Mercedes-Benz SLS-Class 2014 News

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 

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

The SLS will get a new look to the grille and lamps, but Carparazzi predicts nothing major on the mechanical front.

Only two of the 10 Black Series SLS AMG coupes ordered by Benz Australia remain to be sold. That's despite an astronomical price tag of $639,000 apiece which does not include on-road costs, easily making it the most expensive Benz you can buy here.But it's by no means the most expensive Benz ever sold here. That honour goes to the million plus Maybach followed by the SL 65 AMG Black Series at $700K.The next most expensive Benz in the current line-up is the long wheel base, 6.0-litre V12 S-Class 65 AMG at a thumping $498,700. Benz has a short but notable tradition of making these cars.The SLS following in the footsteps of the CLK 63 AMG Black Series (2007), the SL 65 AMG Black Series (2008) and the C 63 AMG Coupe Black Series (2011).With engine mods and every conceivable option the Black Series is the hi-end version of its super sports car version of its gullwing model. "The SLS AMG Coupe Black Series perfectly embodies the transition of performance technology from motorsport to the open road" Benz boss Horst Von Sanden said."The new SLS AMG Coupe Black Series further enhances the success of the Black Series, which has thrilled our customers since 2007"The enhanced AMG 6.3-litre V8 engine delivers a maximum output of 464 kW and up to 635Nm of torque, affirming the SLS AMG Coupe Black Series as the most powerful high-performance car from AMG with a combustion engine.Its outstanding driving dynamics and uncompromised lightweight construction, in accordance with the 'AMG Lightweight Performance' strategy, determine that the SLS AMG Coupe Black Series accelerates from 0 - 100 km/h in 3.6 seconds, and attains a top speed of 315 km/h.Combining scintillating performance with meticulous attention to detail, the SLS AMG Coupe Black Series offers a highly emotional driving experience in every respect, with no half-hearted compromises.

Seen in public first by Carsguide in AMG's German hometown of Affalterbach, the SLS Black Series - prior to being flown to the Los Angeles motor show for its public debut - has filled its 2013 quota of five and Mercedes Australia is scrambling for more.  The fifth rendition in the Black Series family is here in the second half of 2013 and Mercedes-Benz Australia already has five orders. “As it stands, our 2013 allocation is already allocated to customers,” says spokesman Jerry Stamoulis. “We are now talking to AMG and attempting to secure more to fulfil a current wait list. “Realistically the total number will not exceed 10 cars for Australia. “The final price has not been set but it's likely to be similar to the SL65 Black Series which was around $700,000.”  The new SLS Black Series, inspired by the track-only SLS GT3, showed itself at Affalterbach finished in Solar Beam metallic paint and layered with exposed carbon-fibre components, black wheels and gold brake calipers. Compared with the standard SLS, the Black Series is lower, hunkered down on its fat wheels and aggressive with its highlights of shining carbon fibre, its dominant rear spoiler and the brightness of its moor show colour. It looked like a glowing ember in the centre of an enormous, otherwise vacant warehouse amongst AMG's factories. AMG engineer Alexander Weber says its specifications are closer to a GT3 car than a road car. “But the Black Series has a more powerful engine,” he says. It has a 6.2-litre M159 V8 engine with 464kW (631hp) - up 44kW on the SLS - but torque has been clipped back to 635Nm, down 15Nm on the SLS.  Part of the reason for the torque drop is simply that the coupe doesn't need it because it has a lower final drive ratio and weighs 100kg less than the standard SLS. Weber says the transaxle's drive ratio is 4.44, lower than the standard SLS at 3.67. “The steering ratio is also shorter.” The engine is redlined at 8000rpm, up from 7200rpm in the normal SLS, allowing it to hit 100km/h from rest in 3.6 seconds and onwards to 315km/h. It has launch control - with software specifically tailored for this car - that allows for a 10 per cent slip for better acceleration.  “We changed a lot in the engine,” says Weber. “It has a new intake manifold - made shorter - and new valve gear that is a lot lighter. The oil circuit is new and so are the engine bearings. “We have reduced back pressure and fitted a 100 per cent titanium exhaust system. “There is an improved cooling system that was developed for the race track.” Much of the performance increase has come from the weight-loss program. Weber says the weight has been dropped by 100kg to 1550kg. “The torque tube for the engine drive from the front mid-mounted engine to the rear transaxle is now made of carbon fibre,” he says. “Previously it was aluminium and now the weight has come down to 13kg from 26kg.” Carbon-fibre and carbon compounds feature prominently, including trim in the cabin. It has compound carbon brake rotors and the rear spoiler is made of carbon fibre and tested in a wind tunnel to achieve downforce up by 40 per cent on the normal SLS. Each wheel is forged and 1kg lighter than the normal wheels. In total there is a 16kg weight loss over the normal car because of the wheels and the compound carbon brake rotors. Tyres are Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 measuring 275/35ZR19 at the front and 325/30ZR20 at the rear.  Weber says the car has hydraulic engine dampers that are specific only to the Black Series. “These solve problems with preventing weight distribution as the engine moves during driving,” he says. “It means no two parts are moving against each other and therefore don't change the weight distribution and therefore don't affect the handling. “This makes the Black Series a quicker car on the race track.” When asked, Weber says that other AMG cars may get this system to improve handling. The SLS Black Series is 26mm wider at the rear and 13mm wider at the front compared with the standard SLS. “You can see this in the additional bulges over the wheels and the rear indicators which are sunk into the fender, not flush like the standard car,” Weber says. “The tracks are also wider - in fact, wider than a GT3 car.” Mercedes-Benz Australia says the car will arrive in Australia from the second half of next year and that most of the buyers who have placed orders are previous AMG owners. The SLS Black Series is the fifth of this model line-up to be produced by AMG. The company started the Black Series with the SLK55 in 2006, following it with the CLK63 in 2007, SL65 in 2008 and C63 Coupe in 2011. Mercedes-AMG chairman Ola Kallenius says the latest Black Series “is a perfect study in the 100 per cent transfer of technology and engineering from motorsport to the road”. He says the new gull-wing is “the ultimate choice for fast laps and highly emotional driving experiences” and is the “most dynamic gull-wing model of all time”.  

