Ahead of its public debut at the New York Motor Show in April, and just weeks after the new SL63 AMG was revealed, Mercedes-Benz has given us our first look at its big brother, the new range-topping SL65 AMG roadster.
If you thought the SL63 AMG sounded impressive, then you’ll really love this, as it’s another in a long-line of AMG-tuned cars that boasts not only a ridiculous amount of horsepower, but enough torque to move mountains.
So what’s hiding under the hood? It’s a 6-liter V12 with two turbochargers, capable of producing 621 horsepower between 4,800 and 5,400 rpm, and 738 lb-ft of torque. This converts into a 4-second 0-60 time, while the 0-125 miles per hour dash takes just 11.8 seconds, and it all ends at an electronically limited 155 miles per hour top speed.
This trumps the stock SL63 by 91 horsepower and shaves 0.3 seconds off the 0-60 run, all of which sounds great, but it’s the fact that the SL65 AMG has more power and more torque than the incredible SLS AMG that truly impresses. Despite this, it can’t quite match Merc’s supercar in acceleration or top speed.
The motor inside the SL65 is a tweaked version of the same unit crammed into the old model, but the transmission driving the rear-wheels has been upgraded to the 7G-Tronic, marking the first time Mercedes’ seven-speed automatic has been used on an SL65 series car.
Thanks to a new aluminum body and a carbon fiber trunk, the SL65 is 170 kg/374 pounds lighter than the outgoing model, which in turn has boosted the fuel economy, raising it by 17-percent to 24.4 miles per gallon according to Mercedes-Benz.
Your local dealer should be seeing the SL65 AMG in the fall, but pricing has yet to be announced, however that hasn’t stopped AutoExpress.co.uk from estimating it’ll reach £150,000 in the UK. That converts to $238,000 at today’s rate, and considering the slightly higher-specced SL65 AMG Black is around $300,000, probably isn’t that unrealistic.
While the SL65 AMG may not share the technological wonders found inside the new Ferrari F12berlinetta, it’s still great to see both these manufacturers embracing the V12 engine, a motor which some would rather see relegated to the history books. The fact that it’s still here, and more powerful than ever, is a very good thing indeed.
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