Hello

I have an SL 43 with Ride Control, and the suspension feels stiff. I did not notice any difference between the modes. Whether I switch to C, S, S+, or Race mode, they all seem the same. Is this normal, or might there be an issue with my car?

 

I have not driven the SL specifically, but the newer AMG Ride Control generations since 2019 don't have much of a difference between the modes if you are just driving normally. It's a bit stiffer in S+ vs. C, but AMG has done a good job tuning it such that if you are just driving in a straight line, there isn't much difference. The difference between the modes becomes apparent when you start throwing the car into corners.

I see you are located in Turkey. It's been over 20 years since I visited Turkey, so can't really comment on the road conditions, but I took delivery of my 2019 C63S coupe in Germany and I still remember the first time I put the suspension in Sport+ I thought it was broken, because on the relatively smooth German roads I could not feel a difference between Comfort and Sport+. However, I then started to carve it through some mountain roads and the difference was instantly obvious.

Here in California, the roads aren't quite as smooth and Comfort is a smidge more comfortable in just normal driving compared to for example Sport. I use Comfort around town and Sport on the highways, because the latter has almost the same comfort level, but better body control during quick lane changes and such. I only put the suspension in Sport+ if I hit up some fun canyon road and that's when it has excellent body control for fast cornering, but the ride doesn't get overly harsh.

Compared to some other cars I've driven where the suspension gets instantly harsh if you put it in the sportier modes even with normal driving, I find AMG's algorithms much better. As for stiffness, well it's an AMG. I'd expect the 43 not be too stiff, but it is a sport tuned setup at the end of the day. It all comes down to what you are used to with your prior cars. I prefer firm suspensions personally. AMG uses fairly firm springs, but then has good adaptive damping. In my car for example the initial impact of bumps are definitely felt, but then damps it very well so the body stays mainly flat w/o oscillating over every bump. I prefer that over softer suspensions where the body keeps bouncing up and down every time I drive over a bump.

I will say this, my car came with Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires from the factory. I did not like them, because I had the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S on my previous car, so the Super Sport was a step back. It had a tendency to crash over bumps. I switched them out for the PS4S and not only did the ride quality improve, but handling etc. as well. What tires are on your SL43? Tire pressure is also important. If you use the wrong tire pressure, the ride gets harsh. You wanna use the normal load pressure and not the max load pressure. In Europe, both pressures should be on your door sticker. Here in the USA the pressures are listed on a sticker inside of the fuel door.

 

Definitely check the tire pressure and use the numbers on the inside of fuel filler door - and the lowest numbers shown there. On my SL63 I believe the numbers are 31F and 32Rear. Often dealerships add 10 lbs psi to that and it becomes overly stiff.

 

One more thing I forgot to mention. The 43 and 53 models also tend to come with runflat tires from the factory. Those have stiffer sidewalls that negatively affect ride quality. The 63 models on the other hand come with non-RF tires. Many swap the RF tires out for non-RF, but keep in mind that if you get a flat you won't have a spare tire. The 63 models include a TIREFIT kit which consists of a compressor and a can of sealant to seal a small puncture in an emergency.

 

Best thing I did for a car was ditch the RF's.... changed the car in a great way

 

Couldn't agree more.

 

Hate these, had them on my S550 coupes couldn't wait to change them. I've had no issue with the Pilot SS's on my M850 coupe thankfully none of what you mention.

Are you getting any smoke from the Corral fire?

 

Thank you for the tips. I know this is an AMG car, so I do not expect a very comfortable ride, but my main problem is that I don't feel much difference between the modes. This concerns me."

 

The difference between the modes becomes quite evident if you start driving differently within the modes. For instance, if I switch to S+ and then drive fairly aggressively on some back roads for 10 minutes and then go back to a smooth Freeway and switch to C, the next time I switch to S+ I will immediately feel more of a difference because the computer remembered what I did in S+ and that is what it first presents to me. The different modes become attuned to what you did within the modes the last time you were driving and present that first. But there is always a substantially wide band within each mode that can be used, depending on how one is driving. If I am using S+ and driving aggressively, it right away starts to change the shift points both up and down as well as the suspension stiffness. And the more aggressively I drive within that mode the longer it will hold the shift points as it gets used to my style of use of that mode.

 

Sort of adding on to what @California John is saying above. How are you driving after you change the mode? If you just change the mode and keep on driving the same, then you likely won't feel much of a difference. What S, S+ etc. are there for is for progressively more aggressive driving and allowing you to approach the limits. As I've kinda said in my initial post. Go hit up some nice curvy road with some fast sweepers, hairpins etc, and bomb down the road in the different modes. You should feel that the suspension will allow you to corner faster and more precise in S+ whereas in C you'll have more body roll etc. and a less sharp cornering experience as the suspension prioritizes comfort and safety in C over outright handling in S+.

