After a wait I thought would never end I picked up my SL600 last night. I would post pictures except the attachment limit is currently set at “1 byte” precluding this. I owned an SL55 for about eight months before a couple engine failures caused me to sell it, so I thought I’d offer some impressions of the differences. The new car is Designo silver without the sport package, while the old was black with a red interior. The look is completely different, and this colors my driving impressions. I greatly prefer my color choice on the new car. Also, the five spoke wheels standard on the 600 look better in person than in pictures, I think.

Some have commented that the 600 feels pretty sedate relative to the 55 and even the 500. I see where they’re coming from but I would characterize it as subtle rather than sedate. At low speeds it feels like I’m driving a smoother, heavier and more solid version of my S500 sedan. I fact I just took it out on the same potholed highway I have used the sedan to commute on these past months and it feels like the new car absorbs those bumps better, even though the sedan is wearing high profile winter tires. The tires on the 600 are Michelin pilot sports.

Not surprisingly, the car is vastly quieter than the 55. The noise starting the engine is great with the top down or the door open, but muffled inside the cabin. With more cylinders, the engine definitely has a higher pitch when running than the V8s. The loudest noise at highway speed comes from the climate control fans trying to overcome the freezing temperatures around here.

While I have not floored it behind the kick-down detent, I haven’t really respected the break-in period while testing acceleration. The performance relative to the 55 seems more comparable the faster you go. In fact I did have it at almost full throttle in third and it felt quicker than the 55 (which I always thought was a little weak in the lower part of third) although the engine is so much quieter it makes the comparison difficult. I did manage to briefly light up the traction control in second accelerating onto the highway. I have not tried anything like a low-speed launch and won’t until after the break-in.

Compared with the 03 model year SL55, the 04 has vastly better breaking software. I am now able to feather the car to a smooth stop, which was impossible in the old car. Hitting the brakes hard at high speed, the stopping power seemed just as good but without the loud screech I would often get from the Pirellis on the 55. I used to wonder whether there was a problem with the anti-lock on that car.

Putting the SL600 suspension in sport mode seems to do almost nothing, while the 55’s sport mode firms up the shock absorbers and makes a big difference. Some day down the road I might look into whether the SL65’s struts can be fitted to this car.

There is no clicking noise from the gas tank in the 04 SL600 the way there was in last year’s 55.

The overall driving impression of the two cars is remarkably different, but although I am sure many would prefer the sound and fury of the 55, the subtlety of the 600 is actually more to my taste. The expression is overused, but it’s absolutely an iron fist in a thick velvet glove. People argue about whether or not the 55 is a sports car, a dispute that can be sustained because AMG has definitely tried to make the 55 sound and feel like a sports car. The 600 tries to go in a different direction that seems more authentic given its weight and solidity. More like an electric train, or (I assume) a Bentley Continental GT, or a two seat Maybach. The Gulfstream V of cars. I love it.

 

Great writeup!


As for those pictures, if you want, you can email them to me and I can host them for a week or two.

vnkoo@netscape.net
(make sure you resize them before sending them if required)

 

Very nice writeup!!!Please post pics as soon as you can!Enjoy your car and drive safely

 

Does the 600 feel almost 1 second quicker in the 0-60 dash, compared to the 55? I'm curious if your impressions validate the 3.6 sec 0-60 time that C&D reported in the March issue. I suppose you'll have to wait until after the break-in period to really put your foot into it......let us know.

 

You should very mildly modify it...Then enter it into Sport Compact Car's Ultimate Street Car Competition.

A 360 Modena and Viper ACR both got in one year. Hehe.

 

AMG493, I’m not going to try zero to sixty until after the break-in but the throttle response and lazy shifting makes the car feel slower than the 55 at low speeds. It only begins to feel faster floored in third gear, i.e. north of 70. I stand by the analysis I posted in this forum several days ago: CD tested a modified car.

AREITU, my track driving experiences (SL55 around Lime Rock, Viper on an autocross course) have taught me that driver skill is the key commodity. I don’t have enough of it and I won’t lend my baby to someone who does. I probably will eventually go with the mild modification idea.

I still love the car – I commuted in with it this morning. I’ve got to admit Shoes was right in his post a few days ago: the car feels “unwilling.” I had to floor it once on the way in just to make sure there was a huge engine under the hood. You feel launched from a catapult when you do that but there’s no trace of that ferocity when driving normally. Frankly, it’s an easy car to drive slowly, unlike the 55 which always seemed to be screaming “get out of my way or I’ll kill you” at the other drivers. Or at least that’s what I heard it scream.

