The Mercedes-Benz SLS Roadster AMG may have been conceived alongside the spectacular Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, but the convertible has had to do without the most important and iconic feature – those gullwing doors.
Obviously, there is no longer a proper roof on which to hinge them. So, the new sports car gets normal doors in addition to a triple-layer fabric roof, which has a frame of exotic composite construction (magnesium, steel and aluminium).
A retractable hard-top like that of the SL was ruled out because it weighs considerably more and would have compromised the dramatic styling. In my opinion, a vario-roof SLS might also cannibalise some sales from the new-age gullwing model.
Thanks to its aluminium spaceframe, the SLS Roadster’s body-in-white with all the necessary reinforcements weighs a mere 2kg more than the coupe’s. After you add the equipment, luxuries and that powered soft-top, the convertible tips the scales at 1660kg – laudable, because that is a weight gain of just 40kg compared to the usual 100kg of most other large cabriolets.
Exterior-wise, if you love the looks of the SLS, this alfresco bodystyle will blow you away (and blow dry your hair right away). With styling cues from the legendary 300SL Gullwing, a thrusting long bonnet (almost two metres in length) and that “rearward” cabin, the SLS is already a thing of beauty. Chop the top and voila, it’s become a truly alluring automotive sculpture.
With the top down, the cockpit is brightly lit in all its glory. Carried over from the gullwinged SLS are its aircraft-inspired elements, such as the wing-shaped dashboard, “jet engine” cruciform air nozzles and “fighter throttle” transmission lever.
The interior finishing is superb, with a modern blend of carbon fibre and leather. One of the more eye-catching cabin colour schemes is two-tone espresso, which goes well with the newly created metallic paintwork of AMG Sepang Brown.
With the gullwing doors gone, there is now no need to watch your head when entering or exiting the SLS. Dropping the top takes 11 seconds in either direction – which is one of the fastest timings in the business – and this can also be done on the move at speeds of up to 50km/h.
Firing up the 6.2-litre V8 offers the first hint that there is something sinister about this big roadster. It sounds like it’s spitting flames at idle, but it’s actually the 571bhp engine clearing its throat before it settles into a regular tickover.
The purposefully chunky gear knob operates an AMG Speedshift dual-clutch with seven forward ratios. Unique to the SLS, this is a transaxle gearbox (i.e. mounted between the rear wheels); its torque tube and carbon shaft helping to make the car rigid enough (18,000Nm per degree) to put some coupes to shame.
AMG has tuned the Speedshift not only for rapid gearchanges but refined ones too, in keeping with classic Mercedes philosophy. Dual-clutch ’boxes are inherently smooth, so for the SLS to offer shift shocks like a hardcore racer, AMG’s experts would have to employ artificial algorithms – which they ultimately didn’t.
Making its debut here is AMG Performance Media, which offers real-time telemetry, digital dials and a multi-mode stopwatch.
Instead, they engineered the transmission to fire through the gears in just 100 milliseconds, which can be quickened to 50 milliseconds when certain criteria are met during determined driving. Steering-mounted paddle shifters – left one for downshifts, right one for upshifts – provide some DIY action.
Offering more “free play” on the road is the AMG Drive Unit, with a purposeful rotary knob to control four different powertrain modes – C (Controlled efficiency), S (Sport), S+ (Sport plus) and M (Manual). In C mode, the SLS Roadster shows fine Mercedes manners, moving smoothly with the engine purring.
Once the quiet, wealthy neighbourhood is left behind and the open road beckons, it is time to select S and make the drivetrain racier – throttle response is heightened, engine revs are kept higher and shifts are faster.
Solid metal, soft leather, carbon fibre and a strong weather connection that includes an Airscarf option for the seats.
M is the most dynamic drive mode – gears are changed twice as quickly as in C and the engine responds aggressively to throttle input. An upshift indicator integrated with the instrument cluster prompts the driver with a series of white, yellow and red LEDs that light up in sequence as the tachometer needle approaches the 7200rpm redline.
