Enmanuel:

Great timing for this to come out. 

 

 

I have my own test road for all cars, every car I have owned done this one road as my benchmark, including my pickups. The Sea to Sky Highway from Vancouver to Whistler. 

Granted my SL63 only did it on winter tires right now, but even on those factory winters, I can comfortably say it rank quite a bit above my Vantage V12 manual in the summer, which I rank above my 911R (That V12 sounds soooooo much better). Just the dual clutch transmission means it is comfortably much higher in rank than manuals, even my 911R, which has a perfect manual that even monkeys can't fuck up a shift. I am very connected with the car through corners as my hands are on the steering wheel, very unlike where I have to take one hand off the wheel to shift every now and then, that's a joy killer. It is not nearly as good as my Exclusive for sure, but it doesn't mean it's bad, hard to match up with a turbo S anyways. And I am not even comparing it with the Exclusive on summers, it can't match it even on winters. Mercedes has too many settings, there isn't a combination of all those settings that I think is comparable to a stock Porsche setting. One don't 'win' with numerous settings, when a car is set up perfect, ONE setting is enough.

The SL is a sporty GT car, and for that category, it is quite accomplished. I would say it's better than my F12 before, which, normally would try to kill me anyways. By the same token, it's better than my FF before. The front-mid engine layout is super nice, even with the 'weight', it still eager to turn. it's a joy to drive once I accepted what it's intended role is. 

Can't take my 992 GT3RS up the same road yet, but I did with my GT4RS in summers. This is no match, but it isn't suppose to.  Don't have a 992 turbo to compare, nor any 911 turbo really; I think it's a match to my 996 turbo S however. The SL's rear wheel steering is just too 'active'. Mercedes do need to tune it down. Which I believe will happen for the new GT. Strangely, I think it just barely edge out the Panamera turbo S........that means the Panamera is REALLY good. 

It's a shit car at its MSRP, no sugar coating that. But at a discount price, it's a fantastic car. 

About the ONLY complaint about the SL I can do is the fuel consumption. Nitpicking. Yeah I know. But it does comsume more fuel for the same distance than just about anything else I have driven over the same road. Even thirstier than the V12 in the Aston, that's saying something. And yes, the Ferrari giant V12s in the F12 and the FF are sipping compared to the Aston V12. NOT EVEN CLOSE. Ferrari is just that much better in utilizing the same amount of fuel. 

I have driven over 100 different automobiles on the same stretch of road for the last 33 years, I would put the SL63 in the top 15% for pure enjoyment. That's saying something about 'a Mercedes'. 

 

 


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