Browse over 9,000 car reviews

Mercedes-Benz SL-Class SL63 AMG 2012 Review

The car positively erupts and devours any stretches of straight roads.
EXPERT RATING
8

Goldilocks is a great name for a car with a rare combination of grace and pace that means she is 'just right' despite a price tag that could soar beyond $450,000 in Australia.

The new high-class Benzmobile would make an ideal Bond girl, thanks to great DNA and some hardcore bootcamp training at AMG. What a pity, then, that the boring blokes from Mercedes have played it staid and settled on a predictable combination of numbers and letters that spells out SL63 AMG. We've even seen that line before, but not like this.

Goldilocks can make an elegant entrance or run with the guns, and the choice is down to you. She has the latest two-seater roadster body, and all the luxury gear you expect from an SL, with the addition of a twin-turbo 5.5-litre V8 engine that makes with up to 900 Newton-metres of torque and serves up 0-100km/h sprints in 4.2 seconds with a top speed as outrageous as 280km/h.

It will take series money to put the new SL AMG in the driveway, but this is a very, very serious car that you could buy and keep for a long time. So, why Goldilocks? For a start, the SL is more feminine than blokey-bloke despite its muscles. And, for me, the hottie SL is the 'just-right' choice among the AMG roadsters.

The baby-bear SLK55 AMG is raw and flawed, with too much engine for the chassis and suspension, while the big daddy SLS AMG is too big and too hot, from its look-at-me styling to an engine that's wasted for anything but frying the rear tyres. Without worrying about the $487,500 pricetage.

So the SL sits sweetly in the middle with potential appeal to Bentley convertible buyers on one side and even Porsche Boxster enthusiasts on the other. But let's get on with the story, as we go exploring in the forests in the south of France.

VALUE

People who can afford cars like this one don't have the usual worries about mortgages and pump prices, but everyone wants a bargain in 2012. So there is a lot of good new stuff in the SL, from the basic aluminium body through to the value-added key with the silver AMG crest.

Buyers can always ask for more, and the obvious choice is the Performance Pack that brings more power and torque - up to 415kW and 900Nm - as well as red paint on the brake callipers. The SL63 currently sells for $418,670 and that's the target for the newcomer later this year, even though the total changeover has cost plenty.

"The price is going to follow the existing car fairly closely. We're doing what we can to hold the price line," says David McCarthy, spokesman for Mercedes-Benz Australia. He says the importance of the car cannot be over-rated. "It's pretty small numbers in Australia but it sets a benchmark. We sell a couple of dozen a year."

For people who want even more, and not a Gullwing, McCarthy confirmed there will also be an SL65 AMG - with twin-turbo V12 - engine. "That car will only be to customer order. We have V12 owners who come back time and again, because for them there is nothing else."

TECHNOLOGY

It starts with the alloy body and ends with the giant 19-inch alloy wheels, but the highlights include the 5.5-litre twin-turbo V8, a tweaked seven-speed automatic gearbox, electric power steering and even a carbon fibre frame for the folding convertible roof. And there is an analogue clock in the centre of the grille, thanks to AMG's tie-up with the top-end watch maker, IWC.

"The car in total has a lot of AMG parts. We changed the major parts," says Thomas Rappel, head of product strategy at AMG-Mercedes. Even the remaining Benz basics, like the suspension and safety systems, are tweaked to give a more sporty feel. 

"All the parts you see, touch and feel - and the IWC clock on the dash - are AMG. This one is more the enthusiast. He's not taking it on a track every day, but he wants the noise and the agility," Rappel says.

DESIGN

Goldilocks is the first car with a new twin-spar grille that will become an AMG signature. It's applied to a car where the AMG tweaking works well with the chunkier new look at Mercedes-Benz.

Some of the latest Benzes look too heavy, or a bit cartoonish, but the SL works and fits into a range where the latest A-Class also reflects the successful change of direction under design chief Gordon Wagener. 

Inside, there is restrained strength about the look and feel of the SL. The finishing, as you would expect, is flagship material with everything you want and need.

SAFETY

Five stars is a given for this car. ANCAP will never test one, and even Euro NCAP is unlikely to have a budget that runs to killing an SL, but Benz has a long history of setting the standard for safety. In the case of the SL AMG, that means ABS and ESP tweaked for performance use, as well as the sort of big brakes and giant tyres - the Performance Pack cars get 255x35 and 285x30 - that improve grip and safety.

DRIVING

My time with the SL starts in the passenger seat, where I am happy to find plenty of legroom, brilliant aircon, cushy leather seats and a very quiet cabin. The car seems to dribble along happily, the ride is not too soft and not too firm, and - despite the erratic efforts of my Brazilian driver - the SL can obviously go hard, with the overtaking power you usually only get on a big-bore motorcycle.

Sliding into the driver's seats, on roads close to the course for the Porsche Boxster preview drive last month, I'm not expecting too much. The SL has always been a cruiser car and I'm worried that recent experience of the SLK55 - which bucked and bounced on Victorian country roads - would be repeated.

The SL has a restrained rumble as I idle onto the French backroads but it turns to thunder when I floor the throttle. The car positively erupts and devours any stretches of straight roads. But it also crushes bumps and undulations and the nose happily follows my commands to turn, giving great grip and balance through corners before more thunder on the next straight.

I had expected a lazy loping beast with added stoplight speed, but the AMG hero is a well rounded package that can easily waft before switching to warp speed. I even believe it would defeat the Boxster on these roads, not because of better response or balance, but because it gets briskly through corners and has so much torque on tap.

The SL63 is also quiet with the roof up, surprisingly unruffled with it down, is easy to park and has acceptable boot space. There is an annoying rattle in the dash of one car, and the price is outrageous, but Goldilocks is a car to like a lot, and potentially love.

VERDICT:

The midstream model of the AMG-Mercedes roadster family is just right.

Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG

Price: estimate $450,000+
Warranty: 3 years/100,00km
Resale: 49 per cent, $205,100 (Glass's Guide)
Service interval: 15,000km/12 months
Safety rating: Five star (estimated)
Spare: Space-saver
Engine: 5.5-litre twin turbocharged V8 395kW/800Nm
Transmission: 7-speed auto; RWD
Body: 4.63m (L); 1.87m (w); 1.3m (h)
Weight: 1845kg
Thirst: 9.9/100km; 231g/km Co2

Pricing guides

$86,570
Based on third party pricing data
Lowest Price
$46,200
Highest Price
$126,940

Range and Specs

VehicleSpecsPrice*
SL65 AMG 6.0L, PULP, 7 SP AUTO $110,440 – 126,940 2012 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class 2012 SL65 AMG Pricing and Specs
SL500 BE 4.7L, PULP, 7 SP AUTO $72,050 – 82,830 2012 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class 2012 SL500 BE Pricing and Specs
SL350 Night Edition 3.5L, PULP, 7 SP AUTO $51,150 – 58,740 2012 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class 2012 SL350 Night Edition Pricing and Specs
SL350 3.5L, PULP, 7 SP AUTO $49,940 – 57,420 2012 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class 2012 SL350 Pricing and Specs
EXPERT RATING
8
Disclaimer: The pricing information shown in the editorial content (Review Prices) is to be used as a guide only and is based on information provided to Carsguide Autotrader Media Solutions Pty Ltd (Carsguide) both by third party sources and the car manufacturer at the time of publication. The Review Prices were correct at the time of publication.  Carsguide does not warrant or represent that the information is accurate, reliable, complete, current or suitable for any particular purpose. You should not use or rely upon this information without conducting an independent assessment and valuation of the vehicle.