 

With the RennTech upgrades, the throttle response is much more rewarding and the car does feel much more willing. In fact it's rare, unless I'm really easy on her, the the traction control light doesn't light up taking turns from a stop sign or moderate straight line acceleration. The car feels more free and easy and seems to just glide up to speed. As I'm getting used to the acceleration, which now feels normal, I get a kick seeing the traffic still seemingly to sit still in my rear view mirror. With the mods, there's slightly more engine feed back as it seems to rev higher both accelerating and braking. It's barely noticable with the top up but, with the top down there's a destinct deep growl from the rear end. I think the growl has become more pronounced as I'm racking up the miles (5k now).

 

Driving a C43 AMG made me nearly crap my pants so I can't imagine an SL55, 600 or 65.

 

Interesting comment about the SL600, Sillydriver, that it is easier to drive slow compared with the SL55.

I completely agree that the SL55 is tuned to be aggressive, from the exhaust note to the tranny set up. Curiously, I don't feel this way with the E55. If you put the transmission in the comfort mode and lock out first gear, the car can be driven in a relaxed manner while aggressive performance is always accessible. In fact, I usually forget to put the transmission back into sport mode when I get frisky and full throttle launches are always rewarding.

My test drive of the SL600 made me feel like I had to work the throttle too hard in order to feel the power, so stated another way, while the SL600 is easy to drive slow, I also felt I had to flog it too hard to make it feel fast.

Are you going to add the Renntech tranny changes to your SL600? Any more theories on the CD 0-60 results?

 

Another point to consider is the Adaptive Transmission. From my understanding, if you drive easy and don't push the car, the car adapts and continues to drive that way. If you push the car a few times, the transmission computer adjusts and the response is there immediately...again when you ease off, the computer readjusts. I'm not sure why or how it does it but, MB seems to like to promote it.

Anyone have an understanding to the Why and How?

 

I spoke with the guy at Renntech and plan to do the stage 3 package after the 1K mile break-in period. I asked him whether he saw the CD article. He laughed and said he didn’t want to say too much, but remarked that the statement about the manual transmission mode was a dead giveaway.

Trimmer2, you make a good point about the adaptive transmission, but I think much of the problem involves the car’s mushy throttle response. Some of that is probably due to turbo lag but I think a substantial part is due to the engine control software which translates the position of the gas pedal into the position of the actual throttle valves. I’m hoping the new ECU will cure that.

I’m going to wait till after break-in to do the mods (probably several weeks) just in case anything major is going to break on the car in the early days.

In the S Class forum there is a thread on Ben Treynor’s ride-along video of his Renntech-modified S600 on a drag strip. I missed downloading the video due to his bandwidth constraint but I’ve heard his car did 0 to 60 in 3.3 on drag slicks, making 3.6 for a modified car on street tires plausible. Also, when I posted my analysis of acceleration I focused on acceleration over 60 MPH in order to avoid the added variable of wheel spin; however, if you analyze 0 to 60, 3.6 seconds is very close to the expected time for a tuned SL600. Specifically, 48% of peak power was converted into kinetic energy during the 0 to 60 run versus 46% for the average car. Given the engine’s fat torque curve, that slightly greater efficiency is just about right.

 

Basically you have to "train" the adaptive transmission.

If you set out for a session of aggressive driving you must use the transmission gear selector to hold gears longer and progrssively build rev up shift points...in combination with using aggressive throttle both up AND down will program the tranny to hold gears to higher revs both up shifting and down shifting...it takes about 15 minutes of consistancy for it to "learn" or "unlearn" the new pattern.

A lot of people are disappointed when they "get on it" after hours of relaxed driving and the car doesn't respond. You really have to keep it "worked up" if you want it to react aggressively.

 

As far as I know, the SL 600 has a standard manual function. Moving the shift lever left and right is how it is utilized. This finction is offered with steering wheel buttons (finished in wood) in Europe. I do not understand what the big deal is with many here that claim that the fact that this particular [CD] SL had the three-mode transmission is a dead giveaway that the car was modified. The three-mode transmission is standard in all SLs, as far as I know. The one on the SL55 is slightly different, because it has the Speedshift function and the paddles (excluisive to this model here in America).

I agree that 3.6 is too fast for a standard SL600, unless it was in a high traction asphalt, as in, say, a track usually used to test cars for magazines... plus it is a well-known fact that all new 600 mercedeses produce a bit more power than claimed.

I wonder what the stand of CD will be in next month's issue when it rebutes to the allegations that they have been 'duped' with a modified car.

 

My 600 came with two modes from the factory; "C" and "S". My understanding is the the "C" mode launches the car in 2nd gear and has a 2nd gear for reverse. MB suggests using this in slippery/winter conditions. The "S" mode launches the car in first gear as one might expect. Both options can use the shifter to manually shift up and down by bumping the shifterto the left or right as needed. When the car hits its redline in these modes, it will automatically shift up even though you've manually put it into the gear you wanted.

