SLS 63 AMG: The Gullwing spirit is coming
Now if we had more than one motoring man here in Abuja office then we would have to drag who was going to drive it. So that means I’m going to drive it when it arrives-yep me! Why should it be a fascinating thing to drive this car? This is because it is the real […]
Now if we had more than one motoring man here in Abuja office then we would have to drag who was going to drive it. So that means I’m going to drive it when it arrives-yep me!
Why should it be a fascinating thing to drive this car? This is because it is the real sports car MB has built since 1956 apart from the SLR. It has a very light aluminum chassis that is very firm and ridged. Compared with the traditional steel design, it’s a significant weight saving, resulting to a planned DIN kerb weight of 1620 kilograms excluding driver- it’s lighter than the E-class. This allows the sport car to take a bend in an agile manner. The experience you will likely get with a car with long bonnet is you’ll feel a thrilling push from the rear wheel especially the outer wheel that may send you violently out at a corner if you can’t control it- it’s not a small boys toy. The super sports car serves up an exciting proposition with its unique technology package: aluminium spaceframe body with gullwing doors. The smartest thing about the chassis is that the engine is in front but push as far back as possible so as to even out weight distribution as much as possible. The ideal front/rear weight distribution of 48 to 52 percent and the vehicle’s low centre of gravity are testimony to the uncompromising sports car concept. This goes in line with the principles of designing a sport car- all weight must be centralized as much as possible. With the SLS that front looks rather disturbing and we reckon the feel we are going to get from the chassis is a pointy feel when negotiating bends.
But our greatest thrill will come from a straight line launch of the SLS which is what we expect to experience. Between a BMW and a Mercedes, the Mercedes has always proved to be faster- in fact it always feels like it has and elastic power that will keep making it go on and on. The fine-tuned AMG 6.3-litre V8 engine achieves a peak output of 420 kW/571 hp at 6800 rpm, thus turning the SLS AMG into one of the most powerful sports cars in its segment. The eight-cylinder naturally-aspirated engine delivers maximum torque of 650 Nm at 4750 rpm. The ‘Gullwing’ accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.8 seconds, before going on to a top speed of 315 km/h- of course I think you’d want to try this speed.
Mercedes-Benz is presenting an exhilarating super sports car in the guise of the new SLS AMG, which is bound to set the pulses of all car enthusiasts racing that extra bit faster. The SLS AMG is emotion pure and simple for the Mercedes-Benz brand and is set to become one of the most alluring sports cars of our era according to Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars. We hope this is what we’ll experience when it arrives.