Drunkendubber Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG A 604-horsepower slap in the face. CAR&DRIVER BY TONY QUIROGA PHOTOGRAPHY BY AARON KILEY http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/1222004164010.jpg Some might argue that the 604 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque packed into the SL65 AMG are too much power and thrust for a road car. They're wrong. No, the SL65 doesn't have too much power. Its problem is it wasn't given a commensurate helping of traction. After you drive the SL65, every car will feel underpowered. And making other cars feel anemic is exactly the goal of a global horsepower race. So with the SL65, Mercedes has removed a glove and slapped the face of the entire industry and issued a very big challenge. http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/121200410025.jpg Admittedly, there are cars with more horsepower, and there are cars with better power-to-weight ratios. Two of them are the Ferrari Enzo and the Porsche Carrera GT, but those sex kittens can't touch the torque offering of the SL65, and more important, they aren't cars that can be used daily as easily as can the SL65, which is no more difficult to drive every day as the half-as-expensive, half-as-powerful SL500. There are a few things that make the SL65 worth the extra $90,800 over an SL500, one of which is the twin-turbocharged 6.0-liter V-12, a 467cc-larger version of the engine in the SL600. Another is the defeated look on the faces of SL500 owners when they read the SL65 badge. Their day is shot. They'll probably just go home and kick the dog, because up until that moment they thought they were Hugh Hefner. What you don't get with the SL65, oddly enough, is a time that is faster to 60 mph than the SL600's, a car that costs a mere $130,820. The SL600 does the deed in 3.6 seconds, the $182,720 SL65's best time was 3.8 seconds. Please don't call urging that we take competence tests. The "problem," as we've said, with the SL65 is that it doesn't have adequate traction to handle the horsepower hysteria. The rear tires have the same width as the SL600's, despite the AMG car's additional 111 horses and 148 pound-feet. http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/1222004164219.jpg All that oomph makes it nearly impossible to launch the SL65 hard without excessive wheelspin. Hang on for 11.9 seconds (the same elapsed time it takes the SL600 to run a quarter-mile), and you'll be going 123 mph, 3 mph faster than the SL600. Finding the difference between the two V-12 SLs is like trying to distinguish whether a young Muhammad Ali or Mike Tyson punched you—either way, your head is going to ring. So are those 3 mph worth the difference in price between the SL600 and SL65—$51,900, which is, while we're counting, the value of a well-equipped SLK350? Probably not, but although they put out similar numbers, the character of the SL65 is as different from the similarly fast SL600 as Ali is from Tyson—class versus a bit crass. Since the SL65 has the full AMG treatment—the SL600 doesn't—it gets a more aggressive body kit that includes a front bumper with a wider mouth that accommodates larger intercoolers. There is also a rich, deep-throated free-flowing exhaust that actually sounds like a turbocharged V-12. Further tweaks ditch the SL600's 18-inch wheels and add larger two-piece 19-inch wheels filled by 15.4-inch rotors clamped by enormous eight-piston calipers up front and 14.2-inch rotors with four-piston calipers doing the squeezing in back. The SL65's brakes have deep reserves that stop the 4494-pound roadster from 70 mph in 160 feet. All SLs come equipped with Mercedes' Sensotronic brake-by-wire system that is a bit grabby and difficult to modulate as one comes to a stop. Other than that caveat, the brakes give no hint of fade and inspire confidence when you kick the pedal at 145 mph. This Benz needs a lot of room to exercise. Punch the throttle on the road, and you'll fly by the cars next to you and reach the cars ahead of you instantly. The passing power never gets old, but to avoid a massive ticket, we took the SL65 to the track to properly pile-drive the speedo needle. In the corners, the SL65 displayed safe handling that erred on the side of understeer, and body roll was kept in check by the Active Body Control that levels the suspension to keep the car flat. There is plenty of grip as displayed by the 0.93 g achieved on the skidpad, but this is one heavy roadster that is more comfortable reeling in cars on the straight than in the corners. And reel them in it did. Porsche 911s and Corvettes were passed so quickly we barely had time to ask, "Who's your daddy?" After a few laps a crowd began to gather on the pit wall to watch the SL65 demonstrate its straight-line supremacy. All those spectators would likely agree that the SL65 wasn't overpowered but, rather, just right. http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/12120049599.jpg Vehicle type: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door roadster Price as tested: $186,870 (base price: $182,720) Engine type: twin-turbocharged and intercooled SOHC 36-valve V-12, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection Displacement: 365 cu in, 5980cc Power (SAE net): 604 bhp @ 5500 rpm Torque (SAE net): 738 lb-ft @ 2000 rpm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Transmission:5-speed automatic with manumatic shifting Wheelbase: 100.8 in Length/width/height :178.5/71.5/51.0 in Curb weight: 4494 lb -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zero to 60 mph: 3.8 sec Zero to 100 mph: 8.2 sec Zero to 130 mph: 13.4 sec Street start, 5-60 mph: 4.3 sec Standing 1/4-mile: 11.9 sec @ 123 mph Top speed (governor limited): 156 mph Braking, 70-0 mph: 160 ft Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.93 g EPA fuel economy, city driving: 12 mpg C/D-observed fuel economy: 13 mpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 *drool* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest timmybgood Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 738ft lbs@2000rpms...that would be sweet to tow a ton of stuff with your SL, ha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Got-Boost? Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 It will probably run low 11's with slicks! Ben Treynor just bought one, I'm waiting to see what he does with it. So far he's run an 11.7 @ 127mph BONE STOCK. Should have some DR's on next time out and then some RENNTECH software upgrades. He'll be in the 10's before you know it. Shit his BIG heavy ASS S600 runs 11.3's! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Harris92 Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 Damn those things are fast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPLN SUX Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 civic EX > SL65 graemlins/thumb.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOS50 Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 Too bad those things break down so much.I could go a lot faster than 11.7 for $186k.They are nice looking though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Harris92 Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 You could go way faster than that for the price, its just crazy that they made a mercedes with 738 pounds of torque Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Got-Boost? Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 Originally posted by MRMEANR: civic EX > SL65 graemlins/thumb.gif What's that suppose to mean? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinner Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 very nice i would still take a ZO6 over that. smile.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Got-Boost? Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 Originally posted by NOS50: Too bad those things break down so much.I could go a lot faster than 11.7 for $186k.They are nice looking though.When do they break down? I have yet to hear any stories about them or recalls issued? How reliable is your Talon with 604HP/738TQ? The hole money thing is old! If you had the cash, that would be a hell of a daily driver....period. My bike will smoke it for $10k but I can't cruise at 190mph all day long with the A/C on in the rain like the SL65 will! Just accept it for what it is and let it go people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rally Red Evo Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 Over 600 HP shouldn't you trap over 123 MPH? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrousbird Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 Originally posted by Rally Red Evo: Over 600 HP shouldn't you trap over 123 MPH?Heavy car + shitty mainstream car magazine drivers = poor times and poor traps. Period. They are good at wringing out times of slow, easy to launch cars that don't take much skill to drive at their maxium. Give them a car that takes a bit of finesse, and they are done for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 Originally posted by MRMEANR: civic EX > SL65 graemlins/thumb.gif graemlins/jerkit.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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