2008 SL 600, black on black, 55K

Hello All.

I'm curious. Stats on the net indicate that the 2004 SL 600 is faster 0-60 than the 2008 SL 600.

This seems strange to me, because I've noticed that cars tend to go a bit faster with each passing year. I suppose this encourages buyers to trade up to a faster model.

However, here are some stats I've come across on the net:

2004 SL 600:
0-60: 3.6 seconds
HP: 493
Torque: 590
Mercedes Benz SL600 – Instrumented Test – Car and Driver

2008 SL 600:
0-60: 4.4 seconds
HP: 510
Torque: 612

So, the 2008 SL 600 appears to have more horses and torque, yet is a bit slower on the launch than its earlier counterpart (the 2004).

Any idea what's happening here?

Many thanks!

 

I dunno about the numbers. I owned a 2004 SL600 that had a RennTech ECU tune, and my friend who lives in Montana where there are some hiways on which you can go as fast as you want, has the car now. He's clocked it at 178MPH using a GPS and said at that rate, the car will easily do over 200. I believe that! Driving that car is more like flying a stolen UFO, than driving a car. Near silent but magically fast. I believe the SL600's (M275) V12 is the Maybach V12 de-tuned "down" to only 500 HP because they figured it was too much otherwise. They were right. The RennTech tune certainly brought all that back! I never drove another SL600 to compare it to. Later, I got a SL55 AMG, the same year and model that Mario Andretti drove at 208 MPH for either Motor trend or Motorweek, and there was a video of that on Youtube, but it's been taken down because the network owned the copyright. Wish I'd downloaded it when I had the chance. The SL55 "may" have a few less horses but if so, just a very few. Phenomenal cars!!!!! These are cars you NEVER want to give the keys to your son, or a friend, etc. So powerful that you could hit the gas pedal and crash in mere seconds, before you even realize that the car is so far from ordinary. I was taking a friend to lunch in my SL600, and he asked, "Have you floored it yet?" And I answered, "No, and I probably never will." Either of these cars, just a few seconds on the gas, and not even to the floor, and you're going well over 80MPH, and a few more seconds, and well past 100 and more. As for those numbers, Mercedes may have made them up? Or where did they get them from? Who knows. On my SL55, I opted for a different cool steering wheel, and added metal shift paddles, and a transmission controller that works the shift paddles 100% of the time all you do to activate them is tap one. This for the luxury of shifting when I want to, while accelerating. I haven't even really used all that, because, like I say, wherever you are, just a mere few seconds on the gas pedal, and you're in strato speeds. There's no real need to do anything, but watch the road and hold the steering wheel tightly. I guess I should take the car to a track. LoL

 

It's been theorized over the years that the car in that 2004 Instrumented Test was a "ringer" (tuned differently).

Some context:

-With a driver and testing equipment, let's say that SL600 weighs in at ~4,700 lbs.
-Using this calculator, to achieve that 120 mph trap speed, a car weighing that much would need ~625 hp, which is what tuners like RENNtech were able to achieve with the M275.

A few examples of modified SL600s achieving similar results:

11.9 @ 119.7 mph: http://www.dragtimes.com/Mercedes-Be...lip-19919.html
11.8 @ 120 mph: http://www.dragtimes.com/Mercedes-Be...lip-19827.html
11.8 @ 121 mph: http://www.dragtimes.com/Mercedes-Be...slip-4282.html

Another thing to consider with acceleration testing is the variance across test tracks, DA and weather.

Affects any car, let alone something with a V12 TT.