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Not many performance tests are available yet but it seems to me that SL63 is slow in 0 to 60 comparing with completion.
I understand its a GT car but for this $$$ I personally expect to be very close to 3sec.
2024 AMG EQE SUV , 2021 E63S Wagon - gone, 2018 E63S Sedan - gone
Originally Posted by mmmamg
Not many performance tests are available yet but it seems to me that SL63 is slow in 0 to 60 comparing with completion.
I understand its a GT car but for this $$$ I personally expect to be very close to 3sec.
I was wondering the same thing. The HP is also lower than expected. 577HP was the historical number for the SL63 but I am not sure why its lower than the E63s/GT63s. Since there is no upgrade in HP on the Performance trim package but does have all the usual "S" ingredients I expected the car to be at 600+ HP and 3.1sec.
The SL55 is also an oddball config. Barely above the prior SL550 (+20HP) or the standard S560 (+6HP) in power, this could be hardly called AMG performance for a V8. AMG hasn't hand build such a low powered V8 in the last decade.
I expect we will see an SL63s (and for the to E63s return) in 2023 with the full 600+.
I agree that the SL55 is an oddball in both offering and nomenclature; it is the ‘63 non-s’ engine configuration in the GLC and I’m sure other models. I think it will be replaced by a 6-cylinder SL53 shortly.
As for speed…the difference between low- and mid-3s to 60 is purely bragging rights.
2015 CLS 550 2015 ML 400 Previous 2020 GLB 250 2019 A 220 2005 ML 350 1989 300 E 2001 SL 500
Originally Posted by Alan Smithee
I expect we will see an SL63s (and for the to E63s return) in 2023 with the full 600+.
I agree that the SL55 is an oddball in both offering and nomenclature; it is the ‘63 non-s’ engine configuration in the GLC and I’m sure other models. I think it will be replaced by a 6-cylinder SL53 shortly.
As for speed…the difference between low- and mid-3s to 60 is purely bragging rights.
I honestly find most modern cars too fast so I'm actually more interested in the 55 because it has less power and both are plenty fast for my tastes. The official 0-60 of the 63 is 3.4 and if I remember correctly the E63S official is about 3.3 or 3.2 and has been consistently performed faster than its claim so I expect the SL to also perform better than numbers present themselves.
Why not just wait to see how fast the car is when it's actually tested. No one has tested this car yet and Mercedes' are almost always faster than their published numbers when actually tested.
I am thinking they made it to have less horsepower (or just simply understated it) so there is a clear difference compared to their e performance model being announced later, I am guessing it is because there is only so much they can push out with the e performance technology, by lowering the horsepower of the regular SL63, the e performance models seems like a much better buy.
Maybe. You'll recall that the M256 engine in the 53 models (as I have) do not have an accessory belt in the front of the engine to run the A/C, cooling fan, alternator. So this engine is not much longer than a V8 which does have this hardware at the front of the engine. Here's a link to Autoweek's take on this engine:
2015 CLS 550 2015 ML 400 Previous 2020 GLB 250 2019 A 220 2005 ML 350 1989 300 E 2001 SL 500
Originally Posted by slk55er
Maybe. You'll recall that the M256 engine in the 53 models (as I have) do not have an accessory belt in the front of the engine to run the A/C, cooling fan, alternator. So this engine is not much longer than a V8 which does have this hardware at the front of the engine. Here's a link to Autoweek's take on this engine:
It's 2 cylinders longer and that's enough.
The person I spoke to knows what he's talking about, and he said the car wasn't designed to accept the I6.
OK but that would be a shame 'cause the M256 engine with the MGU is a great package -- lots of torque and very fuel efficient. And that SL hood is pretty long...
I try not to fixate on acceleration times too much but rather closed circuit track times on a benchmark standard like Nurburgring (or Oschersleben etc…)
These are road cars, not drag cars. Acceleration, cornering, braking, and general handling characteristics are all part of what makes the complete package.
I’m willing to bet the new GT, errr I mean SL 😀 , will be faster then the previous iterations on a road course.
Last edited by crconsulting; Nov 5, 2021 at 07:22 PM.
Does what matter? That they are phasing out 6- and 8-cylinder engines? Or that they might say an in-line 6 won’t fit in a 185” long 2+2?
Point is that if MB doesn’t want to put in a 6 cylinder engine in the SL there is little reason to argue if the engine bay is large enough for it.
They already created a docile V8 version that is close enough in power to make people happy.
Few people like a 4 banger but that engine is an actual AMG engine unlike the inline 6 and will make more power with less emissions.
Few people like a 4 banger but that engine is an actual AMG engine unlike the inline 6 and will make more power with less emissions.
