The 2022 Mercedes-AMG SL 63 has a fabric top for the first time since the early 2000s.Jeremy Sinek/The Globe and Mail
Seven decades on, the Mercedes SL is returning to its roots – well, sort of.
The original mid-1950s 300SL coupe with its iconic gullwing doors was a street-going spinoff from an all-conquering race car. Only committed performance drivers needed apply. But while subsequent generations have included some very powerful engine options – experiencing a twin-turbo V12 spinning the rear wheels at 130 kilometres an hour in third gear on dry pavement comes to mind – the essence of the SL has long been more of a refined cruising-and-posing status statement than an aggressive backroads-strafing sports car.
That stopped with the latest generation of the SL, the R232, which leaped in 2022 to Mercedes’ AMG performance division. The new model was engineered with a lightweight architecture shared with the next-generation AMG coupe. And the only version sold in Canada (at least for now) is this take-no-prisoners, 577-horsepower SL 63 edition.
If that doesn’t convince you the SL 63 has “gone rogue,” just take a spin around the block. Hear the thunderstorm rumbling and crackling from the tailpipes. Feel every nuance of the pavement’s topography through the wheel rim and the seat of your pants. Venture onto the freeway and you may also notice that the fabric top, back on the SL for the first time since the turn of the 21st century, cannot match the all-season refinement of the last two generations’ retractable hardtops.
Yet the back-to-its-raw-roots theme only goes so far, because the R232 introduces two other changes that, says Mercedes, make it “particularly suitable for everyday use” – two-plus-two seating and all-wheel drive. The extra kid-size rear seats were an option on some previous generations but are now standard. The all-wheel drive (4Matic+ in Mercedes-speak) has a fully variable front-to-rear torque split.
There’s nothing retro, either, about all the contemporary technology that’s now standard or available in the categories of digital infotainment and connectivity, driver-assist safety systems, and mechanical wizardry such as active ride control with active anti-roll stabilization and rear-wheel steering.
Absent from the list, however, is Drive Pilot – currently the closest Mercedes offers to full autonomous driving – and that’s as it should be. This is not a car that invites operating on auto pilot.
In this application, the turbocharged AMG four-litre V8 generates 577 horsepower between 5,500 and 6,500 revolutions per minute, and 590 lb-ft of torque from 2,500 to 5,000 rpm. An electrified powertrain is in the pipeline.Jeremy Sinek/The Globe and Mail
Put another way, harken again to those tailpipes. If your gearhead ears hear the aural equivalent of full-fat butterscotch ice cream topped with Smarties and candied ginger, you belong in this car. If you think it sounds like something is broken, buy a Buick instead.
The SL 63 has Comfort, Sport, Sport+ and Race drive modes, and even in Comfort, the exhaust music is omnipresent. Likewise the essential stiffness of the ride, which, nonetheless, will feel perfectly appropriate to anyone who prefers a driving experience that’s involving, not isolated.
Your reward is a degree of steering engagement and chassis athleticism that may not quite equal Porsche 911 levels, but certainly come far closer to that paragon than any past SL. After all, the AMG GT, with which the SL now shares a chassis, was developed as a direct challenge to the 911.
Moving up the SL 63′s sportier drive modes doesn’t greatly harshen the ride, but the “rev-matching” throttle blips on every routine downshift can be over the top, and the transmission increasingly avoids the higher gears of the otherwise superb nine-speed automatic. That said, even while cruising in Comfort mode in top gear at Ontario highway speeds, you’ll want to turn up the audio volume.
Alternatively, push your right ankle all the way down and enjoy acceleration that feels as ferocious as it sounds. Mercedes claims 3.6 seconds for the sprint to 100 kilometres an hour, but Car and Driver testers beat that by half a second. Mind you, they used anti-social track techniques that eliminate turbo lag but would likely cost you your licence if deployed on the street.
The interior of the 2022 Mercedes-AMG SL 63 strikes a balance between tradition and screen-ified modernity, but still overly relies on touch-screen controls.Jeremy Sinek/The Globe and Mail
As for the SL’s “particular suitability” for everyday use, the benefits of all-wheel drive hardly need explaining. And those second-row seats? Yes, theoretically, even adults could squeeze in, if the front seaters share legroom. Realistically, however, the seats are so awkwardly shaped that even toddlers would squawk at being stashed back there. Better to think of the back seats as cargo space to supplement the shallow trunk’s 240-litre top-up volume (212 litres with the top down).
For all its restored dynamism, Mercedes still calls the R232 “luxurious” … and so it is, in all aspects that don’t involve the actual driving experience. Sumptuous seats (with built-in Air Scarf neck-warming vents for cool-weather alfresco driving) are generously adjustable for varying body types and posture preferences, and there are no particular sight-line problems.
Thankfully, AMG resisted installing the wall-to-wall widescreen we’ve seen on many other Benzes. The gauge cluster is digital, but beautifully replicates an analog display, mounted in a traditional binnacle. A separate portrait-oriented screen juts up from the centre console at an angle that can be adjusted to avoid reflections when the top is down.
That adjustability matters, because most secondary-control functions – including lowering and raising the top – are based on the screen.
Tiny swipe-or-poke buttons on the steering-wheel spokes will be familiar from many other recent Benzes, likewise the spindly stalk switch that serves as the gear selector.
A burly T-handle on the centre console would better suit the SL 63, but if you can live with the car’s new-found machismo (and, of course, if you can swing the $215,000 starting price), you won’t let a little thing like a drive-selector switch come between you. Alternatively, wait to see if Mercedes-Benz Canada broadens its offerings to include the less-potent SL 43 and SL 55 models already available in other markets.
Vertical backrests and sharply ramped cushions on the 2022 Mercedes-AMG SL 63 make the rear seats uncomfortable even if you are able to theoretically fit back there.Jeremy Sinek/The Globe and Mail
Tech specs
2022 Mercedes-AMG SL 63 4Matic+
- Base price/as tested: $215,000/$226,500
- Engine: Four-litre turbocharged V8
- Transmission/drive: Nine-speed automatic/all-wheel drive.
- Fuel consumption (litres per 100 kilometres): 17.1 city/11.3 highway
- Alternatives: Aston Martin Vantage, Audi R8 Spyder, BMW M8 Cabriolet, Ferrari Portofino, Lexus LC, Porsche 911 Turbo
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