 

Comfort should offer just that - a more comfortable/less stiff and compliant ride (in addition to less sharper handling) via reduced damping. If it doesn’t, it should be called something completely different. AMG Dynamic/Select apparently also affects suspension.

click on each item in the link for specific information

https://www.mbusa.com/en/vehicles/build/sl/roadster/sl63r4?category=options

 

Comfort is relative. I wouldn't necessarily call Comfort mode in an AMG comfortable outside of the new Active Ride Control suspension, but relative to what it is, it's the most comfortable setting. I would describe it more like comfortably sporty. With coil springs, you can't make a suspension more comfortable than the spring rates and anti-roll bars allow, so the base setting is the inherent comfort level of the suspension with the given springs and anti-roll bar. You can only make it stiffer in S and S+ by using the dampers and add resistance during compression and rebound.

Basically in comfort mode it has soft damping and in the other modes it firms up the damping when cornering, accelerating and braking to reduce roll, squat and dive, but it doesn't really firm things up if you just drive in a straight-line. The damping is always in reaction to wheel movement. Large wheel movement has softer damping in Comfort and progressively firmer damping in S and S+, but the initial impact of bumps is essentially the same as that comes down to the spring rates which cannot be changed, unless the car has air suspension.

The SL 63 and optionally the SL 55 further advance this with active anit-roll bars, so in Comfort mode, these can relax for increased comfort and then tighten in the other modes for flatter cornering. Providing the best of both worlds, but the SL 43 and other AMGs have fixed anti-roll bars.

Adaptive damping while it does allow for a certain spread between comfort and handling, it's not a panacea to firm suspensions. Needs to be combined with air springs and active anti-roll bars to increase the spread between comfort and handling. Adaptive damping suspensions kinda fall into one of two camps. They either offer 2-3 levels of soft, or 2-3 levels of firm and most AMGs fall in the latter.

 

The link Build Your Own 2024 AMG SL 63 Roadster | Mercedes-Benz USA (mbusa.com) I posted above shows how each separate system affects comfort etc. (where applicable) ...it's interesting info. You'll need to scroll down to "Performance and Safety" and then the link to "See What's Standard", once there you can click on each item/system for a full description.

 

BTW, Road & Track kinda picked this topic apart in their review, contrasting the 43's suspension against the 63's suspension and the paragraph below sort of summarizes it. It's a good read.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/reviews...43-test-drive/

 

I want to give you an update about my problem:

I took my car in for service to check a problem. They kept the car for 3 days, performed software updates, and gave it back to me for testing. I drove the car over the weekend and then returned it to them becouse nothing changed. Over the next 5 days, they performed several updates and consulted with the Technical Department of Mercedes. Mercedes advised them to try several software updates, but nothing changed. I called them on Monday and told them I would pick up the car, but they said the Technical Department had suggested another thing to try. I agreed. Four hours later, they called me and said they had found the problem!

The solution was very simple. When they gave the car to me 2 mount ago, they had forgotten to remove the shipping blocks from the suspensions. Now they removed three from each, for a total of twelve. Now the car is perfect.
This service center is not the one where I bought the car, so it’s not their fault.

I opened a case with Mercedes customer service. Someone called me, listened to the problem again, and said they would investigate and inform me. That was two days ago, and I am still waiting.

I am not sure if driving 1500 km caused any damage to the car!!!! It is 2 ton car with ultra stiff suspentions.

 

Glad they caught it, that is such great news it is resolved! It is not uncommon that mistakes like that happen, I remember reading threads on forum members mentioning the same thing with shipping bolts not removed in the C190 AMG GT forum.

 

The same thing happened to me. My car was incredibly stiff over expansion strips; at one year service, my dealership (NOT the one where I had purchased it) told me the transport plugs had not been removed. They took them out and it made all the difference in the world. My car had about 5000 miles on it at the time, no damage at all detected after another 2000 miles.

 

How can you tell if the shipping blocks/transport plugs have not been removed?

 

Oh man! That didn't even occur to me this time. Yes, indeed, it's not unheard off that they miss removing the shipping blocks during PDI. They are plastic pieces in the suspension, often brightly colored, so they are noticed by just looking at the suspension.

 

I had no idea about the shipping blocks. I think emree was the one who first mentioned that. That is the beauty of this forum. If you pay attention, you might learn something.

 

Huge difference in my SL63, especially between C and Sport Plus/Race.

 

As I was reading this thread, I was going to post my experience test driving the SL 63 that I decided NOT to buy because of the stiff ride. The sales guy called me a few days later and told me they took it in and found the shipping blocks had NOT been removed.

My SL 63 arrives in a two days!

 

Looks the bright orange didn't catch the attention of the PDI people.

 

Boy am I glad I read this forum. Had my new sl 63 for 2 months and the ride is terrible. Could not find a difference between comfort and sport. Just read about shipping blocks and looked and they are still on the car!!

thanks so much for the info

 

Hope there was no damage.