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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday April 30, 2008 - 25 FAMILY OWNED & OPERATED You'll Love Our Service! 905-335-4080 BURLINGTON LINE Mercedes-Benz introduces AMG versions By Jim Robinson METROLAND MEDIA GROUP PALM SPRINGS, Ca.: There isn't really a category for the AMG versions of the 2009 Mercedes-Benz SL family. The "stock" SL 550 with its 382 hp V8 and 391 lb/ft of torque or the twin turbo V12 SL 600 with 510 hp and a stump-pulling 612 lb/ft of torque will already see off just about anything on the road while surrounding the driver and passenger with the best materials and with leading edge safety and creature comforts. AMG, once a tuner company, was brought indoors as a division of Mercedes-Benz some years ago. Unlike other firms with performance departments, AMG has the ability to engineer its own engines, suspensions and transmissions for what are, in effect, production cars in their own right. Sure there are AMG add-ons across the Mercedes-Benz model lineup, but when we come to the SL 63 AMG and the SL 65 AMG, we are talking about cars that don't just go faster than stock, they are the culmination of all the engineering Mercedes and AMG can built into it. You can perhaps go faster in some cars but none of them will deliver you to your destination relaxed and refreshed like the SL AMG pair. The 2009 SL 550 and 600 are already potent in their own right. What makes it an AMG starts with this engine. The SL 63 has a 6.2-litre DOHC V8 designed and built by AMG that shares no parts with any other Mercedes V8 engine. It produces 518 hp and 484 lb/ft of torque. The SL 65 takes the Mercedes 6.0-litre V12 found in the SL 600 and totally rebuilds it to produce 603 hp and, get ready, 738 lb/ft of torque. Many of the lessons learned from racing are incorporated into these power plants. The V8, for instance, has an extra rigid closed-deck crankcase. The variable rate intake manifold has two internal flaps for deep breathing and the correct air/fuel mixture. Engines for the SL 63 and SL 65 are hand assembled by one man who affixes a plaque with his name engraved on it on the intake manifold cover. The AMG Speedshift MCT seven-speed sports transmission is an all-new, unique concept, available exclusively in the new Mercedes-Benz SL 63 AMG. MCT stands for Multi-Clutch Technology and only employs clutch elements to perform gearshifts. Basically this newly developed power transfer concept features a compact, wet start-up clutch that replaces the conventional torque converter. Thus it combines the best of two worlds by providing the direct reaction of a manual LEADING EDGE: The Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG with its 603 hp and leading edge handling and ride quality looks every bit the part of being at the very highest level of Mercedes and AMG engineer and race experience. transmission and the maximum convenience of an automatic transmission. Fitted with seven speeds, four drive modes plus a double-declutching and Race Start function; the AMG SPEEDSHIFT MCT seven-speed sports transmission offers unprecedented shift reaction. Because of the massive amount of torque, the SL 65 AMG uses the much-reinforced AMG Speedshift five-speed automatic. But with this kind of torque, the car could probably go through life with just one gear because there is so much in reserve. "Elastokinematics" is how AMG describes the fore and aft multilink suspension with active shocks. Called Active Body Control, the suspension offers two driver selectable modes for spirited driving or comfort on long journeys. The Electronic Stability Control (ESP) has a three-stage sport function letting the driver choose between On, Sport or Off. The setting selected is shown on the instrument cluster display. With 738 lb/ft of torque, opting for the Off setting wouldn't be something I would ever do. With that kind of power, this is one machine that could get away from you very quickly. However, AMG realizes there are still some who like to steer by the throttle, assuming one could ever find a place to do something like that. Wafting along with Santa Monica Freeway with the flow of traffic saw the tach reading just a hair above 1,000 rpm. There is the sensation of huge power bottled up under the hood waiting the slightest prod of the pedal to be let loose. You can't hear it behind you in motion but there is a magnificent warble from the exhaust. Stopping to take a photograph, several SL 63 and SL 65s from our group motored by. You could tell it was a V12 just by the tone. On a deserted stretch of highway, I punched it and the rate at which the SL 65 accelerated is enough to press me into the seat. In the old days, letting that much torque hit the pavement meant the nose would rise up but with the Active Body Control (ABC) functioning, this did not happen. ABC is electronic damping of the suspension. I didn't notice at first but I became fascinated by just how a large and very heavy car kept its composure even on high mountain switchbacks, again thanks in part to ABC. Climbing up through the hills east of LA, again, torque did the talking and the transmission rarely had to kick down because so much grunt was there to do the job. While all this is going on, driver and passenger are seated low and snugly in the cockpit. There are so many passenger features, it's impossible to list them all, but one worth noting is Airscarf. It consists of two fans and a heater that draw air in through the back of the headrest where it is heated and then vented on the back of the neck of each passenger. Another is the metal Vario-roof with built-in glass panel that automatically unlatches itself and disappears almost silently beneath the rear deck. We ended our journey by coming down from the mountains to the desert floor on the highway to Palm Springs. Once again, cruising was effortless with lane changing more like a moving slalom course. Here the SL 65 was truly in its element. One in our group said that if he had the chance to drive any car across Canada, the SL 65 AMG would be it. It's tough to argue but that kind of experience will only be available to a very few because of price and the fact that each one is virtually hand built. Pricing was not announced during the test event, but with the 2008 price for the SL 63 at $171,000 and the SL 65 at $248,000, you get the picture. For that kind of money, you're not likely to see another one like your vehicle during your travels, at least in this country. BODY STYLE: Ultra premium roadster. DRIVE METHOD: front-engine, rearwheel drive ENGINE: 6.2-litre, DOHC V8 (518 hp, 484 lb/ft); 6.0-litre DOHC twin turbocharged V12 (603 hp, 738 lb/ft). FUEL ECONOMY: Based on European cycle: SL 550, 11.9L/100 km; SL 600, 13.9L/100 km PRICE: NA WEB: mercedes-benz.ca.