It's anticipated announcement will be made today that the German prestige car maker will join Ford, Holden and fellow newcomer Nissan in Australia's most popular motorsport category - a boost to its international following.V8 Supercars' “car of the future” that come in at the start of next year allows for more manufacturers but with much under the skins shared between cars to keep down costs.A four-door sedan is required and it's understood Mercedes' E-Class model will be used as the basis for the race car. Some of the road car versions of the E-Class come with V8 engines. Well-funded race team in the Australian GT category, Erebus Racing, currently uses the SLS Mercedes-Benz and leads that 2012 championship with Peter Hackett driving.It is known that Erebus has examined getting involved in V8 Supercars. But it would need to do a deal with one of the restricted number of licence holders to have a spot on the V8 Supercars grid. Motorsport sources yesterday suggested that could be Stone Brothers Racing, until now a Ford outfit.Interestingly for South Australian fans, Adelaide driver Tim Slade is in the Stone Brothers camp. Erebus Racing runs its SLS AMG models under AMG's “customer sport” system. AMG is the high-performance arm of Mercedes-Benz. A similar AMG customer sport system could be in place for the V8 Supercars. The AMG race team, HWA, leads the German Touring Car Championship, using a C-Class coupe.AMG cars have won that championship six times since 2000. V8 Supercars already has rounds in New Zealand and the Middle East and will add a round in Texas next year - the US and the Middle East being big markets for Mercedes-Benz. A Mercedes-Benz Australia-Pacific spokesman had no comment and the principals of Stone Brothers Racing could not be contacted. If the Clipsal 500 is again the opening round of the V8 Championship next year and the Mercedes is on track for that, it will bring enormous interest to the Adelaide event, already growing due to Nissan's 2013 debut in the Kelly Racing team.

Unveiled globally yesterday, the SLS AMG GT variants slip into the middle of the range under the GT3 track day version - and have filched some of its hardcore aspects, with more power, race-tuned suspension and a tweaked transmission. The ‘entry level’ SLS AMG’s 6.3-litre V8 remains as does the 650Nm peak torque, but with power boosted 21kW to 441kW. Mercedes-Benz says the GT gets to 100km/h in just 3.6 seconds – 1.1 seconds faster than the standard SLS AMG, and has a top speed of 319km/h (electronically limited). To accompany the power lift, the seven-speed AMG dual-clutch transmission has been recalibrated for faster shifts in Manual mode, with newly developed gear change logic and optimised transmission control shaving off the shift time for each change. The transmission’s automatic double-declutching on downshifts is function when shifting down is also more definite and faster. And sounds even better, the Mercedes statement says.  Experience gained in racing the SLS AMG GT3 has gone into the GT’s new adaptive performance suspension set-up, with stiffer springs and specially-tuned electronically-adjustable dampers added to the twin aluminium wishbones front and rear. The selectable ride control has two track-focused modes: Sport for “bumpy tracks like Nordschleife, which requires higher suspension travel” and Sport plus for “level surfaces such as Hockenheim”. The SLS AMG GT rolls on unique 20-in alloy wheels with red brake calipers, while gloss black accents inside and out, set off with red interior touches - and the GT badging on the decklid -- set it apart from the standard Gullwing. The cars have an October on-sale schedule for European markets, priced at the equivalent of $260,000 for the coupe and $270,000 for the roadster. Don’t look for it here, though, because it won’t be arriving in Australia. “We’re not taking it,” Mercedes-Benz spokesman Jerry Stamoulis says. “We could have the GT but have opted not to take it as we’re putting our hand up for something that’s coming a little bit later that we think will be a little bit more desirable in our market. It will be more powerful.” Stamoulis would not  go into any further information, but the next arrival it could be the SLS AMG e-cell – or if you’re talking really desirable it could even be something as tasty as the Black Series rumoured to be testing in Europe.  

