SL55/63/65/R230 AMG: Actual HP??
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SL65/BENTLEY GT
Originally Posted by chadsl55
I was just curious what the actual HP of a 05 SL 55 is. I've heard anything from 469,476,493, to 500. I always thought it was 493 but now i'm confused.
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It is not uncommon that the motor will make more than 493 hp. True, MB states it at 493 hp and 516 tq, but they (MB) tend to underrate their cars. I've seen several examples where a MB car made more power than the factory claimed.
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The fact that the 600TT and the 55SC engine are both rated at exactly 493 is complete marketing Bull*****. I don't think two dozen engineers could do that if they tried.
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'10 MB E63, '08 ML550 ('05 E55, '05 SL55, '08 E63 GONE)
Originally Posted by AMG2GO
The fact that the 600TT and the 55SC engine are both rated at exactly 493 is complete marketing Bull*****. I don't think two dozen engineers could do that if they tried.
HP isn't an exact science and it probably varies slightly from car to car within the same model line. The 493 is probably a aggregated estimate.
~ Ian
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Originally Posted by IanSL55
I don't know why marketing gets dragged into the discussion. Auto manufacturers are legally bound to make accurate HP claims because car insurance companies base their rates partially on HP.
HP isn't an exact science and it probably varies slightly from car to car within the same model line. The 493 is probably a aggregated estimate.
~ Ian
HP isn't an exact science and it probably varies slightly from car to car within the same model line. The 493 is probably a aggregated estimate.
~ Ian
Isn't it funny how both cars will be rated @517 for MY 2007? If you dyno a stock SL600 it will make at least 525-530 hp, you can't say the same for the SL55.
Hey, if I bought a 55 I would be pissed off too. AMG does have great marketing though. For example:
2005 CLK55 AMG 5.5L engine 362hp
2007 CLK550 (non-AMG) 5.5L engine 382hp
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'10 MB E63, '08 ML550 ('05 E55, '05 SL55, '08 E63 GONE)
Originally Posted by ///CLKfiftyfive
The only reason MB rated both roadsters @493 was because they did not want to **** off the 03/04 SL55 customers who just paid MSRP (or maybe more) and thought they bought MB's quickest roadster. All the SL55 buyers had to do was spend an extra few grand and they could have a roadster that would crush the SL55 in the quarter & at highway speeds. Isn't it funny how both cars will be rated @517 for MY 2007? If you dyno a stock SL600 it will make at least 525-530 hp, you can't say the same for the SL55. Hey, if I bought a 55 I would be pissed off too. AMG does have great marketing though. For example: 2005 CLK55 AMG 5.5L engine 362hp. 2007 CLK550 (non-AMG) 5.5L engine 382hp
However...
To UNDERSTATE HP as not to **** off current owners of the SL55? ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS. From a business perspective, it doesn't take a MBA to figure out that if they posted the SL600 HP at "525" or whatever you think it is they could likely charge more for the car AND position it better against the competition AND make it more desireable. All that would mean MORE SALES and MORE PROFITS. That would be the "marketing move". If they lost any SL55 sales it would be to the higher priced SL600. WIN-WIN situation for MB. I'd add if they were worried about pissing off us 5.5 owners they wouldn't raise HP in the 2007 or tweak the look of the car mid-model. It's NOT ABOUT past owners it's all about current prospective buyers.
Now... it's common to see HP vary from car-to-car, even day-to-day. When car manufacturers compute HP they average a number of cars with controlled parameters (same dyno, octane, temperature, etc). You might very well be getting that type of HP, but you also might be running higher octane gas or just have one of those cars that's outside of the curve.
That fact is that all car engines manufactured in Europe are required BY LAW to be within 2 percent of advertised horsepower. There's no such law in the USA, although 2 percent is considered the acceptable limit. All European engines are certified by a witness, something Society of Automotive Engineers (US) is mulling with a plan that would use Underwriters Laboratories as witnesses.
In the end, it would be foolhardy to purposely understate horsepower, as insurance companies would have a field day with lawsuits against the auto manufacturers (as they use HP to help compute insurance rates). Not to mention it simply doesn't make good business sense.
~ Ian
Last edited by IanSL55; 03-04-2006 at 10:37 PM.
