MERCEDES SL500 Overview, Specs, Design and Picture

The MERCEDES SL is one if those cars that’s managed to get on for decades without paying much heed to fashion or changing tastes. Granted, the original 300SL ‘Gullwing’ turned more than a few heads when it first appeared back in 1954, but its successors quickly established themselves in a more comfortable evolutionary groove based on the simple combination of wafty performance and boulevard-friendly chassis settings. And these were qualities that appealed so strongly to the SL’s well-heeled, well-tanned clientele that one generation was allowed to soldier on for no less than 17 years before being replaced.

Which is why it’s surprising that Mercedes is putting so much effort into turning the new, sixth-generation SL into a very different car than its predecessors, one we’re promised possesses real to  driver appeal. Nice to know, but it’s not like there was much wrong with the old recipe in terms of delivering sales numbers.

Anyway, it;s been a long time since ant SL justified the ultimate derivation of its name-tag, ‘Sport Leicht’ (Sport Light), but this one at least tries. Its aluminum body-shell – the first on a production Mercedes – makes clever use of both varying thicknesses and grades fo alloy to maximize strength and minimalism mass. Mercedes claims it’s a whopping 110kg lighter than the steel frame of the last SL and we’re also told that it’s far more rigid – something confirmed by spending two days with the new SL on some of the bendiest ad bumpiest roads that southern Spain has to offer

As before, engine choice is between a V6 and a pair of V8s. As we won’t have the full-fat SL63 AMG until later this year, we’re driving the otherwise brawniest MERCEDES SL500. This comes with a versions of the twin-turbo 4.7-litre V8 that’s already been seen in the E-Class coupe and new CLS500. It produces 429bph and 516lb ft of torque and – as you’d expect in this green-tinted age – also provides a welcome boost to fuel economy compared with the old SL500. Mercedes is claiming 31mpg combined for the SL500, and 41.5mpg for the 302bhp V6-engined SL350.