Mercedes-Benz SLS-Class News

Thousands of vehicles are caught up in a long round of recalls that involves everything from Takata airbags to incorrectly-printed tyre placards.

Salmon is a Sydney hotelier and online entrepreneur, while Baumgartner is best known as the crazy Austrian who parachuted from the edge of space.But both of them fit right in at the Bathurst 12-Hour, a race that takes Mount Panorama back to its showroom roots.It's not your everyday showroom, as exotics brands such as Mercedes-Benz, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Bentley and McLaren dominate the entry list, but these are still cars that are far closer to the real world than any V8Supercar.Best of all, they all look and sound different. And, since they have different strengths and weaknesses, there is constant track action as they swap places around Mount Panorama. And that's without worrying about the tail-end tiddlers in cars such as the 1-Series BMWs who contribute to the healthiest starting grid since the 1980s."Why do I race? I caught the bug and I cannot get it out of my system," Salmon tells CarsGuide."I'm a gentleman driver, not a professional, but I can still compete here with some of the best blokes in the world.The 12-hour includes some of the world's best long-distance racers"I'm 55 next week, so I have a few things to tick off the Bucket List. This is one."Salmon owns his Audi R8 racer but Baumgartner, a world- class and world-renowned thrill seeker, is at Bathurst as a guest of Audi. He's in an R8 to satisfy his need for speed."This is fun. Just great," he says.The driver lineup for the 12-hour includes some of the world's best long-distance racers, and former V8Supercar runners John Bowe, Warren Luff and Greg Crick, but the current stars have been banned from the action by a clashing touring car test at Sydney Motorsport Park.No-one is remotely surprised that Craig Lowndes and Rick Kelly would prefer to be spending the weekend at Bathurst, or that the 12-Hour telecast comprehensively trumps the broadcast numbers for the rival event in Sydney.The 12-Hour is a wacky race, from the drivers to the cars, and the Mercedes-Benz pacecar is called out a record 20 times after some sort of on-track incident.But the cars are fast and spectacular and it's easy to tell them apart. Especially when you see a brutal Benz SLS going head-to-head with an exotic Ferrari 458 and a giant-but-gentlemanly Bentley Continental.There is a respectable crowd at the 12-Hour and the carpark is full of old Bristols and MG sports cars, shiny new McLarens and even a 50-car cavalcade of Mercedes-Benzes, dominated by the brand's hot AMG models.As always, Mount Panorama stars — from the spectacle of a start in darkness through to the final fight to the flag.The 12-Hour is more than just a race and it is growing fastIn the end, it's a Nissan GT-R that gets home first — as Godzilla conquers the Mountain for the first time since Mark Skaife and Jim Richards — with a blanket finish for the minor places.But the 12-Hour is more than just a race and it is growing fast. There are seven factory-backed teams in 2015 and this will grow again for 2016, with Audi, Bentley and Mercedes-Benz already committed to next year's race."This race and this place is something special. It's not only the track, it's the atmosphere and the racing and all the rest," says Romolo Liebchen, head of Audi's giant Customer Racing Division.GT sports car racing is more than a passing fad"Australia has a relatively small car market, but it is very important for performance cars and also as a place to compete with our customers. It is clear this race will continue to grow."A Bentley at Bathurst is so wrong that it’s right.I feel as if I’ve been invited into the sitting room of Le Mans winner Guy Smith’s home in Britain as I slide into his Continental GT3-R for a relatively quiet lap of Mount Panorama.This is the roadgoing version of the car Smith is racing in the 12-hour, with everything I expect from an ultra-luxury Bentley coupe. There are sumptuous leather seats and all the luxury fruit. Then Smith opens the taps on Mountain Straight and we’re aa-www-aaaay.It’s not remotely what I expect from a car that weighs nearly two tonnes and costs more than $600,000.Bentley has done a serious job on this car. It has 427kW and 700Nm in the engine room, which — with special gearing and a bunch of other changes — means it can slingshot to 100km/h in just 3.8 secs. That’s exactly what Smith does, calmly giving his first impression of the circuit. “It’s a tricky place, isn’t it? It takes a bit of learning,” he says.On Sunday afternoon, long after this memorable run down the mountain, he and his team should have been podium finishers. A cruel punt on the final corner drops them to fourth at the flag. Bentley is committed to come back in 2016 and I’m looking forward to another visit to Smith’s sitting room.GT sports car racing is more than a passing fad. A total of 13 car brands now have official programs in the global category, following a decision by Cadillac this year to join the track action with its CTS-V coupe, and they are spending big as bait for buyers.Cadillac will be joining everyone from Aston Martin and Audi to Lamborghini, Ferrari, and even Mercedes-Benz at the sharp end of GT racing.It's a crazy category because the cars look so outrageous. The purchase price, from about $600,000, makes them relatively affordable.In comparison, a homegrown V8Supercar can easily top $500,000 as a turnkey racer.The big difference between Australia and the rest of the world is the scale, with carmakers doing big numbers and making serious dollars from their motorsport divisions.Mercedes-Benz still has 20 cars to build before it switches from its current SLS to the GT3 version of the new coupe. Bentley has built 18 Continental GTs for racing.Audi tops the pile, having built 136 track versions of its R8, with 126 currently still in action including the car that took pole position for the Bathurst 12-Hour.

