Mercedes-Benz SL Range Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: Mercedes SL range
Prices: £63,706-£151,101 – on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 19-20
Emissions: 236-362g/km
Performance: [SL 350] Max Speed 155mph / 0-60mph 6s
Fuel Consumption: [SL 350] (combined) 28.5mpg
Safety: Twin front, side & head airbags, ESP, ABS
Dimensions: Length/Width/Heightmm 4605/1816/1298

SENIOR SERVICE

Our Rating: 7.7 / 10

The Mercedes SL roadster enters its latter years with a raft of revisions that ensure it’s still as desirable as ever. Jonathan Crouch reports

The Mercedes SL has long stood for refined elegance and continent crushing ability but it was only with the introduction of the 2002 model year car that the ‘Sport’ part of the SL’s ‘Sport Leicht’ (sport light) designation could justify its existence. The previous model was neither sporty nor lightweight and although the later design still doesn’t so much tip the scales as total them, Mercedes have made the effort to endow the car with some genuine dynamic prowess, something that’s continued with this facelifted version, announced in 2008.

One thing the Mercedes SL isn’t short of is backstory, this model’s ancestry dating back as far as 1954. Since then, the sportiness and lightness may have diminished with each revision but the SL has morphed into a beautifully engineered two seat GT car which attempts to fuse the luxury of an S class saloon with the appeal of open-top driving. The current generation car, known to proper Mercedes anoraks as the R230 series, found itself facing tough competition in its early years, hence Mercedes’ decision to give it a new look and some technological tweaks in 2008.

Car buyers in the privileged position of having something north of £60,000 to spend and only two occupants plus a little bit of luggage as practical constraints have the world’s most exotic and talented vehicles laid-out before them. This is a popular place for their money to end up. Let’s find out why.

Though more focused these days, the SL remains more of a Grand Touring GT than a real sportscar, built more for bullet-like straight line performance than aggressive cornering. Having said that, this hefty 1,800kg car can still excite through a set of fast bends. The entry-level SL350 makes do with the standard suspension set-up that still shows great composure while the others utilise the clever Active Body Control technology that continually adjusts the suspension settings for optimum performance. The petrol engine choice boils down to V6, V8 or, if you have the budget and the stomach for it, V12. Go for the V6 in the base SL 350 and you get 315bhp, nearly 50bhp more than was offered in the pre-facelifted version of this car. This improved unit has a far sportier demeanour, revving to 7,200rpm and capable of jetting the SL through 60mph in 6 seconds.

All of which makes you wonder at paying the price premium for the next model up, the SL 500 with its burbling 5.5-litre V8 still producing 388bhp but only half a second quicker to sixty. Above this sits the mighty V12 SL 600 which harbours a twin turbocharged 5.5-litre V12 developing 517bhp and capable of sixty from rest in a supercar humbling 4.5s. If that’s not fast enough, the SL 63 AMG model offers 525bhp, while the flagship SL 65 AMG delivers a thumping 612bhp.

Get the SL down from warp speed and the first thing you’ll spot is that the ‘peanut’ style headlamps of the original post-2002 SL model have been replaced with massive single pod bi-xenon units. Their Intelligent Light System provides five different lighting modes which activate automatically. Motorway mode, for instance, is activated in two stages when speeds exceed 90km/h, increasing the driver’s range of vision by 60 per cent. When the active light function is activated, the headlamps pivot with the steering. There are also cornering lights that illuminate the verge below 70km/h. Twin powerdomes on the bonnet and gill-style air outlets on the front wings also give the SL a more aggressive attitude.

Inside, owners of the original version of this car should notice the redesigned three-spoke wheel, the more supportive seats and the restyled instrument cluster. Otherwise the recipe is classic SL. With the hood down, there’s minimal buffeting if you keep the windows and the wind blocker between the seats extended. The metal folding roof itself vies with the engines to be the highlight of the whole SL package, not least because it takes up less boot space than you might expect. You get a 310-litre luggage capacity in the SL that only drops to 206-litres with the top down. There’s even a button that raises the whole roof cassette when it’s in the boot so you can get easier access to your bags.

We can give you an idea where prices start (at around the £65,000 mark) but as to where they finish, well, theor