The Mercedes AMG SL63 is truly hard to fault
When you’ve had your fill of Ferraris and Porsches, it could be time to kick back in this gorgeous work of art of a car (and there’s even room for the grandkids).
When you ask high-end car companies who will actually buy their stupidly powerful, visually arresting and wallet-smackingly pricey supercars, you tend to hear the same terms: “entrepreneurs”, “high-net-worth individuals” or “well-heeled enthusiasts”.
It came as some surprise, then, as Mercedes-Benz was launching the gorgeous, last-of-its-ilk collector’s item work of art that is the AMG SL63 – so perfectly proportioned, with its Superman-like chest and taut, tight rear end, that it even looks good in white (not something many cars can pull off in my opinion) – to hear a new one: “grandparents”.
It does kind of make sense, in terms of being able to afford a $373,370 convertible in which you can ride into the warm glow of the sunset, that it might be superannuated boomers who are best placed for the outlay. The status and style of the SL – a badge that has long represented the cruisier, slightly less insane end of the supercar car park – would also appeal to people who have had their fill of frantic Ferraris and pelvis-shattering Porsches.
The real reasoning behind Benz’s discussion of grandparents, however, was that this new SL, which will definitely be the last to have a thumping twin-turbo V8, is the first ever to offer back seats – or at least something that looks like back seats from a distance.
This is what car companies call a “two plus two” configuration, because even their levels of bravura exaggeration would struggle to call a roadster with a couple of seat belts, some padding, and a back rest so upright it would make a bearskin-hatted King’s Guard look like a slouch, a four-seat vehicle.
The move to these rear pews (I did see a journalist trying to sit in the back, and he seemed to be calling for God’s help – a lot) was driven by customer demand. People, or grandpeople, want to be able to use a vehicle like this more often, for more things, and while you wouldn’t attempt to put a teenager in the back, even if they really annoyed you, those plus-twos would be ok for transferring grandchildren for short trips. Allegedly, you can even get a child seat back there.
Having four seats did mean shifting back to an old-school soft top rather than a folding hard roof, and you do notice the difference at highway speeds, where there is some wind noise, but other than that it is truly hard to fault this AMG-fettled thing of beauty.
The SL63 isn’t perfect, but in terms of its design brief, it’s pretty damn close. Set off in Comfort mode on a sunny winter day with the roof down and you can soak up S-Class limousine-like levels of classic Mercedes-Benz luxury (complete with seat massage and an Airscarf blowing warm air on the back of your neck).
Even in that relaxed setting, you immediately notice how tightly muscular and delightfully talkative this SL’s steering is, although what you don’t notice is any sound at all from its thumping 4.0-litre V8 – just a kind of silent, effortless surge whenever you need to leave traffic behind.
Flick the switch to the sportier modes, however, and even at idle you instantly hear the beast beneath that big domed bonnet belching politely. Unleash its potent 430kW and 800Nm and you will feel no regrets about having traded in a flashier and less comfortable Italian supercar to make this Mercedes your daily driver.
The gear shifts from the nine-speed, paddle-shift gearbox are crackerjack fast, and the SL63 really rewards choosing Manual mode and getting involved with the machine. Select the Race setting for the engine and the Merc morphs into an entirely different machine from the sun-loving tourer you started the day in. And a much, much louder one.
The balance between a cosseting ride and enough involvement to make you feel part of the road has been perfectly judged with its AMG Active Ride Control, and the faster you go the better and more feelsome the steering wheel gets.
Mercedes-Benzes often deliver overly light tillers, but when its cars are gussied up by the crazed engineers at its sporty AMG department they reach another level entirely. You want to find sweeping S bends in a car like this, and every time you do it delivers miles of smiles. While the SL used to be rear-wheel drive, it’s now so powerful that it needs to be an all-wheel set-up, but most of that power is still going to the rear wheels so it feels like a proper sports car.
Aesthetics, of course, are hugely important when you’re dropping so many dollars on a car like this and the SL63 absolutely delivers on beauty. You can spend up to an extra $10,190 for special paint, but frankly it looks just as good in the standard colours.
The interior comfort, style and convenience – the giant 11.9-inch touch screen that runs the car can be tilted between 12 and 32 degrees to avoid sun glare – are also absolutely top class and the roof takes just 15 seconds to raise or lower at speeds of up to 60km/h.
Frankly, a car as good as the Mercedes-AMG SL63 is entirely wasted on grandchildren. Take me in the back instead (I’ll send my legs by courier).
MERCEDES-AMG SL63
Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 430kW
Torque: 800Nm
Transmission: 9-speed AMG Speedshift automatic, all-wheel drive
Fuel economy: 13.9 litres per 100km
Price: $373,370
This article appears in the October 6 edition of WISH Magazine, out now.
