sound 8

My first SL was a 55 amg, I swore I would never sell it, then it went wrong
so I bought the first SL63 nat ***, then I changed this after 3 years to a
SL65, after a year I changed it for a Bi-Turbo SL63. I had this for a year
and although it was fast the rest of the car didn't excite me, so last year
I part ex'd it for another 65. You could say I am fussy but, the main reason
I sold the 63 nat *** was because it didn't have a turbo. Every one knocked
it, and yet, it had the best exhaust note, the best gear box, AND it looked
really good. Mine, palladium silver with carbon pack looked amazing, and
I had more looks in it than any of the others, especially when you started
it after filling up at the petrol station. No turbo is the kiss of death it would
appear, and it's almost like the nat *** 63 never existed, and yet I
saw one to day parking up, in fact I heard it first and thought ..WHAT is that,
then I saw it. Why did Mercedes make it !

r_martin126

In retrospect you have to look at the previous model. The S/C M113 was a big hit but V8 guys like to complain. Its not big enough, the clutch on the supercharger sucks, but mainly it doesn't sound good enough! Blip the throttle at idle and a lazy rev and slow decel is all you get.
AMG IMHO tried giving the people what they wanted. The sound. Which was a success and in true AMG fashion a 500hp minimum in the flagship models. Some people go bananas over a big displacement V8s,there is a serious cult following.
At the time insiders say AMG wasn't able to produce a turbo model that gave the sound they wanted.


I'm sure being a SL63 biturbo owner at one time, you noticed it still sounded like a V8 even in the upper RPM band. When the wastegates opened it almost sounds like tires breaking loose and still gives a V8 roar.
A lot of thought went into charge piping length, diameter, and exhaust design as to not "mute" the engine like turbos are so good at.


Just my .02 and some insight

Ingenere

I can't believe all the money you have pissed away on depreciation, because you had to keep changing out!

rune solem

sound 8, I bet that after a while you will come back to the 55 because it got the BEST motor of the whole mercedes lineup.

And if you think it is not fast enough, you know there's some tunes you can do!

sound 8

When I had my 55 I was a bit green and after spending 65k buying it, I
then should have upgraded the engine, lowered it and put some wheels
on, however I thought this would seriously devalue it. The nat *** 63 had
the most superb sound and gear change, the bi turbo had an awful sound,
this was because the exhaust terminated underneath and blew into a funnel
joined to square trims, this caused a horrible exhaust blow noise, like the
new F1 cars. There is something about a 65 that makes you want one, even
with it's crappy auto box. The rest is sublime. All that said, the most fun
model was the nat *** 63, fast gear changes with superb burble on the
over run when changing down, it is also the best looker esp with a carbon
pack. I would like to own them all, so if you want to have a whip round for
me, it would be appreciate it.

Thericker

In order of most powerful/fastest when STOCK & FASTEST when tuned & easiest to add MASSIVE HP/TQ to..

Stock..
1st 65, then the new 63 biturbo v8 then 600 biturbo v12 (Even when bone stock the 600 biturbo has 100+ ftbs more torque) Brings 55 kompresor last...

ECU Tuned only..
1st 65 then close 2nd 600 Biturbo v12, then very very close if not same to both 63 Biturbo v8, then again last 55 kompressor.. Check Dragtimes, 1/4 mile perf, simple ECU flash has 65/600/63 in Basement 11's IE nearly 11.00 seconds flat vs ECU tune only 55k @ 12.5-12.00 @ best (being generous as the SL55k w/ECU tune only is hard pressed to run 12 sec flat, I believe the record is 12.10-12.2??) SL's are ALL heavy pigs, you need the big Biturbo v12/v8 torque to move 'em into the low low 11's w/ECU only..

65/600/63 ALL equal w/ease of tuning & actually very affordable, as ALL you need is a simple ECU tune vs a Stage 4-5 on the 55 kompressor that will need to include a myriad of bolt-on go fast parts coupled to ECU tune to get similar perf (although the 65/63/600 will still have superior rwtq IE up to 100-200+ more rwtq vs a stage 5, 55kompressor)

But if you want to believe the 55k is the fastest most powerfull engine in MB's lineup go ahead

rune solem

No, I didn't mean the fastest, just the best overall.
It's got better torque down low than the 63 nat ***, so you don't need to drive it so hard to get the most out of it.
Then it have 2 less gear's so you don't need to shift as much.

But, as Sound 8 mentioned, it doesn't have as good sound nor the quick gearbox.

Powerwise, the 65 is ofcourse the easiest to tune and the most powerful, but for me the v12 sound is not as great as a V8.

So therefore for me personally the sl 55 is the best.

sound 8

Taking each car on it's merits I guess the 65 wins, however it always comes
over as a cruising car, the V8 sounds good especially in the nat *** 63.
However I am beginning to wonder if the 65 gearbox has been tweaked to
stop kick down above 4500 revs. My 63 would still change down even at
nearly the red line, it's gone while you wait for the 65 auto box. Even my
S600 kicks down better than my 65. People buy the 65 because it is Majestic but with thoughts on a wide body I will just sit and look at it.