Mercedes-AMG SL 43 review: A good-looking disappointment
As with the drivetrain, you need to go faster to appreciate the sharper turn-in to corners that rear-wheel drive engenders. In fact, the steering is nicely responsive and there’s commendable chassis balance on faster corners, but it doesn’t give much in the way of feedback or leave a smile on your face. The brakes are slightly grabbing on the first movement of the pedal, but after that slowing is progressive and intuitive.
In the end it is a boulevardier rather than the sports car that you may be hoping for, and while this is pretty much in line with the way the SL range has developed over the years, there has always been one model in the SL range which is the out-and-out sports version. This isn’t it.
Verdict
Overall this car, carrying Mercedes-Benz’s oldest surviving name plate, feels highly symptomatic of the 21st-century car company. A once unbelievably glamorous and redolent name has now been corporatised and compromised with a hot-hatchback engine and some electric furbelows, yet it still carries a six-figure windscreen sticker.
Mercedes never tires of telling us about its peerless history, yet it feels as if this car is slavishly following the Porsche 911’s cabin configuration, Europe’s emissions rules for its drivetrains and a marketing brief that doesn’t give a stuff for what went before - and fervently hopes that we won’t notice. We did, and I’m wondering about those divorce papers …
The facts
On test: Mercedes-Benz SL 43 Touring
Body style: two-door roadster
On sale: now
How much? £108,165
How fast? 171mph/0-62mph in 4.9sec
How economical? 31.1mpg WLTP Combined, as tested 30.2mpg
Engine and gearbox: 1,999cc, four-cylinder, in-line turbocharged petrol, with 48V mild hybrid and electronic turbo, 9spd torque-converter automatic transmission, rear-wheel drive via electronic limited-slip differential
Maximum power/torque: 375bhp @ 6,750rpm/354lb ft @ 3,250rpm
CO2 emissions: 207g/km
VED: £1,565 first year, then £180, plus £390 luxury car tax for years two to six
Warranty: three years, unlimited mileage
The rivals
Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet
from £107,000