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I do not understand how you can account for the actual real world dyno results conducted by SL600 owners of stock cars all resulted in a actual rear wheel horsepower rating which was GREATER then SL55s.
BTW IF your logic was correct, then Ferrari numbers would be quite a bit different then what you see....
BTW IF your logic was correct, then Ferrari numbers would be quite a bit different then what you see....
Last edited by Auraraptor; 03-05-2006 at 01:39 AM.
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'10 MB E63, '08 ML550 ('05 E55, '05 SL55, '08 E63 GONE)
Originally Posted by Auraraptor
I do not understand how you can account for the actual real world dyno results conducted by SL600 owners of stock cars all resulted in a actual rear wheel horsepower rating which was GREATER then SL55s.
BTW IF your logic was correct, then Ferrari numbers would be quite a bit different then what you see....
BTW IF your logic was correct, then Ferrari numbers would be quite a bit different then what you see....
It's also not about logic as it's more about how manufacturers in Europe report horespower. German's are VERY big on accuracy and I'd repeat that car manufacturers would be idiots to understate HP from a marketing perspective. Maybe they arrive at their number differently over there, maybe they have to take the lowest value. I can't say for sure but that 2% statement is factual and I doubt MB would be breaking the law UNDERSTATING. If you're going to go that route you OVERSTATE because it helps sales.
~ Ian
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Originally Posted by IanSL55
Congrats on your SL600. Great car... I can totally see myself in one when I turn 50. It's got that old style cool to it.
What is up with the "old style" comment
![nix](https://mbworld.org/forums/images/smilies/nixweiss.gif)
same front bumper
same foglamps
same side skirts
same rear bumper (you have black mesh instead of black plastic with a wider exhaust cutout)
same wheels (AMG)
same 8-piston 14.2" brakes
Yeah, you have the quad exhaust and the ///AMG badge but is that really worth having a slower ride? On top of that I get exclusive leather everywhere!!! That is a $3,750.00 option on your vehicle!
AMG these days is alot about marketing. The SL55 is a wicked fast ride and sounds great. But don't think for one minute that the V8 Kompressor engine is identical in power to the V12 Biturbo. The V12 Biturbo has more horsepower and more torque, period. It is that torque that allows me to pass any SL55 at 90mph+.
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'10 MB E63, '08 ML550 ('05 E55, '05 SL55, '08 E63 GONE)
Originally Posted by ///CLKfiftyfive
Why thank you, that is why I bought it. However, I guarantee that I am younger than you and I did not fall victim the Daimler-Benz marketing department.
What is up with the "old style" comment
An SL600 with the AMG package looks pretty much identical to your famed SL55:
same front bumper
same foglamps
same side skirts
same rear bumper (you have black mesh instead of black plastic with a wider exhaust cutout)
same wheels (AMG)
same 8-piston 14.2" brakes
Yeah, you have the quad exhaust and the ///AMG badge but is that really worth having a slower ride? On top of that I get exclusive leather everywhere!!! That is a $3,750.00 option on your vehicle!
AMG these days is alot about marketing. The SL55 is a wicked fast ride and sounds great. But don't think for one minute that the V8 Kompressor engine is identical in power to the V12 Biturbo. The V12 Biturbo has more horsepower and more torque, period. It is that torque that allows me to pass any SL55 at 90mph+.
What is up with the "old style" comment
![nix](https://mbworld.org/forums/images/smilies/nixweiss.gif)
same front bumper
same foglamps
same side skirts
same rear bumper (you have black mesh instead of black plastic with a wider exhaust cutout)
same wheels (AMG)
same 8-piston 14.2" brakes
Yeah, you have the quad exhaust and the ///AMG badge but is that really worth having a slower ride? On top of that I get exclusive leather everywhere!!! That is a $3,750.00 option on your vehicle!
AMG these days is alot about marketing. The SL55 is a wicked fast ride and sounds great. But don't think for one minute that the V8 Kompressor engine is identical in power to the V12 Biturbo. The V12 Biturbo has more horsepower and more torque, period. It is that torque that allows me to pass any SL55 at 90mph+.
I'm not defending the "FAMED" SL55, simply stating that MB can't by law understate HP. If I wanted a "FASTER" car I'd have bought one. Speed means nothing in this discussion. My one minute of thought is that the E55 owners who say their cars dyno at 510HP are of the same mold as the SL600 owners who need to think that their car is superior to everything with 4 wheels. It's about choices not HP.
