Supercar tries its wings

The SLS is a styling blend of old and new to look at, and just eight will be arriving in New Zealand - all pre-sold. Photo / Split Image Multimedia

If one of the handful of New Zealanders who shelled out $450,000 for the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG happens to tip the supercar on its roof, mini explosions will tell the upside-down driver that the gullwing doors, the very things that more than likely lured the owner to the car in the first place, have been blown apart.

But before the pyrotechnics, sensors will have shut down the engine, killed the battery, opened the windows a touch. All in an instant. The explosions will unhinge the doors from the roof, allowing occupants to get out, or rescuers to get in.

Mercedes-Benz showed a video of what happens in such circumstances before the launch of the SLS in Sydney the other day. Another video showed Formula One's Michael Schumacher getting out of the SLS, after an upside-down sprint along the roof of a tunnel.

It wasn't clear whether Schumacher had actually driven the SLS, or the whole high-speed manoeuvre was computer-generated. What was clear was that Mercedes-Benz Australia wanted the three test cars and six journos - five Aussies, one Kiwi - back in one piece from the 500km loop. No Schumacher-like tunnel tricks, said its PR people.

The first indication that the day would be different from most launches was the reaction of Sydneysiders to the SLS: drivers and passengers in slow traffic in southern suburbs used cellphone cameras to grab pictures of the car. Why not - there hasn't been anything like the SLS in more than 50 years.

The supercar is the spiritual successor to the 300SL Gullwing Mercedes-Benz of the 1950s. The car's doors are an obvious novelty, a modern take on a 50-year-old design. Same with the car itself, heavily inspired by the design lines of the original: long bonnet, short rear deck.

The SLS bonnet is massive, a flat landing deck of a design. "Could land a chopper on it," said one of the Aussies. The car itself is wide, too - at 1939mm it is wider even than the Mercedes-Benz S-Class saloon.

The SLS is the first vehicle developed entirely in-house by AMG, which officially became part of Mercedes-Benz in 1990.

Like the original Gullwing, the SLS uses a lightweight spaceframe chassis, made mostly from aluminium and weighing just 241kg. Aluminium is used in the doors and most of the body panels, too. The sideskirts, bumpers and bootlid are plastic. The car's A-pillars are all steel. The result is a kerb weight of 1620kg.

The SLS is being built at the largest Mercedes-Benz assembly plant, Sindelfingen, from where a convertible derivative is expected in about 12 months and an all-electric version by 2015. A smaller SLS is also likely.

Eight cars will be built in 2010 for New Zealand - and all have buyers' names on them. The first SLS will arrive here over the next month.

"We expect four or five out of the eight to go into the hands of owners this year," says Mercedes-Benz passenger car general manager Coby Duggan.

"The remainder will be built later in the year and arrive here early in 2011."

Duggan says only eight cars were allocated to New Zealand for 2010.

"We weren't going to get any more because of the size of our market," he says.

Most of the eight SLS buyers are existing Mercedes-Benz owners - "not surprisingly from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch" - but Duggan hopes to lure owners of rival supercars into the SLS next year.

"I expect production numbers from the factory to be a bit more flexible in 2011 and I'd like to think we could get conquest sales from Ferrari, for example."

The SLS is a styling blend of old and new to look at, but the DNA ends under the bonnet with a dry-sump version of AMG's naturally aspirated 6.3-litre V8, the engine that powers the AMG C63 sedan.

That's where comparisons end. Engineers have reworked the SLS V8, adding 120 new components to deliver 420kW at 6800rpm and 650Nm of torque from 4750rpm. Power alone is 86kW up on the C63 engine.

The SLS V8 weighs 206kg, sits back from the front axle and powers the rear wheels via a lightweight carbon-fibre driveshaft and a seven-speed twin-clutch sequential gearbox, another first for Mercedes-Benz. There's also a mechanical limited-slip differential.

The driveshaft is a carbon-fibre unit, weighing 4.7kg and based on those used in the carmaker's C-Class DTM race cars. Iron brakes are standard, ceramics optional.

The SLS has a 47/53 per cent front/rear weight distribution and rides on forged aluminium double wishbones front and rear. Low speed ride on the non-variable set-up is firmish; higher speeds smooth things out. Top speed is 317km/h.

Town-and-around fuel consumption is a claimed 13.2 litres/100km from the 99-litre tank. Fuel use was disrupted somewhat in the test SLS by an accident and 2km traffic snarl 60km south of Sydney. But observing the speed limit returned similar numbers to those claimed by the carmaker.

The SLS is a genuine supercar, rocketing from zero to 100km/h in a claimed 3.8 seconds and on to 160km/h in eight seconds. The muscular engine is a joy, providing a linear rush of oomph long after the back wheels bite the tarseal.

The seven-speed gearbox has four modes. The standard setting marries power and low revs. Works well in all circumstances. Choose Sport, Sport+ or Manual and shift speeds increase. Hang around peak torque in the right gear and the throttle response is all T-Rex and testosterone.

That's where the adjustable steering is at its best. It's quick - 2.5 turns lock to lock - and accurate, good for driver confidence through the twisty bits. The torsional strength of the spaceframe design shines in such circumstances. So do the brakes. Track day drivers will go for ceramics, which cope better with the build-up of heat.

Back to the doors and cabin. The doors have to be opened and closed manually. Electrics would have added weight, says AMG.

Unlock the car and small rectangular handles ease out from each door. The doors are light, swinging upwards with the aid of a gas strut. Nearly all first-timers slide into the seats, expecting the door to close on its own. The trick is to pull the door down as you step in over the wide sill. It takes practice.

Also, stand straight up as soon as you exit the roomy and well-sorted cabin and, sure as eggs, you will bump your head on the door. Try it when an SLS tours Mercedes-Benz dealerships in New Zealand from next week.