Interesting read

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/big...he-911-gts-cab

 

Thanks for posting. Every reviewer I’ve read wasn’t aware that the top could be opened with a button. Why the hell doesn’t Mercedes let them know this?

 

I don’t have an R232, but I deal with many of the same frustrations in my 2022 S580, especially with regards to the big touch screen and what I feel are horrible steering wheel controls.

 

I agree, I don't much like the steering wheel controls.

With regards to the touch screen, I think there are two issues. It's not the best look cosmetically, but in terms of functionally I have no problem with it. Car reviewers have the car for a couple of days; you can't expect them to figure it out. Owning the car, I find it pretty user friendly. YMMV.

 

I’ve been unapologetic about my bashing of recent MBs but to me this seemed pretty biased. The tech complaints was honestly a bit overreaching. So what you can chose from many different displays and heads up themes, pick one and drive the damn car. Like many, I view customization as a luxury. If you don’t like a gauge display then don’t click on it and move on. I’ve played a lot with MBUX, it’s easy to use and very customizable. I know it’s a mixed bag but from what I’ve been seeing on the forums many like it, but the few who don’t absolutely despise it and are very vocal about it. The way they criticized the chassis tuning also didn’t make much sense compared with to what I’ve read and what I’ve been hearing. The SL has been very well received by most reviewers. This is not the previous generation SL, a car that flopped for good reason.

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...y-the-numbers/
“Reconnects with its fan base” - Car and Driver

https://www.motortrend.com/news/2022...ty-review/amp/
Motor Trend’s Performance Car of the Year issue had some criticisms, however like the C&D review the good more than outweighed the bad.

Both MT and C&D had plenty of amazing things to say about the car. Sure they have their complaints as well, but what they have to say is definitely a departure from what Top Gear had to say.

 

Uhmmm...There's a button? I don't have to use the on screen slide? Referring to the key fob?

 

There’s a button directly under the screen with the folding top on it, you click it when entering the top operation menu for the screen. Just press and hold that hard button, it’ll fold up or down the soft top without the need of touching the screen or the fob.

 

I don’t think it matters which menu/display the screen is on; press it once quickly (I think that takes you to the top operation menu) then press and hold it.

 

Yep exactly, just realized how weirdly I worded that lol

 

Funny comments so far.

“Tech” connotes “screen”, sadly. It should connote powertrain, chassis and body performance, because that is the principle function of these four-wheeled machines.

SL and 911 and Continental share no attributes in common besides two doors and overlapping price points. Whoops, they all have screens, almost forgot that one.

It is a near meaningless comparison seeking clicks, which it apparently has done.

 

Yeah it’s a pretty biased review and while there are some aspects of the new SL I don’t like, this is almost like the reviewer went in guns blazin’. If it were too soft, like prior, he’d hate it… if it were as sporty like a Porsche, he’d hate it, it’s meant to be a NEW SL… unlike the previous car. Seems like this reviewer just wanted it to fail because all the previous ones may have. (That said, I LOVE ALL the previous SL’s)
At the end of the day, it’s completely opposite of what all other reviewers have previously wrote/said about the SL, all of them at least appreciated some of the new sporting attributes.

 

Yes, there was a lot of "nitpicking" going on, however, there was an overall message in this article which has come out in many other articles.

Look at the summary - I wish they had not used the word " schizophrenia", however I do get their point.

This car really does not have a split personality, but the marketing guys tried to give it a split image. All would have been well if MB had just called this car AMG GT Roadster. But no, the marketing guys had to ad the SL moniker, because they wanted the old guard of SL fans to take a bite at the apple. The truth was that neither the AMG Roadster nor the old SL sold in sufficient numbers, however, if you could combine them and bring in additional Porsche customers, well then you were on to something.

Maybe from a MB production number point of view the marketing guys and beancounters are right, however, there really is no doubt in my mind that this car has nothing to do with the SL but truly is the new AMG GT Roadster and guess what - on Saturday in Monterey they are going to unveil the new AMG GT which pretty much resembles the SL without the convertible roof.

And then, if this was not complicated and controversial already some genius went along and decided to copy Tesla and created a display environment that certainly made the old guard uncomfortable but also did not sit right with folks who enjoy a true and maybe a bit more conventional sports car environment with gauges, switches and buttons - and I will include myself in that group. Yes, I have learned how it works and I make it work for myself, but do I like it ? I truly don"t.

This perception of a split imagine has been the center of quite a few other review that I have read. Of course, as an owner I wish this controversy did not exist, but it really does.

 

It does have two personalities. But you get to choose which you want - and when! It can be smooth luxury cruiser with lots of power if you want. Or it can be a fist banging bruiser slicing corners and doing the straight ¼ mile in 3.0 seconds if that is what you want. Or you can blend the two with various controls. People say they want the power to control things for themselves and don't want someone making up their minds for them. But then when you give them almost limitless customization they scream that it's schizophrenic. The new SL63 AMG gets me much faster out my reference high speed corner sweeper exit than my old GTC or GTS. It is that much faster. Sure it has 2 tiny rear seats that you can't customize away - but are they really so bad? Just think of them as great shelves. Or use them the way I did a couple of days ago when asking my 5'9" granddaughter if she would rather sit in the back in the cramped seats or we could all go in my wife's Bolt. She ran to the back "seat" of the SL and smiled her way with me driving all the way to the mall! Sure my GTC and GTS had no back seats and I didn't miss them or want them. But since this package comes with them I just make them suit my needs - not the complaints of someone else!

 

John, I totally agree and you are basically confirming the point - the SL is the next generation AMG GT - it is absolutely, positively not the next generation SL.

If the marketing guys would simply have called it what it is AMG Roadster there would be zero confusion and adding two emergency seats is hardly a justification for calling it an SL.

Every reviewer I have seen praises the power plant, performance and handling. Where is all this nonsense about a harsh suspension coming from - it is because the SL was a much softer, gentler car and the 63 is simply not that.

 

While it's true that the car is more GT than SL, the marketing guys did the right job calling it SL. The GT models have zero name recognition and the SL has a storied history. If they called it a GT, the SL would have been dead. Bad move IMO.

After all, the only ones discussing these subtleties are enthusiasts and journalists, not regular customers.

 

It's amazing how small the Bentley is in the photo of the three cars.

 

You mean they all have 4 wheels.

 

This (and the 4-cylinder marketing issue) could have been so easily avoided by having a Mercedes-Benz SL500 version with the excellent I-6 instead of the SL43. The SL55 and SL63 could then be more focused on performance, or at least marketed as such, rather than having to wear multiple hats.

We cross-shopped the three for my wife. 992 Cab won out, and extremely glad it did. The SL needs a bit more development, IMO. Looking forward to what they have in store for the GT coupe...

 

Awesome Thanks!