The AMG Drive Unit has a fifth function called RS, which stands for Race Start. Commonly known as “launch control”, this is for traffic junction grand prix races and other juvenile pursuits. To use Race Start (with the SLS at a standstill, of course), the driver has to activate ESP Sport, engage the brakes, confirm the RS activation by pulling the right paddle once, floor the accelerator, and then release his left foot from the brake pedal. The car will strike an optimum balance between traction and acceleration to make a perfect getaway every time.
Admittedly, sensitive owners of an expensive supercar are unlikely to do this often. They are more likely to press-and-play the button with the shock absorber symbol to tweak the AMG Ride Control, which modifies the suspension damping according to Comfort, Sport and Sport+ parameters.
The electronically controlled variable dampers are softest in the Comfort configuration, stiffest and grippiest in Sport+, with Sport probably providing the best compromise for all driving situations bar a racetrack excursion. AMG Ride Control is a new cost option introduced in the SLS Roadster and will also be available with the 2012-spec gullwing model.
Acceleration from zero to 100km/h, possibly limited by traction, requires 3.8 seconds. Even more impressive is the dash to 200km/h, which is reached in 11.3 seconds – about the same time the hood takes to retract or deploy. Being an AMG, the SLS Roadster is not electronically limited to 250km/h like lesser Mercs – its top speed is 317km/h.
When it comes to the mechanical soundtrack, the roof-down Roadster is pure entertainment. This machine has silencers and all, but the exhaust gases sound unfiltered as they exit the tailpipes, which is just brilliant. In my experience, no other street-legal Mercedes is this vocal.
Same mighty 6.2-litre V8 as the SLS AMG gullwing, but it works a lot “closer” with the driver.
With the roof down, the stirring V8 voice is heard with even more thrilling clarity. And the perfect place to select a lower gear and floor the loud pedal is in one of Monaco’s many tunnels, where the exhaust shock waves of the SLS reverberate off the walls and create such a din that I could see alarmed motorists ahead braking suddenly.
Even driving the SLS up the steep mountain roads, where half the tarmac is against a steep rock face and the other half is a deadly plunge to the bottom, is not quite as intense as the tunnel runs.
Carbon-ceramic brakes are a worthwhile option for the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster, because they work even better than the standard discs and are 40 percent lighter.
With throttle on, the engine and exhaust bark; with throttle off, the same “musical instruments” crackle and burble. Fantastic. Driven this way everywhere, I doubt the SLS will ever return 7.6km per litre as detailed in the specs sheet.
Shod with Dunlop Sport Maxx tyres, the SLS Roadster generates enormous grip and possesses steering nearly as sharp as the gullwing’s, with suspension that responds superbly to helm input.
The 11sec timing needed to stash/raise the roof is about how long the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster takes to reach 200km/h from a standstill.
But you must get used to the distance between where you sit and where the front wheels are – it is perhaps the furthest one will ever be from the front axle in any sports car today. So pronounced is this sensation that you cannot help feeling a tad removed from the action, and you need to “compensate” accordingly when taking sharp corners or making a U-turn.
Compared to the gullwing SLS, the Roadster is even more exciting to drive, simply because all its sonority and energy permeate through the fabric roof in an expertly engineered manner. Drop the canopy and the journey becomes even more interesting because you get to hear, see, smell and indeed feel the car more intimately.
Yet, this is no racecar cockpit. It is an open-top luxury car, which brings back some memories of the TVR Griffith but is otherwise civilised. Push the right buttons, squeeze the throttle and the SLS transforms from mild to wild, beyond any other convertible in recent memory.
Best of all, this beast is always metered in its power delivery and precise in its sky-high performance (with high sky overhead).
Kudos to Mercedes-Benz AMG for the SLS Roadster – a genuine game changer.
This epic roadster will blow you away and blow dry your hair at the same time.
Mercedes-Benz SLS Roadster AMG 6.2 (A)
ENGINE 6208cc, 32-valves, V8
MAX POWER 571bhp at 6800rpm
MAX TORQUE 650Nm at 4750rpm
POWER TO WEIGHT 344bhp per tonne
GEARBOX 7-speed dual-clutch with manual select
0-100KM/H 3.8 seconds
TOP SPEED 317km/h
CONSUMPTION 7.6km/L (combined)
PRICE INCL. COE To be announced (ETA Singapore Q2 2012)
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