Streamliner

Last December, I test drove both the SL450 & 550 back to back. I remember liking the feel of the 450 better. Lighter, more nimble, sportier. But then, I bought a CPO 2013 SL550 and have loved it. Today, I drove my SL down to the dealer again and test drove a new SL450. Yep, for me, it's just more fun to drive. I just like the lighter feel. I'm not too thrilled with the exhaust note, but that's something I might get used to. If not, I'll change it.

So, I put down a $1,000.00 deposit and placed my order. I'm looking to do a special order exterior color. Should know if it will fly by early next week. Wish me luck!

Utopia Texas

I went from my 2008 SL550 to my 2017 SL450 and am very pleased with the choice. This decision was not because of price. I am fortunate in that I can pay cash for all my car purchases.
What impresses me the most with the 450 is the nine speed transmission. It blends well with the 6 cylinder engine and in Sport and Sport+ mode is plenty speedy for my driving style.
My only dissapointment is the SL rear wheel drive. My son has a all wheel drive Subaru which I have ridden in where he has taken corners where I get slammed against the door. I have taken these same winding roads in the SL and at the same speeds have had the tires start to come loose on the SL. I can handle a rear break out just fine but front wheels sliding on curves Un-nerves me. I realize the SL Is not meant to be a race car but all wheel drive would be a huge plus. 😀

Streamliner

Well, my days of wanting to experience g-forces when cornering are way behind me, but I do have fond memories of blasting through Malibu Canyon in various Corvettes and 911's, not to mention the twistys of Decker Canyon, but I guess one would need to be a So. Calif guy to know those roads. Looking back on those days, I feel very lucky to be alive and very fortunate that I never hurt anyone or crashed any cars. I now consider myself back then and others who obscenely break speed laws to be idiots, no offense.

My SL's have always been second or third (sometimes fifth) cars and I have always babied them. Nowadays, I find that I almost never drive my current one anywhere other than up and down Pacific Coast Hwy, between Huntington Beach and San Clemente, always with the top down. Going anywhere else, I much prefer my S550 sedan.

Like you, I am fortunate to have the resources to have pretty much any car I want, but if I went for my dream car, a new Rolls Dawn, I'm afraid that my dear departed father, who was the youngest of ten kids raised during the Great Depression, would rise from his grave and strangle me. I know that we only live once, but for getting my "top down fix" every few days, I find the SL to fit the bill just about perfectly.

Utopia Texas

I get what you are saying! I am actually not a speed junky but every once in a while taking curves in a spirited manner is a nice change. I live 35 miles west of downtown Houston, which is now a 8 million person metroplex, and Houston sits on the coastal prairies which are flat and boring. I have a weekend hide-a-way only 30 miles further west in a little hidden rural town with only 22 houses originally started by a wave of German immigrants in the 1850's. This town is out of the coastal prairies and has really curvy roads with 200 foot rises and falls and is a great place to let loose a little. Only problem is a huge deer population and the occasional tractor lumbering down the road at 20 miles per hour. My favorite days driving this area top down is in late Spring when one can smell the fresh cut hay ready to be baled and in the Fall when folks in the country still rake their leaves into piles and burn them to clean up. In a closed up car you just don't get the smells one gets with a convertable.
PS- After reading some of your past post I bet I can guess what special order color you are trying to get.
Hint....Does it start with Mars and end with Red?