingly spacious and its design refresh-ingly uncluttered. The fit and finish are generally impressive, but a couple of minor buzzes did begin to emanate from our (admittedly hard-worked) test unit. Sitting low in supportive and pleasantly bolstered seats, high doors and a fairly upright facia ensconce you and your view ahead takes in SLS-inspired vents on a sculpted bonnet. Among the neat interior details are SLS/SLK-style eyeball air vents, stitched leather adorning the upper facia and door tops, and a stubby metallic gearlever capped in leather and stamped with the SL logo.
Some of the CAR test team bemoaned the Mercedes-Benz SL500’s lack of rear seats, especially given the car’s imposing dimensions. It’s a fair point, but so is the point that few people who own a luxury onvertible will be ferrying more than one passenger, while the SL‘s aft-seat shelf with a storage bin is about as practical as the leather-bound parcel shelf that constitutes the rear seats in most cars of this ilk.
And so we come to the looks, possibly the greatest opinion divider in the CAR test team discussion. Some recoiled in disdain, while others could see some of the references to SLs of old – archetypal roadster profile with a long bonnet, cab-back stance and a prominent bustle at the rear and gills in the flanks – among more challenging contemporary elements such as those huge, complex headlamps and bluff nose. You won’t fall in love with it at once, and some may not do so at all, but it’s engaging and it certainly gets you noticed.
Test Summary
The new Mercedes-Benz SL500 has managed to strike a balance between a useable degree of dynamic ability and cruising traits that leave its rivals in its wake. It’s not cheap and the styling can potentially appeal or repel in equal measure, but it remains true to the ethos of traditional SLs. And that’s no mean feat.