Mercedes-Benz SL63 vs BMW M8

What's the difference?

An SL sports car has been part of the Mercedes-Benz line-up since the early 1950s, and when I think of this model I see that golden years of Hollywood star (with the great hairstyle) Yul Brynner, in the late 1950s cruising the French Riviera in his 300SL roadster. Or Sophia Loren regularly posing with her 300SL Gullwing coupe around the same time.

Over seven iterations and more than seven decades it has stood for performance, glamour and exclusivity. And after a two-year hiatus the Mercedes-AMG SL63 roadster has made a comeback to the Australian market.

The right lane on Aussie freeways is occasionally referred to as the ‘fast lane’, which is laughable because the highest legal speed in the entire country is 130km/h (81mph). And that’s only on a few stretches in the Top End. Other than that, 110km/h (68mph) is all you’re getting.

Sure, a 'buck thirty' isn’t hanging around, but the subject of this review is a 460kW (625hp) four-door missile, capable of accelerating from 0-100 km/h in 3.2 seconds, and on to a maximum velocity somewhat in excess of our legal limit. 

Fact is, the BMW M8 Competition Gran Coupe is born and bred in Germany, where the autobahn’s left lane is serious territory, with open speed sections, and the car itself the only thing holding you back. In this case, to no less than 305km/h (190mph)!

Which begs the question, isn’t steering this machine onto an Aussie highway like cracking a walnut with a twin-turbo, V8-powered sledgehammer?

Well, yes, But by that logic a whole bunch of high-end, ultra high-performance cars would instantly become surplus to requirements here. Yet they continue to sell, in healthy numbers.  

So, there’s got to be more to it. Time to investigate.