The Mercedes Benz 300 'Gullwing' SL is one of the best sports car of all time. So named because of its unique, roof-hinged doors, the Gullwing was the Enzo of its era: stupendously fast, outrageously expensive, and styled to make an entrance. Clark Gable owned one, Andy Warhol painted one, Ava Gardner crashed one and its in the news. No Mercedes sports car since, not even the Mercedes-McLaren SLR, has come close to matching the Gullwing's iconic appeal. And now the Mercedes SLS.
The SLR was a bastard-child of a supercar that neither McLaren nor Mercedes-Benz engineers truly felt was their own. McLaren's Gordon Murray, designer of award-winning Brabham and McLaren's grand prix racers are the driving force behind it all, thought the SLR overweight, the antithesis of his personal automotive touch. For Mercedes SLS engineers they were uncomfortable with McLaren's free-wheeling, swift development culture and were skeptical of their methods. The culture-clash car that resulted was blindingly fast and supremely robust, but oddly styled and strangely uninvolving to drive.
All of which perhaps explains the all new Mercedes SLS AMG, a lightweight, high tech, 571 hp super coupe that represents the distilled wisdom of some of the best and brightest engineers at the world's finest automotive manufacturing firm. And yes, the distinct gullwing doors.
Like the SLR, the SLS is a front mid-engine coupe, with its 6.3-liter V8 positioned entirely behind the front axle center-line. The engine is based on the M156 V-8 from the SL63 AMG, but has been tweaked and primped sufficiently to warrant a new in-house codename -- M159. Mercedes claims over 120 parts and components have been redesigned. The most notable change, however, is a dry sump system that allows the M159 to nestle low in the frame. The engine delivers 571 hp at 6800 rpm, and a 479 lb-ft. at 4750 rpm. Some 402 lb-ft is available from just 2500 rpm.
The engine drives the rear wheels via AMG's new seven-speed dual clutch transmission, repackaged in a transaxle housing at the rear of the car to help deliver the SLS's 48/52 front/rear weight distribution. Engine and transmission are inter-connected by a sand-cast aluminum torque-tube, inside which is a carbon-fiber drive shaft. The transmission offers four modes -- basic, Sport, Sport+ and Manual -- each with different shift protocols. The transmission has a launch-control mode that will allow full-commando starts with electronically controlled wheelspin to preclude engine constant bog downs.
