For people who couldn't accept new SL with soft top did you look at c8 corvette with retractable hard top?
It has v8, all electronic toys, no AWD and hard top!

 

You know, I have tried to love the C8, but now that I see them on the street daily, I just don’t like them. The design of the rear half of the car, to me, is just, plain ugly. It’s too wide, too busy and I really dislike the way the rear air intakes are incorporated into the doors.

 

 

We don't really like the Corvette and we have tried... I have owned them before and they have all been great cars... I just don't like the new body.

We will probably keep the 450 for a while longer. We both have different vehicles for daily use. The 450 is just a third car for us and a treat for us to take out for a pleasure drive or event like date night..

We thought the new SL might be a replacement for the 450 but there is just so much we don't like about it... If I had the new SL and a NEW 450 sitting side by side and we could choose either one ......we would both take a new 450. I just don't know what MB was thinking with this new design.

My wife has been looking at the Audi R8. We have a good dealer about 80 miles away. I have not researched the car a lot, but my wife has looked at them. It seems to get great reviews.

 

New Corvette……no thanks!

 

Numerous issues with the C8 retractable hardtop being reported on Corvette Forum.

 

Like I said....my wife is looking at late model Audi R8... as long as we have a fun car to drive, I am not real particular.... She is a writer and her books pay for it anyway. So I just research... and help research and have input tho..

How about the R8???.... I do not know anybody with one .... so I am starting to look at them some with research in mind.

 

The R8 is an awesome car, pretty much one of the most "daily-able" supercars out there. That being said I think the 2nd generation pales in comparison of the first one which was just more exciting. Still an awesome car though, and one of two only V10's left.

 

So many of the owners or previous owners of the 2003-2012 R230 SL's and the 2013-2020 R231 SL's are really disappointed that the new R232 went to a fabric top. That said, I do believe that most of these folks, if forced to choose, would go with the new SL over the C8 Corvette, despite the soft top. The C8 is a great car, in many respects, but it plays in a league quite different from the 2003-2020 SL's. If I were forced to pick a new sporting type convertible and the price had to be $150K or under, as much as I hate to say it, I'd probably go with the new SL. In the mean time, I'll stick with what works for me--and take yet another opportunity to post a photo of the old mouse.

 

Just from the appearance though, I think it looks a LOT better than the new SL ..... A WHOLE LOT BETTER. It looks like a real sports car... the new SL does not. We don't have one nearby, but we are going to look and test drive them next month when in Florida.

I just hate that AMG did what they did to the SL... it's just not the SL anymore.....but it wasn't selling so it did need a redesign.. I just think they did a poor job

 

Both new and old R8's look better than any SL from the last twenty years.

Probably because the R8 is a supercar (based on the Lamborghini Huracan), and the SL hasn't been a sports car since the 50's. An AMG GT is much closer to an R8 competitor than any modern SL will ever be. An SL is a Gran Tourer, the GT is more of a Sports Car.

 

i used to own a corvette so i think i can be objective on this maybe.

c8 is a beast of a sports car however it lacks the class of an SL. two cars arent really comparable either.

corvettes are sports cars our are one of the nicest GT cars. my SL is so comfortable it'd be hard adjusting to the cockpit of a corvette which is quitee tight once you sit in it.

 

I traded my C7 Corvette for our SL mainly because my wife really disliked the Corvette and I traded our Z4 with a retractable hardtop for the Corvette and she really liked the Z4. I do have my name on a waiting list for a C8 but at this point with all of the production delays and reported issues with the C8 I am doubtful that I will actually buy one.

My wife simply loves the SL and perhaps we will upgrade to a newer model in a few years but we only have 30K miles on it so without any major issues we may keep it as we like the color combination and since installing non runflat tires the ride has improved such that there is no comparison to the C7. C8 owners do report that the ride in the C8 in Touring mode is better that the C7 but I am sure it is not comparable to the SL. We just completed a week long 1200 mile road trip to eastern NC and even with a weeks worth of clothing and a cooler we had plenty of room. The storage space behind the seats is wonderful for road trips. The C8 has zero interior storage space in both the coupe and the convertible. This is a major issue for us.

 

My track / drive fast days are in the rear view. We opted for comfort and beat the buzzer going with an E450, which appears to be headed toward discontinuation. Such a well behaved vehicle, with all the tech, plenty of room, and a real sound system. Miss the torque of the SL550, but really, where can one use 'speed' these days? Yesterday here in Nash-vegas it was in the low 60's, we dropped the top, drove out for some BBQ in the hinterlands, and just enjoyed the drive. Is that not what the SL provides? It did for us for seven years, but as I stated before times change. And if you want to track / drive fast, do what my neighbor did a few weeks ago, head to the Porsche driving experience at Barber Motorsports Park. Nothing parties / drives like a rental!



Posing on the Natchez Trace Parkway.

 

My story is similar to rmorin49’s above. I had a C7 with Z51 and mag ride and it was a great driving car. However at 6’4” I could never get comfortable in it and my wife wanted nothing to do with it, despite that fact she drove numerous Corvettes of her own when we were first married. I ended up trading it for the SL550 which she loves. I can’t say that I don’t miss the Corvette a little but the SL is a much better choice for us in just about every way. I’m looking forward to seeing the R232 but I don’t think I’ll ever own one, even if I could afford it.

