Suffice it to say that it took us only three minutes to attract a throng a 40 lookers-on as we parked the SLS AMG on a busy street.
Needless to add, the story does not end with such arresting looks. Indeed there is far more to it, much of it enough to make many a jaw drop
MERCEDES-BENZ WERE the fi rst premium car manufacturers to enter India. After offering luxury cars for years, they seem to have noticed that the Indian customer has begun choosing the right car for the right purpose. The demand for performance-oriented cars is on the rise and, after having made the AMG cars available for a few years, Mercedes-Benz introduced, about two years ago, the ultimate machine in their stable – the SLS AMG.
When it comes to hardcore performance, this is Mercedes-Benz’s answer to the world: a car that is powered by a 6.2-litre V8 engine and perfected by engineers who have spent all their lives tuning race cars.
Before talking of the performance, however, let us look at the design element of the SLS. This is an exceptionally long car considering that it’s a two-seater and it is quite wide too. It is a strange phenomenon for the average Indian to see a car of such proportions on the road. Considering this, rest assured that the moment one takes the SLS out on to the road, it attracts much greater attention than probably anything else would. You may not believe it, but it took us not more than three minutes to gather a crowd of over 40 people around the car as we parked it on a busy street. Its gull-wing doors contribute to the uniqueness of this car. However, since the car has been designed in Europe, where people are typically much taller than the Asians, it becomes difficult to reach out to the gull-wing door handle to pull it down once ensconced in the bucket seat. That apart, the SLS AMG has taken inspiration for its design from the legendary SL300 and combined it with the modern styling to come up with a car that has the classic car genes while not looking dated. In fact, the SLS AMG looks as if it is a car of the future, inspired by the past.
Powering the SLS AMG is a 6.2-litre V8 engine manufactured by AMG. It is the same engine that powers many other AMG cars, but for SLS, it runs in a higher state of tune that produces 575 PS of peak power and 650 Nm of maximum torque. The company claims that the SLS AMG can do 0-100 km/h in just 3.8 seconds and then attain the 200 km/h mark in another 7.2 seconds. Although we did not get an opportunity to confirm this by hooking our testing equipment to it, the g-forces acting on our bodies and pushing us back deep into our seats while accelerating were enough to give us a goodish idea of the abilities of this car. The credit for this brutal acceleration also goes to AMG’s seven-speed double-clutch gearbox that ensures shifts between cogs in less than 100 milliseconds.
This car comes with a number of driving modes – ‘C’ for controlled efficiency, ‘S’ for sport, ‘S+’ for an added riot to the ‘Sport’ mode and ‘M’ for manual. Beyond that, there is the option of selecting the AMG mode, which is strictly recommended during competitive driving on racetracks. In any mode above ‘C’, the SLS becomes so aggressive that it demands more than cent per cent concentration and responsible driving to keep it, its occupants and, of course, all others around it safe.
Coming to the dynamic abilities of the car, the engine has been placed right behind the front axle and it drives the rear wheels: a perfect configuration for those tail-out moments. Then there is an aluminium space-frame chassis and double wishbone suspension at the front as well as rear. The car’s centre of gravity has been kept extremely low by using a dry sump that keeps the engine height low. The weight has been kept low with an aluminium body. The result of all this is a car that is dynamically superb. It handles with utter precision. The steering wheel provides excellent feedback and weighs just right, whatever the speed you are doing. A word of advice here: always keep the ESP on since this car with its front-mid engine and rear-wheel drive configuration tends to slide more than an average driver would be able to handle. Controlling electronics are his best friend in such situations and this should never be lost sight of. For everyday driving, though, even in the comfort mode, the car feels a little bouncy on our roads on account of its stiffly sprung suspension and the 19-inch wheels shod with low-profile tyres.
Talking of driving on the Indian roads, it is worth mentioning that the car, in the ‘C’ mode, reduces the throttle response and makes it easy to drive around in the city at low speeds with ease. In fact, to keep the efficiency higher, the gearbox tends to start off in the second gear and always maintains a higher ratio for seamless power delivery. Crawling around in urban traffic thus becomes an effortless task. The steering wheel feels light and easy. The only thing that bothers is the size of the car and the large number of people trying to come as close to the car as possible.
The SLS AMG thus turns out to be a car with a great amount of power and promises performance beyond the understanding of us mortals. It is quick and fast. It handles like a proper supercar and AMG have set it up so well that there can be no question about its potential. For those who have looked up to the three-pointed star all their lives for the luxurious products and now want earth-shattering performance from that same brand (of course, with no limit to the budget), the SLS AMG is perfect. It isn’t raw like some of the other supercars and that sets it apart by bringing in the best blend of luxury and performance in the class of supercars.
For those who have looked up to the three-pointed star all their lives for luxurious products and now want earth-shattering performance from that same brand, the SLS AMG is perfect
NEED TO KNOW
MERCEDES-BENZSLS AMG
PRICE Rs 3.9 Crore (Approx OTR, Pune)
ENGINE 6208cc, 575PS, 640Nm
TRANSMISSION Seven-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive
PERFORMANCE 3.8 secs 0-100km/h(claimed), 315km/h top speed(limited)
Story: Adhish Alawani
Photography: Sanjay Raikar
