2013 Mercedes-Benz SLS Reviews

Yes, it comes in yellow. It might be called the Black Series, but the Gullwing Benz with all the belter bits looks absolutely stunning in hi-viz yellow.Not just that, but the SLS 63 AMG looks even better when you're hotdogging around Phillip Island -- in a car that would normally cost $639,000 to park in the driveway.This is a very special day in a very special car. Only 10 copies of the latest Black Series hero car from the AMG hothouse in Germany are allocated to Australia. Eight are already sold, with two available for the cashed-up contenders jockeying for the final slots. But this car is not a customer car, it's the AMG demonstrator that's been air-freighted in to star at the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park. Because Australia has the largest per-capita appetite for AMG cars in the world, the SLS is on a whistle-stop tour that includes a handful of laps with the Carsguide crew in the relative safety of the Island circuit that's home to MotoGP and also hosts the V8 Supercar crowd.Measured against that standard, the SLS Black comes up surprisingly well. In fact, it's the only road car where I've backed out before the car gave up. Unless you count the Bugatti Veyron at Sandown Park a few years ago, but the Veyron is more of a science experiment than any sort of road car.The SLS Black looks like a racer, sounds like a real racer, and also has racer responses, but you can register it. It's not a car I would like to dribble through the traffic to the office, and I'm certain it is way too harsh for on-road enjoyment, but it's just the sort of weapon you need to carve out some special time at Phillip Island.AMG has a history with Black Series cars that runs back to a hotrod SLK and now includes the fantastic C63 Coupe and the silly-fast twin-turbo V12 SL65. This time, though, it's different. The SLS is the first complete car developed by AMG and not modified from a Benz original.The Black Series package obviously includes a giant rear wing, aero 'flicks' ahead of the front wheels, and bigger forged alloy rims, but the development work goes a lot deeper. The car is 70 kilos lighter than a cooking gullwing and the engine makes 464 kiloWatts and 635 Newton-metres, so more power but less torque. And it revs all the way to 8000, with a seven-speed gearbox that's been tweaked for much quicker shifts.Digging into the detail, the engine sits lower, there is carbon fibre strengthening and a carbon fibre torque tube to the transaxle gearbox, an electronic limited-slip differential, and the front end has different steering knuckles and far less rubber.What does that all mean?Well, apart from the stratospheric price and Mick Doohan's demonstration laps on Sunday at the AGP meeting, it's a damn fast car. As I slide into the driver's seat - on the left-hand side, since the car is not staying in Australia - I can sense that it's a special occasion.The seat is a hip-hugger race bucket with no electric adjustment and there is a race driver - Dave Russell - already installed on the passenger side as my ‘coach’. Normally these blokes are a handbrake but he is a ripper guy who just wants me to go fast and enjoy the car.Then I turn the key. And I do. A regular SLS gullwing sounds chubby, but this one has the harsh brassy edge of greatness. It's a V8 that's born to run. As I roll down the pit lane, I can feel that the suspension is much more taut than a regular SLS - or something as humble as an HSV Holden - with all the bumps feeding straight back through the steering.Then I stomp on the gas and …. whoa, this thing is seriously seriously fast. Phillip Island is a fast track that demands respect, and so does the Black in yellow, but I'm rapidly approaching the sort of speeds and grip levels that are normally reserved for race cars.Compared with a ‘cooking’ SLS, this stove-hot rocket has much better ceramic brakes, turns like a soldier on parade, and has more power than I can use. I need to stop and think and download Dangerous Dave's eager coaching. While I wait, I soak up the details of a car that takes AMG and Benz into a world that's normally reserved for Ferrari and Lamborghini. Yes, it's that fast. For my second sprint, I quickly lift the pace and relax to enjoy the ride. Except...Except the car is so, so good that I'm struggling to stay ahead of the action. The back is a little unsettled in a couple of places, particularly into the left-hander at Siberia Corner, and the brakes are grabbing me down from more than 200km/h at three places on the track. I'm enjoying, but I am working hard. The car? I'm sure it has plenty in reserve.So I park and smile and laugh and hit the rewind button in my head to enjoy a very, very rare treat in a very rare car. The Black Series SLS is as focussed as anything I've driven at Phillip Island, and that includes a V8 Supercar and a Nissan GT-R, and as brutally fast as you could want or hope. It's silly money, and it would be stupid as a commuter car, but for one special day I'm living a dream.

