SL400 Europe Experience
 

We were recently in Europe for a couple of weeks and drove a 2015 SL400 rental. Since we put a couple thousand miles on the car going through Germany and the Cote d'Azur we had a chance to put the car through its paces and compare it to our SL550.

Here are a couple random thoughts...

1. The car's exhaust was incredibly loud and quite sporty (throaty) sounding. This thing sounded more like a Porsche than a Mercedes! Our SL550 is extremely quiet in comparison.
This was very surprising. I never drove a 400 version in the US and don't know if Europe offers a different exhaust...

Either way, the car sounded great :)

2. The car was nowhere close in acceleration to the SL550 and lacked torque but was fast to the punch at any speed. Quite good at 160-220kmh (100-135mph) which is an important passing speed in Germany. Top speed was 160mph (not 155). Quite comfortable to drive top down at that speed if it weren't for the crappy run-flats which were quite bumpy.

That said, I was quickly outmatched when I got in-between a race of a Ferrari FF & Aventador LP750-4 which went to 200mph

3. Like the European headlight design much better (Eyebrow is a fine white LED instead of the orange one in the US and no orange side marker).

4. Driving the SL in Southern French & Italian coast is wicked fun as the steering is accurate and the AMG suspension very compliant for such a large convertible. Best driving experience on these roads with an MB...

Really missed the dynamic seats and the seat massage plus the lack of a backup camera made maneuvering a bit more difficult.

Overall, the SL400 is a great car. Nothing like the old V6 SL's of the past. Fast enough, great sound, really good handling (even in the Swiss mountains) and a excellent long distance cruiser.

I think it's an excellent option for people considering to get an SL besides the 550.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...f584be5769.jpg

How did you like the small and tiny roads in the south of France ? Scares me everytime to be honest.


I am wondering how the sound compares to the 'old' SL350.

We used to live in Switzerland and went to southern France (and Italy) at least 6 times a year. Frankly, I love driving on these small curvy roads which are sometimes too narrow for two cars to pass each other :)

Nothing better than in a convertible top down overlooking the ocean!
We used to do the same with an S-Class. That was more of a challenge ;)

The SL400 was the "loudest" non-AMG I have driven. The car literally sounded faster than it was...