 

The Magnetic Ride Control option, to me, would be a “must have” feature. It really makes the car livable and the ride is significantly improved over Corvettes without it. The improvement in ride quality is similar to the R231 SL’s with ABC vs without, but I feel the difference is much more pronounced in the SL’s. Just my take, of course.

 

If you are looking for performance bang for your buck the C8 corvette can't be beat. The new SL isn't even close.

 

Different Horses for Different Courses 😀
Both cars are great for their designed purpose. Haha I’ve owned and driven quite a few Vette’s in the past, along with a whole myriad of other stupid fast cars.

On a road trip drive…

One, a refined touring car,
You slide in and turn on the seat massager, Enough horsepower and handling to comfortably carve through traffic. But quiet enough to chit chat with the wife about where to stop for lunch. As you look over with one eye, you notice you’re well over the speed limit and probably “should” slow down but it’s so effortless. 😈 She’s clueless that you’re actually covering a football field every 1.5 seconds 😀 The car is so quiet no one notices as you pass, you’re well above the speed limit. As the road gets more private and windy, you put it in sport mode and soon realize you’re actually driving a 427 cobra in disguise. (power to weight) braking is effortless with the reliability of a braking system developed on endurance race cars. But the car hides it all well under its subliminal facade.
You get to your destination relaxed and you probably stopped for lunch and sampled local cheese 😃

The other, a muscle car bruiser,
You get in like you would any other race car. You squeeze in, and pull your legs to your chest as you rotate them in. But this car isn’t about you, as you soon realize it wants to rip your face off. Throw on some loud music to drown out the exhaust and the wife screaming at you every 5 minutes as you engage any and every one you can humiliate thru the sheer brutality of HP at your disposal. You are loving every second of the super car experience!! The car is so loud, and the red paint with racing stripes attracts every wandering eye. The wife is now screaming you’re going too fast even though you’re doing 55 but just holding gears to hear the engine rev. (by this time she’s developed a twitch every time we pass traffic). As the road gets more private and windy the cars race car roots really shine. You feel every bump in the suspension. You wrestle the the steering wheel thru the corners. The closing speed between corners borders on insane, but you rise to the occasion 😀. Your wife has also noticed, as you have to let her out to throw up 🤮 You’re happy because you know you wrestled this bull and survived.
You get to your destination an hour early, even tough you stopped to sign the ticket. You forgot to get lunch and settled for a couple Red Bulls.
You’re wondering why your kidneys feels so sore. You nod when people talk to you because your hearing needs to adjust and you only hear every third word.
Then you remember you’ve been driving close to what is a race car that’s on the street (super car) for several hours. You smile 😊


Both are great driving experiences 😀

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I’ve owned many Corvettes, but mostly C2 models. They were great cars for a young guy. Here’s a photo of an old favorite, a ‘65 with Fuel Injection. Today, for my top down driving fix, nothing beats my SL450, absolutely nothing.

 

Nice, those wheels are worth a few bucks these days…

https://www.ebay.com/itm/17388630004...4AAOxyhlJRfL3i

 

The whole car would be as well.
Knowing the car, if it was still in the same condition as when this old photo was snapped, today it would be a six figure car for sure—not to mention this blue ‘67 I owned so many moons ago.

 

Attachment 439199



Apples and oranges. Two completely different cars.

The C8 is an incredible achievement, but I'm keeping the C7 and SL450 for now.

The C8 rear section to accomodate the rear trunk throws the side proportions off IMO.

A friend is ordering a Z06, and a few already have C8s.

 

Yes, the rear is hideous IMO. They were determined to allow a couple sets of golf clubs to be able to be carried in the trunk. It really does mess up the proportions of the overall car and it is overdesigned. A much simpler rear fascia would look much nicer. Also, there are lots of reports of the trunk getting very hot and some owners are retrofitting insulation to reduce the heat.

The performance is incredible with 0-60 times under 3 seconds under the right conditions and the Z06 will essentially be a street legal race car. That said, the current SL fits my needs and especially my wife's so it is doubtful I will buy a C8 and for sure not until the demand is reduced considerably. You are looking at a wait time of at least a year and many dealers are adding up to $30K ADM to the price. No way I'm going to pay over sticker.

 

agree about the rear design - it's ugly. I wish they will incorporate Ferrari-ish looking simple rear lights. But overall C8 is a great combo of customer wanted features and performance at reasonable price.

 

Having similar considerations before I got SL Inwould point out that very attractive alternative not mentioned before is Bentley GT convertible. I would say that R8 is super, but as someone already mentioned, really sportscar. Same as Lambo or Nissan GTR. It is fun to drive-definitely yes! Do I need it - probably not, as my racing childhood is over and ferrari age havent reach my yet. So something reliable, elegant in and out combination equipped with reasonable hp and some luxury was the target. I also test BMW M6 cabrio- good car, not so nice looking outside, but leave it as chance to be seen as a youngster street racer with average bmw driver reputation was not what I was requiring So bottomline, very like SL 2 seats and dont need this rear “handbag place with safety belts” stile second row. Told to wife that this car is for me and her and no kids allowed (its not our only vehicle and we love our kids ) because most of our daily travels we do alone. Hardtop was something that differs from others convertibles-spiders and was actually decision point because even we dont have any intentions to buy snow tires and drive SL in winter, hardtop gives flexibility to feel comfortable and use SL as regular GT car. I actually like Bentley GT in and out, 4wheel drive and w12 power combination and just didnt like convertible softtop, its ugly. SL was a good compromise as there was no need for winter drive. But now Im happy with SL and car is waiting for next summer.