Some cars make you feel like a million dollars. The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG achieves it at only half the price, making it something of a bargain.A soft-top roof means it misses out on the gullwing doors of its stablemate but it garners even more attention when it is exposed to the elements. That also lifts the lid on one of the best V8 soundtracks on the street, a mechanically composed siren’s song that invites licence-losing stabs of the right foot.VALUEIn the rarified realms of supercar ownership, cost is less of an issue than how the vehicle looks, or how the driver looks in the vehicle. An Audi R8 convertible is $100,000 cheaper than the Mercedes but Audi sold 41 R8s last year against 17 SLS sales.That makes the super-quick Merc grand tourer a more exclusive toy and means owners are less likely to be assailed by the sight of a similar car on weekend jaunts to the holiday house.The $487,000 list price is around $20,000 more than an SLS coupe, courtesy of the triple-layered fabric roof that folds in 11 seconds at speeds up to 50km/h. Most buyers spend well beyond that in personalising their ride, from $3775 for carbon-fibre mirror cowls to $29,750 for the ceramic brakes.TECHNOLOGYThe aluminium space frame houses a naturally aspirated 6.2-litre V8 that sounds as though it’s been penned in the massively long bonnet against its will. It snarls on start-up, bellows under the slightest provocation and crackles on the automated downshifts from the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. The full suite of technical wizardry is fitted to keep this toy on the tarmac, from adaptive cruise control to blind spot assistance and multi-stage stability control. DESIGNLook at the photos and make up your own mind. Mine says the soft-cloth top detracts from the overall appeal but that’s presumably down the fact AMG wanted to trim weight and keep the centre of gravity low. Top down, it’s a better-looking beast than the Gullwing: long, low and menacing. If only they’d clad it in radar-reflecting panels …SAFETYIt doesn’t feature in EuroNCAP or ANCAP databases because it’s not cost-effective to blow $500,000 on a car that only a handful of people can afford. It is a Merc, though, so it’s safe to assume the SLS holds up under impact.Driver and passenger get four airbags each, the software monitors everything and there is extra bracing throughout the car to keep it stiff and on the black stuff in the first place. Inattention or overconfidence are about the only excuses for binning the SLS … good luck explaining either to the insurance company.DRIVINGI don’t normally name cars, but the SLS AMG isn’t a normal car. I called her Luci, which elicited sighs from friends until I pointed out it was short for Lucifer. Helluva thing, this SLS. There’s no concession to banal practicalities like boot space or interior storage - the door-pocket strips couldn’t hold my wife’s purse - that’s what the other car is for (and I’m assured SLS buyers tend to own a couple of vehicles).It is built for visual and visceral pleasure. There’s a football field of bonnet up front but the car is still relatively easy to park. And a second of button-mashing setup transforms the vehicle from cruise to charge mode. Set the springs and transmission to comfort and it is easily handled eye-candy. Hit the AMG button and you’d better know your business.Right-foot response is hair-raisingly quick, the back end will step out before being electronically hauled into line and the steering picks up laser-guided precision. The brakes are brilliant and because the engine is behind the front axle they can be absolutely hammered without affecting the car’s stance.VERDICTThe spend may be outrageous but few vehicles combine this level of outright prowess with luxurious panache. If money wasn’t an object, the SLS would be the object of my affections, given there’d be another couple of spots in the CCTV-monitored garage for more mundane vehicles.Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG RoadsterPrice: from $487,000Warranty: 3 years/100,000kmResale: N/AService interval: 12 months/20,000kmCrash rating: Note testedSafety: 8 airbags, ABS with EBD, TC, ESC. Adaptive cruise controlEngine: 6.2-litre V8, 420kW/650NmTransmission: 7-speed automatic, rear-wheel driveDimensions: 4.64m (L), 1.94m (W), 1.26m (H)Weight: 1660kgSpare: Tyre-inflation kitThirst: 13.3 litres/100km 98 RON, 311g/km CO2.