The SL65 transmission computer added a third mode "M". This again launches the car in first gear and holds the gear you wish up through redline until the gas cuts out as the rev limiter kicks in.. The "M" mode also automatically down shifts to the best gear when breaking but won't go above the last highest gear. You can manually down shift in this mode also. So if you're traveling in 3rd gear and stop, the car automatically drops to first goes to 2nd but, won't go above third unless you manually do it. If you manually downshift to first, the car will hold 1st until you shift up or the rev limiter kicks in.

I don't have paddles nor was it an option. My friends with AMG's tend not to use them as it's very difficult to manage corners/turns and shifting with the wheel turning. They've gone back to bumping the the shifter left and right.

Another point with the "S" mode is holding the shifter to the left for approximately 1 second while driving will put the transmission into the best gear for fast acceleration. I've used this in lower speeds so I don't have to wait for the "kick down" of the transmission, it's makes it already there.

I've also noticed when I do start shifting manually via the "S" or "M" modes, it seems to reset the Adaptive Transmission for better performance as opposed to driving hard for 15 minutes or so.

 

As a guy who has had three SL's in the last year, I believe that only the AMG modified version has 3 official modes for the transmission, a switch that actually switches between 3 modes which appear on the dash- "S", "C", "M" for sport, comfort and manual. If you count the fact that you can shift the transmission by hand in the AMG cars, then by your methodology the AMG has four modes.

 

Agree with all 600 owners here,just got my S600 and although not broken in yet,I can tell a big difference in attitude between it and my E55.S600 has a very "lazy" throttle response,you really have to "step" on it to get it up to speed but when it does,it's like a jet acceleration,unbelievable...
Renntech is a must,first to remove the stupid 130mph limiter and then get even more power and most of all :sharpen that throttle response.
As far as tranny is concerned,the 55's "M" mode is to allow manual shifting only(via steering wheel buttons or floor shifter).
Manually shifting in 600 will gain the same effect though.(55's 3 mode tranny is basically a gimmick that does not give any real advantage over 600's 2 mode)

 

"A couple of engine failures"... wow what happened?

 

Post pictures of the new SIX.

 

I would love to but when I try it fails. It still says "maximum size 1 bytes."

 

RJC, the story can be found here:
https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...threadid=48956

 

I stand corrected, then. I always thought that the ability to shift with the console is what is referred to as manual mode.

My question now is, since, lets' say, SL 55 AMG has three modes, and the SL600 has two modes, which is the mode that is extra in the SL 55? As far as I can think about it, the buttons in the steering wheel are just a gimmic for what can be already accomplished with the floor-mounted console shifter.

In my limited experience with the SL, and with the other newer MBs, the trans is better of being left off in its own devices. Manually shifting is lethargic and I did not see any gains save for the "perception" of choosing your own gear.

 

The extra mode on the SL55 is the M mode. The 600 and other cars just have the S (Standard or Sport) and C (Comfort, used to be Winter) modes. In the 2003 SL55 I had, the steering wheel buttons just worked in the M mode. On the 04 SL55 they work in all modes, which some people don’t like because you can inadvertently hit a button when you don’t mean to.

The difference between the M mode and the other modes is this: in M the gear you select is the actual gear you’re in, while in the other two modes the gear you select is the upper limit of the gears the transmission will choose. For example, if you are in S and select 3rd gear, the transmission will go no higher than 3rd gear. If you step on the gas (and are going slowly enough) the transmission will kick down to a lower gear but come back to third when you stop accelerating. In M, you stay in third gear with no kickdown. Also, if you are in 3rd in S mode and come to a red light, the transmission will downshift to first when you stop. After the light turns green, the transmission will upshift through the gears until you reach 3rd but then go no higher. If you are in 3rd in M mode and come to a red light, the transmission will also downshift through 2nd to 1st in order to keep the engine from stalling. When the light turns green however, you will see a 1 indicated on the dashboard, not a 3. As you accelerate, the car will stay in first gear revving higher and higher until you manually shift it to 2nd and 3rd, either with the steering wheel buttons or the gear lever. Finally, both the M mode and the two other modes behave the same if you rev all the way the engine’s redline: they upshift into the next gear. So if the light turns green in M mode and you accelerate but don’t change gears, the transmission will shift into successively higher gears as you hit the redline in each gear.

In my experience with the SL55, the M mode is really just for fun. The automatic in S mode can shift the gears better than I could. The M mode could be useful exiting a curve when you want to squeeze power but don’t want the transmission to kick down to a lower gear, upsetting the balance of the car; however, the AMG cars have a feature in their other modes where the car senses you’re in a hard turn and disables the kickdown. With that said, I look forward to getting the M mode back through the aftermarket transmission computer for the 600, because it is fun to play with. I’ll have to use the gearshift lever since there are no buttons on the steering wheel.

 

Didn't I just explain that??? Hmmm....

 

Oops! Re-read your post. You did.

 

Thank you for your detailed explanations.