NO CHECKERED FLAG, BUT IT CAN STILL RUN
Mercedes’ SL550 is a sporty boulevardier, even if expensive and a bit on the porky side
It remains a constant source of bemusement to me that Mercedes’ long-standing paean to glamorous lifestyle, its two-seat SL roadster, has its roots in postwar motorsports. It started off as the gull-wing-door 300SL in 1952 and achieved great success
— in various and more powerful permutations — in races such as La Carrera Panamericana, the Mille Miglia and Le Mans. It then morphed, over six generations of passenger-car spinoffs, into a grand boulevardier more likely to be seen on Rodeo Drive, Bond Street or the Mink Mile.
OK, so the SL has packed on some beef as it evolved into the current R231 model that made its debut in 2012. The 1952 300SL race car weighed 868 kilograms and was considered heavy for the time. The 2017 SL550 I’m driving weighs 1,795 kg. Conversely, the 300SL’s 3.0-litre six-cylinder engine put out 171 horsepower, but the 550’s twin-turbo 4.7-L V-8 pumps out 449 hp. And, yes, the SL can still be had with a twin-turbo V-12; the Mercedes-AMG SL65’s 6.0-L V-12 generates a monstrous 621 hp, though not as outrageous as the 2008 SL 65 Black Series I sampled a couple of months ago.
The SL550, with a starting price of $126,000, is quick. Just put it in sport or sport-plus mode and have at it, plucking on the paddle shifter. Mercedes claims a time of just 4.3 seconds to hit 100 kilometres an hour, but clearly this will not be common usage. The same applies to the SL’s handling dynamics; it is deceptively sporty. It is stable and quite capable of cornering with imperceptible body roll. But steering is heavier than it needs to be and you feel the car’s bulk as it moves laterally. However, there’s a new curve tilting function that applies a maximum of 2.65 degrees to reduce the effects of lateral acceleration on the SL’s occupants.
There have been some alterations to the SL550’s style for the 2017 model year, though the biggest change is mechanical, with a new nine-speed transmission replacing last year’s sevenspeed. The instrument cluster has a two-tube look for displaying speed and r.p.m., combining classic circular instruments with modern display technology. Dials and pointers have a new sporty design.
Some critics say Mercedes has lost its mojo with this car, that this current model lacks the panache of its forebears, that it’s no longer timeless, but dated. Maybe, but the whole auto market is in a state of flux, with car sales in most segments suffering as consumers move to crossovers and sport utes. The premium sports car slice of that pie is limited by the number of players in it, and accounts for a minuscule percentage of total sales in Canada.
Personally, I’m a sucker for cars with great motorsport histories, and the SL’s is solid gold. Yes, it traded its race suit for formal wear long ago, but it still knows how to show someone a good time and it does so with seemingly little effort. That’s simply good breeding.