Real-world driving moves a giant step closer to the gaming world when car racing simulator Gran Turismo 5 goes 3D in November.The Gran Turismo franchise has crafted a reputation for unmatched vehicle presentation and driving realism, world-class racers and weekend warriors all use the game to learn the tracks, and the long-awaited fifth model promises to lift the standard again.A bootload of technical innovation translates into the most realistic driving experience this side of a track day, and there's a chance to win a Mercedes-Benz SLS "Gullwing" supercar.There are 1000, yes, 1000, photo-realistically rendered vehicles ready to roll on 70 tracks, ranging from radical rally cars to regular production models. The list includes more than 800 cars, with many from previous versions of the game, along with 200 "premium" models that faithfully depict everything from driving dynamics — data loggers captured the acceleration, braking and handling of the real cars on the real tracks — right down to the interior fabric and plastic textures.That level of detail inevitably will drop a fraction if you play the game in 3D, but it is still high enough to encourage makers such as Ferrari to licence their cars for digital reproduction.Then there's the dirt. It sticks. That mightn't be a big deal to average gamers, racers can put their cars through the carwash to clean them up, but the accumulated grime, water spatters and scrape marks reflect the level of commitment the game's creator, Polyphony Digital's guru Kazunori Yamauchi, to generate near true-to-life detail.Vehicle damage also will make its mark. One of the criticisms of earlier Gran Turismo games was that hitting the walls or other drivers slowed the cars, but didn't mark them. Now there will be visual and mechanical consquences in a crash, with a physics engine calculating the speed and angle of impact to determine the severity of the damage.The standard cars will have a basic damage system, while the premium models will have a more detailed system, right down to tearing panels off the cars.Other innovations include online play for up to 16 racers; night racing, with the option of high and low beam headlights on the premium cars; and the ability to look around (if using a PlayStation Eye).The game will launch in three flavours: a standard version, a collector's edition with special artwork and five "ChromeLine" performance-enhanced cars and the signature edition. The signature version will be packaged in a contoured steel case finished in Mercedes-Benz SLS "Obsidian Black" paintwork, with a coffee table book showing the cars and tracks in the game and six extra "Stealth" cars, including the McLaren F1 and SLS Gullwing, along with a scale model of the SLS machine and a USB key with a video showing the collaboration between Mercedes and Polyphony.For more details on the game and how to win the Gullwing, go to www.gran-turismo.com.THE CARSVirtually every carmaker in the world is on the GT5 bandwagon, with Porsche as the only notable absentee. Ferrari has loosened its notoriously tight hold on its image to officially allow the 458 Italia to get a run, while Bugatti and Lamborghini also feature for the first time. Electric cars also earn a start, led by the Tesla Roadster, while hybrids such as the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight return.THE TRACKSThere are 20 sites and 70 tracks to play with in GT5, from the Nurburgring to Daytona and the Top Gear test track. The Top Gear track alone took more than two years of coding, with Yamauchi admitting the development team had several big crashes — just like The Stig — while capturing data. Equally the Nurburgring circuit is as realistically reproduced as possible, right down to the graffiti — though Sony had to delete some of the more profane slogans.

When Mercedes-Benz Australia announced pricing for its stunning new SLS AMG "Gullwing" earlier this week, it was almost $40,000 lower than its forecast $500,000. At $464,000, Mercedes-Benz Australia managing director, Horst von Sanden, is tipping an increase in deposits from prospective buyers, many of them collectors. The first cars are due to arrive within months. As many SLS's are expected to be driven at weekends and race days, owners will also get a specially made car cover and battery recharging equipment. The company's allocation of just 50 cars has blown out to 70 and the Australian operation is trying to secure more cars. Following its world premiere at the Frankfurt International Motor Show last year, production of the SLS is now well under way at Sindelfingen, Germany - the largest Mercedes-Benz passenger car production plant.  "The SLS AMG has been extremely well received by our customers in Australia with over forty orders already locked in," von Sanden says. "Despite the fact that the first customer cars have not yet arrived and with deliveries not expected until August the order book is filling fast. Even in advance of the actual market launch, orders have considerably exceeded our expectations. Given the impressive demand we are experiencing for this special car our stock allocation for 2010 could well be insufficient." The SLS features an aluminium spaceframe body with gullwing doors that tips the scales at just 1620kg. It is powered by an AMG-built 6.3-litre V8 front-mid-engine developing 420kW and 650Nm. There is dry sump lubrication, seven-speed double-declutch transmission in a transaxle configuration and sports suspension. The SLS has a top speed of 317km/h and zero to 100km/h sprint time of just 3.8 seconds.