Although the M256 engine is not hand-built by one mechanic in the AMG tradition, it is not just of just an "ordinary" 4-cylinder or 8-cylinder design. The AMG-designed mild-hybrid 48-volt motor-generator unit (MGU) and the energy recovery system which draws on the AMG Formula1 technology is what justifies the 6-cylinder engine to be considered an AMG masterpiece. Too bad if the new SL will not incorporate this turbo charged, mini-super charged and MGU-augmented engine instead of a 4-banger.
Although the M256 engine is not hand-built by one mechanic in the AMG tradition, it is not just of just an "ordinary" 4-cylinder or 8-cylinder design. The AMG-designed mild-hybrid 48-volt motor-generator unit (MGU) and the energy recovery system which draws on the AMG Formula1 technology is what justifies the 6-cylinder engine to be considered an AMG masterpiece. Too bad if the new SL will not incorporate this turbo charged, mini-super charged and MGU-augmented engine instead of a 4-banger.
I am a huge fan of the in-line 6 and happy that it finally made it into the new S-Class at last.
That engine had already been available outside the US for the prior W222 S450 and S500 while they only offered the old V6 here in the US.
Since AMG developed the 4 cylinder platform as a P3 hybrid for the C63s with well above 600hp I assume that was the natural option for the car.
I am certain that emissions played the bigger role in their engine choices than physical size.
Point is that if MB doesn’t want to put in a 6 cylinder engine in the SL there is little reason to argue if the engine bay is large enough for it.
They already created a docile V8 version that is close enough in power to make people happy.
Few people like a 4 banger but that engine is an actual AMG engine unlike the inline 6 and will make more power with less emissions.
Part of a much bigger discussion not appropriate here…but it should be what buyers want, not what MB (or special interest groups or government bureaucracies) want. It is a fallacy that highly boosted 4-cylinder engines are more efficient or emit less emissions in anything other than test cycles or extremely low-load situations. Their less refined nature in big GT and performance vehicles will, however, turn off buyers, which will inevitably kill the ICE.
By saying a 6-cylinder ‘won’t fit’, they are being complacent in acceleration of the shift (no puns intended) to electric. So, to me, it matters.
It is a fallacy that highly boosted 4-cylinder engines are more efficient or emit less emissions in anything other than test cycles or extremely low-load situations.
In general, the only way to get torque from an ICE is to add displacement. So while horsepower numbers for a 4-clylinder engine may be impressive, it is difficult to get both hp and torque. (In the 1980s, BMW got over 1000 horsepower from its 4-cylinder 1.5 liter Formula 1 engine.) But it is torque that makes for enjoyable real-world driving and a 4-cylinder engine in a performance-oriented sports car really needs the EQ boost provided by an MCU or other electric motor which has full torque from zero rpm. Mercedes has done an excellent job of this compromise in its 4-bangers along with a 9-speed transmission. (The 4-cylinder GLC300 Coupe that I had was good, the GLA250 not so much.) But even with an electric boost of some kind, I agree that a 4-cylinder in an SL of any ilk is a turnoff.
2015 CLS 550 2015 ML 400 Previous 2020 GLB 250 2019 A 220 2005 ML 350 1989 300 E 2001 SL 500
Originally Posted by Alan Smithee
Part of a much bigger discussion not appropriate here…but it should be what buyers want, not what MB (or special interest groups or government bureaucracies) want. It is a fallacy that highly boosted 4-cylinder engines are more efficient or emit less emissions in anything other than test cycles or extremely low-load situations. Their less refined nature in big GT and performance vehicles will, however, turn off buyers, which will inevitably kill the ICE.
By saying a 6-cylinder ‘won’t fit’, they are being complacent in acceleration of the shift (no puns intended) to electric. So, to me, it matters.
This whole argument is absurd. No one in the US is going to want a 6 cyl car anyway.
We aren't even getting the 4 cyl cuz MBUSA knows better.
It's V8's until the ICE gets it fuel hose pulled.
I was wondering the same thing. The HP is also lower than expected. 577HP was the historical number for the SL63 but I am not sure why its lower than the E63s/GT63s. Since there is no upgrade in HP on the Performance trim package but does have all the usual "S" ingredients I expected the car to be at 600+ HP and 3.1sec.
The SL55 is also an oddball config. Barely above the prior SL550 (+20HP) or the standard S560 (+6HP) in power, this could be hardly called AMG performance for a V8. AMG hasn't hand build such a low powered V8 in the last decade.
Compared to other xx63 cars, the SL55 seems not to have so much HP, but when you compare it with the outgoing AMG GT Roadster, those had even lower power AMG V8 engines (starting at 340 kW / 456 HP or so?).
Surprised also that the SL63 did not have the same power/torque (612 PS / 900 Nm) like in my S63, since it has a similar transmission (MCT-9, so not the DCT as in the AMG GT).
In the end you will probably not notice a lot of difference, and it will be a fast enough car.
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