Google is trying to map the globe, covering every possible street and road -- and lately getting inside shopping centres as well -- for their Street View mode. So it's about time they got around to one of the most-viewed bits of bitumen. In the woooorld. The Top Gear track that features in every episode with a reasonably-priced car and a Stig lap time test.And you can't hit the Top Gear track without some help from The Stig, so the Google maps car gets to face off against the mystery race driver -- in a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series gullwing. Google loses that race but ends up with its Street View mapping, and a smokescreen set up by the jubilant Stig's donuts.Want to get around the Top Gear track yourself (albeit travelling by mouse or touchpad rather then wheels)? Log onto Google Maps -- and wave the starter's flag for the office lap time leaderboard.Watch the desktop version of the The Stig vs Google Maps car video here. This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott

Carsguide's spy photographers have captured one of the most talked-about future cars, the smaller sports car that will replace the SLS AMG 'Gullwing' in the Mercedes-Benz range. The German carmaker launched the Final Edition variant of the Gullwing at the Los Angeles motor show in November, and we're expecting its successor to be launched later this year.Reportedly codenamed the C190,iIt's been the subject of several working titles during development, including SLC, but is tipped to be launching as the GT AMG and to share little with the SLS -- a previous project based on the SLS was reportedly scrapped because Mercedes wanted to roll out a more affordable car. The current SLS AMG starts here at $468,320 and tops out at $639,000, whereas the GT AMG is targeting a price of around 110,000 euros (equivalent to $169,800, but you can expect import taxes and duties to raise the local price well above that level).Rather than the naturally-aspirated 420kW/650Nm 6.2-litre V8 that powers the Gullwing, the new sports car is likely to have an AMG twin-turbo V8 -- either their latest 5.5-litre or a 4.0-litre rumoured to be in development, with the possibility of two levels of tune indicated by the prototypes' different exhaust systems, with the lower around 370kW and the higher of which could be close to 500kW according to Motor Authority. However the new car will carry on with the SLS's seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission mounted at the rear to aid weight distribution -- and also looks to be borrowing some styling cues. There are no gullwing doors in evidence, but the same long nose and proportions.  The GT AMG will be smaller and lighter than the SLS, with a new aluminium spaceframe structure able to shave a reported 80kg off the current car's 1736kg. A convertible is a certainty to follow the coupe, and there are also rumours of a subsequent Black Series version with range-topping outputs.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott 

AMG has revealed the first official images of the new SLS AMG GT Final Edition, with the limited-build variant forming a farewell to the SLS supercar ahead of its 2014 demise. Teased earlier this week in a series of detail shots, the SLS Final Edition is set to make its public debut at this week’s Tokyo and LA motor shows, and these new images confirm plans for both gullwing hardtop and convertible versions.As hinted by the teaser images, the SLS Final Edition follows a similar formula to the C63 AMG Edition 507 by borrowing elements from the flagship Black Series, like the carbon fibre-look bonnet, carbon fibre front splitter, rear wing and mirror housings, plus 507-inspired snowflake wheels.Unlike the 507 though, there’s no extra power for the Final Edition, using the same 435kW/650Nm version of the 6.2 litre V8 as the SLS AMG GT already available overseas. Sadly, the Final Edition is also the finale for this engine, with future AMG V8 power coming from the twin-turbo 5.5-litre used in the S63 AMG -- although some reports suggest it could also be retired because they can't squeeze any more out of it -- or the new twin-turbo 4.0-litre that is expected to be under the bonnet of the new sub-SLS sports car and C63.But for now the 6.2-litre gets a swan song with gullwings, and helps get the Final Edition to 100km/h in just 3.6 seconds, to 200km/h in 11.2 seconds and on to a top speed electronically limited to 317km/h.Mercedes has confirmed that production of the car will be limited to just 350 units. Please form an orderly queue.

