hi guys,

I dont post much on this forum, but I do read a lot of your threads, and it seems to me that the most active forum on this entire site is this one, you refer to yourself as "post ******", am I correct?

Well anyways, I saw how helpful you guys really here when someone requested SL55 pics. So I am just asking if anyone would have ANY info about the SL600, or if there will be one? Will it have the Bi-Turbo V12 as used in the S and CL classes, and knock out 500HP?

Any info will be greatly apreciated, thank you very much in advance.

I am great fan of the new SL, especially the SL500 as it is more "comfortable and "humane"", although I wouldn't mind if someone gave me an SL55 for free Moreover, if the SL600 has 500HP and is like the SL500 in terms of comfort etc. I will choose that.

Thank you.

 

Bilal, according to one of the representatives I spoke with at MBUSA, there are no current plans to produce an SL600.

 

Damn, I was so looking forward to having a V12 SL, well me better stick with the SL55 methinks.

Thanks for your info, p.s. shouldn't this be moved to the R230 forum instead of the R171 one?

best regards.

 

WHat is the sense in not producig the Sl600?

 

In the toolkit of the car, there's a fairly undecipherable sheet showing which fuses are where and it's one size suits all - multiple languages and multiple cars. It makes reference to the SL350/SL500 and SL55/SL600 so it looks like there's at least been one in the plan in the past.

Under the hood of the SL55, there's a few inches space between the front of the engine and the cooling fan so the space is not completely occupied but the hood line is low at this point and the potential problem is height. To fit the new twin turbo V12 into the S Class, they had to raise the hood line by 18mm, and the hood line of the SL is lower than that of the S Class so unless the engine was changed, the problem of fitting it in is likely to be worse.

If what Accord has been told is correct, here's my 2 cent's worth (which will doubtless be proved wrong):

The SL was a long time in the making, work started on it in 1996. The SL500 uses the V8 carried over from the late R129 SL500. The R129 SL600 was killed off early and never got to use the corresponding V12 developed for the then S600 and CL600. Maybe they had planned to fit this engine into the R230 SL600.

Then, Vickers decide to sell Rolls-Royce, VW gets Bentley and BMW get Rolls-Royce and DC is panicked into producing the Maybach and its new twin-turbo V12. At the same time, the unexpected trend towards ever higher and higher powers starts with 500 bhp becoming the norm at the high end. DC need more power for their top end models and they can address both this requirement and the need to spread huge development costs by putting the new V12 in the makeover S600 and CL600. Mercedes re-asserts itself at the high end and the accountants are happy. It's a tall engine, designed for the Maybach hood line and they can fit it in with a few sheet metal changes.

Maybe the SL600 has been the fall guy in all of this because the engine it was meant to use has been replaced earlier than expected when the car was designed by the twin turbo V12 and that engine will not fit in the SL.

My dealer told me there was going to be an SL600, so who knows, we're all guessing here. Does Mercedes need an SL600?

The SL55 provides a thrilling driving experience but it's not the silky ride and hushed performance of the new S600 and CL600. It's not meant to be, it has ambitions (realised) to upset the order of things among the world's greatest sports cars.

If the SL600 is not going to happen, a convertible CL600 might just fit the bill.

 

WOW!, you guys really are helpful!

Well I really do like the SL and am a bit of a power freak, I lvoe that feeeling when you drive a car that beats the pants off of anything that comes near you.

According to blueSL, if the ride is slightly harsher then there is no point getting the SL55, due to the bloody pothole roads of London and Manchester. i hate going in a car that you can feel every bump in the road.

Moreover, according to my sources at www.jes-mercedes.de and blueSL's handbook, there must be an SL600 on the way, only problem is the size and fitting, so we'll see how it goes. As for the CL600 Convertible, I heard its going to be a ragtop, who the hell is gonna buy that, when you got coupe and convertible all in one???

Anyways, we'll see what the engineers in Germany are up to, maybe sometime soon?

Thanks for all your info guys,

 

Go for the SL55 if you can, the combination of ride, handling and performance is perfectly judged. This car really adapts to different driving situations with its multi-faceted character. In town, it's docile, insulating, comfortable. On the open road, it's a brilliantly effective driving tool. Just marvellous.

I've driven my SL600 (129) and SL55 back to back and boy is the SL600 showing its age. Still a refined and relaxing cruiser with good performance, it's completely outclassed in the handling department, but I still love it which is why I couldn't bear to part with it when the SL55 arrived.

 

Thanks for the experience, I hope you are really enjoying your car man, just one question, how is the fuel economy on your SL55?

What about the bumpy raods of England, does it have a comfort suspension or more sportier?

Well as far as getting on goes, I keep hearing there is a two year waiting list, how can one wait for two years, driving a Nissan Micra, and then get the SL? i don't think I could wait two yars, even for an Aston Martin, Im very very impatient.

Best regards

 

In my experiance the accuracy of the MBUSA representatives has great variability. I spoke to a rep at the NY auto show concerning the V12 SL. He had no knowledge of any such car, plans or liklihood of future production. I spoke to a second rep who told me that the new SL V12 was going to be a twin turbo, something I had not read or heard at that point. He went on to tell me that he was going to a week long seminar including drives in the new SL V12. At that juncture, MBUSA was putting on the federally required 100k miles for various emissions testing.

The STAR does make numerous mistakes about the details but they have mentioned the SL V12 many times.

My guess (hope) is that we are going to get a V12 SL. The V12 are high profit, why wouldn't MB produce a sure profit machine?

 

Every time I speak to my salesman at MB I seem to know more about whats happing from forums and magazines then he does from the factory or his bosses. Mercedes purposely does not let them know whats going on to far in advance

 

From my inside info a sl600 will be produced within two years. But I think the SL55 is so great! My test drive in a sl55 was simply amazing! No nee to wait for the sl600

 

Turns out Mercedes (Juergen Huppert) has recently said that the CL Cabriolet has been killed off because of the dire German economic climate and too close to the SL.

Agree with AMGBENZ though, the SL55 is a never ending source of delight, no need to wait for what may or may not be around the corner, the SL55 will re-calibrate your expectations of what a performance car has to do.

Drove my F355, SL600 and SL55 back to back on a gloriously sunny autumn day here in the UK. Maybe not a fair comparison because of the ages of the respective designs but the SL55 takes the best of both the other cars into a single unbeatable package and adds a dose of high-tech wizardry all of its own.

It's difficult to think what an SL600 could do to make you think, yes, that is clearly superior to the SL55.

 

Well I know that most, if not all AMG models have harsher or "sportier" suspension than the regular cars. I am not a sporty driver, but I do like to push the throttle down sometimes, and I just love having a car that beats the crap out of every other car. No need for superiority comparisons, but I know its pushing it, but if the Bi-Turbo comes into the SL, with 500BHP, and with all the luxury and comfort of the regular V12 models, it is gonna be one hell of a car to get. Supercharged cars and turbo cars don't normally last very long than NA cars, but anyhow, I think a 500BHP V12 would be better than a a supercharged V8, luxury v sport, you all know which one I would opt for!

best regards