Whatever driving mode you’re in, from Eco to Sport+, the pair works as a dynamic partnership to provide epicurean wafting with seamless thrust. Otherwise, the pairing of the V-6 with the 9G-Tronic is one of typical Mercedes polished excellence. It is designed, apparently, for those who find themselves with the unhappy duty of chauffeuring a grandparent over the Tail of the Dragon.Īctive Body Control ran $4090 extra on the outgoing SL400, so you may be able to summon the inner fortitude to pass on this option. It’s a strange sensation, the car noticeably tucking its inside front corner down as you turn into a bend. Curve instructs the hydraulic rams in the suspension to apply a maximum of 2.65 degrees of body lean into a corner to reduce the effects of lateral acceleration on the passengers. Well, Curve is not for fast driving, as the throttle goes soft and the car becomes rather somnolent in this mode. You might wonder why a mode called Curve wasn’t just incorporated into the Sport or Sport+ settings.
Or curvy, as the car benefits from a new drive mode for the optional Active Body Control system called “Curve.” The SL450 is being positioned as the sporty model against the more luxurious SL550 V-8, and as such the chassis tuning is a little more edgy.
Under the skin, the output from the base 3.0-liter twin-turbo V-6 in the SL450 we drove (renamed from SL400) rises by 33 horsepower to 362, and the new 9G-Tronic automatic replaces the previous seven-speed. That’s been fixed, sort of, with new headlamps and bumper plastic that relaxes the face a little, augmented by a couple of hood blisters evoking the ’55 300SL Gullwing. Can we now say without fear of being shouted down that the 2013 redesign was less than successful? Long overhangs were tacked on to the front and back, and the headlights were given weird inflamed tear ducts, as if the car had a horrendous case of pinkeye. One change is some subtle re-skinning up front to smooth and sleeken the car’s lines. Yet it’s a big frog in this small pond, a position it’s likely to keep thanks to certain refinements for 2017 and the usual plethora of choices, from the circa-$88,000 SL450 to the about-$220,000 SL65 AMG (exact prices aren’t out yet). We’re not talking big business here Benz sold just over 4000 SLs last year in the United States. Smack in the middle of this Venn diagram is the Mercedes-Benz SL, a car that achieves both sportiness and coddling comfort with practiced aplomb, which is why we rate it tops among its peers.
BMW doesn’t really play in the arena, as the 6-series has to be loaded to the nines (or ordered in M6 form) to pass $100K, and the new Audi R8 convertible isn’t out yet. You can get a Porsche 911 Cabrio or Targa (2016 base prices: $97,250 and $103,980) or an Aston Martin V8 Vantage convertible ($122,325). In many segments, car companies are viciously duplicating each other as fast as possible with nearly identical products, but among $100,000–$150,000 sports convertibles, the choices vary widely in personality and purpose. When you reach the price of the Mercedes-Benz SL-class roadster, the market does something unusual: It separates.
0 kommentar(er)