Mercedes-Benz has taken the SLS AMG to the famed Nurburgring for a bit of a blast -- and for our video pleasure. With a trio of cameras catching the action and the data, you get a good sense of just how well this devil of a car can tackle the circuit known as the Green Hell.It doesn't turn in a Ring record, but still posts a respectable 7 minutes 25.67 seconds lap. And as well as giving you three angles on action, you get the sound of the V8 engine on the job. And as our reviews of the SLS Black have reported, that's glorious music -- albeit an expensive symphony at $640,000 for the entry price.The 6.2-litre V8 snarls its way up to the 8000rpm redline, delivering 464kW of power and a whopping 635Nm of torque along the way via a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, with the lightweight 1550kg screaming to 100km/h in just 3.6 seconds.That weightsaving comes from the use of liberal amounts of carbon-fibre, a lighter lithium-ion battery and even the use of titanium for the exhaust system. 

AMG has revealed a series of teaser images this week that look to preview a new version of its SLS supercar flagship, ahead of a public debut at next week’s Los Angeles motor show.The first shows a standard SLS front fascia adorned with a carbon-fibre lip spoiler, and was followed by an image of an alloy wheel that echoes the design of those fitted to the existing C63 AMG Edition 507.A third shot shows a diamond-stitched interior trim with carbon fibre trim, and the most recent image shows what looks to be a naked carbon fibre version of the SLS Black Series bonnet.The bonnet and wheel design suggests we are looking at a new sub-Black Series SLS model, likely to follow the formula of the C63 Edition 507.If so, it could ape the 507 in carrying a name based on its power output in metric horsepower, and sit between the existing 591PS (435kW) and 631PS (464kW) outputs of the existing GT and Black Series SLS variants.The new SLS variant is likely to form a swansong for the gullwinged supercar ahead of its production ending in 2014, with testing of the expected Porsche 911-rivalling downsized replacement well underway.This reporter is on Twitter: @Mal_Flynn 

The Miss Universe pageant took place in Moscow over the weekend. And in the lead-up to the gala judging, Russian race driver Alexey Karachev was enlisted to fling a few of them around the capital's international raceway in a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG.Entrants from Austria, Poland, Germany and Russia got to experience the thrill of the car at high speeds, with the expected shrieks and giggles.Being an experienced racer, Karachev remained composed throughout the action -- although he did briefly take his eyes off the track when Miss Germany felt the need to adjust her cleavage.Watch the Miss Universe Merc SLS AMG video here.

The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG supercar is getting on in years, and we’ve already seen several sightings of smaller Mercedes sportscar prototypes that have until now thought to be a new sub-SLS model known as SLC.However, Car and Driver is reporting that this new model will be known as Mercedes-Benz AMG GT, and will replace the SLS altogether as Mercedes’ supercar flagship. The GT moniker is already applied to a slightly hotter version of the SLS supercar overseas, which could represent a phasing-in of the badge ahead of the new model.The use of GT (short for Gran Turismo or Grand Tourer) would be a natural fit for the proportions already evident in the prototypes, which continue the SLS’ classic long-nose, short tail profile that is reminiscent of several Grand Tourers of the past.The SLS AMG is due to be phased out some time in 2014, and the report suggests the GT will ride on a smaller version of its platform codenamed C190. A soft top version is also expected, with both versions likely to more closely challenge the Porsche 911 for size and price.In Australia, the current SLS is more than double the price of the entry 911 Carrera, and is nearly 150mm longer and 300kg heavier. Even the top-spec 911 Turbo S undercuts the SLS by nearly $30,000.The curtain closing on the SLS will also likely mean the end for its naturally aspirated 6.2 litre V8, with the new model expected to use a version of the twin-turbo 5.5-litre V8 already used by the E63, CLS 63, SL63, ML63,G63, S63 and CL63 AMG models, and the new C63 expected to use a twin-turbo 4.0-litre version when it arrives next year.This reporter is on Twitter: @Mal_Flynn 

But do we really care more about volts and hertz than kiloWatts and Newton-metres?