If you took some pictures of your car, posted them with a DYNO report showing 530HP all you would get from me is "WOW. That's awesome... Very nice car enjoy it!" with two thumbs up. Most SL55 owners would probably say the same exact thing. It's not a pissing contest.
I have no doubt you're younger than me only because you feel you have to mention it - don't be so defensive, nobody is saying the SL600 isn't a terrific sled. Now personally, I don't care if a Subaru or Honda passes me at 90+ MPH let alone a SL600 - I don't take chances like that... That's how I've survived to 39. Enjoy your car...
~ Ian
Last edited by IanSL55; 03-05-2006 at 03:19 PM.
#14
Originally Posted by IanSL55
Congrats on your SL600. Great car... I can totally see myself in one when I turn 50. It's got that old style cool to it...
However...
To UNDERSTATE HP as not to **** off current owners of the SL55? ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS. From a business perspective, it doesn't take a MBA to figure out that if they posted the SL600 HP at "525" or whatever you think it is they could likely charge more for the car AND position it better against the competition AND make it more desireable. All that would mean MORE SALES and MORE PROFITS. That would be the "marketing move". If they lost any SL55 sales it would be to the higher priced SL600. WIN-WIN situation for MB. I'd add if they were worried about pissing off us 5.5 owners they wouldn't raise HP in the 2007 or tweak the look of the car mid-model. It's NOT ABOUT past owners it's all about current prospective buyers.
Now... it's common to see HP vary from car-to-car, even day-to-day. When car manufacturers compute HP they average a number of cars with controlled parameters (same dyno, octane, temperature, etc). You might very well be getting that type of HP, but you also might be running higher octane gas or just have one of those cars that's outside of the curve.
That fact is that all car engines manufactured in Europe are required BY LAW to be within 2 percent of advertised horsepower. There's no such law in the USA, although 2 percent is considered the acceptable limit. All European engines are certified by a witness, something Society of Automotive Engineers (US) is mulling with a plan that would use Underwriters Laboratories as witnesses.
In the end, it would be foolhardy to purposely understate horsepower, as insurance companies would have a field day with lawsuits against the auto manufacturers (as they use HP to help compute insurance rates). Not to mention it simply doesn't make good business sense.
~ Ian
However...
To UNDERSTATE HP as not to **** off current owners of the SL55? ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS. From a business perspective, it doesn't take a MBA to figure out that if they posted the SL600 HP at "525" or whatever you think it is they could likely charge more for the car AND position it better against the competition AND make it more desireable. All that would mean MORE SALES and MORE PROFITS. That would be the "marketing move". If they lost any SL55 sales it would be to the higher priced SL600. WIN-WIN situation for MB. I'd add if they were worried about pissing off us 5.5 owners they wouldn't raise HP in the 2007 or tweak the look of the car mid-model. It's NOT ABOUT past owners it's all about current prospective buyers.
Now... it's common to see HP vary from car-to-car, even day-to-day. When car manufacturers compute HP they average a number of cars with controlled parameters (same dyno, octane, temperature, etc). You might very well be getting that type of HP, but you also might be running higher octane gas or just have one of those cars that's outside of the curve.
That fact is that all car engines manufactured in Europe are required BY LAW to be within 2 percent of advertised horsepower. There's no such law in the USA, although 2 percent is considered the acceptable limit. All European engines are certified by a witness, something Society of Automotive Engineers (US) is mulling with a plan that would use Underwriters Laboratories as witnesses.
In the end, it would be foolhardy to purposely understate horsepower, as insurance companies would have a field day with lawsuits against the auto manufacturers (as they use HP to help compute insurance rates). Not to mention it simply doesn't make good business sense.
~ Ian
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SL65/BENTLEY GT
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If the torque is what allows a 600 to run a better 1/4 time, then why is there a reason for disbelief in the HP. I refuse to believe that MB did all of this research and didn't know that a equal size engine with twin turbo's would outperform the 55. I have even heard someone at MB state that the 600 performed so well that the 65 had to be created so that AMG would have the top perfoming roadster. Regardless both are great vehicles, however according to MB the 55 holds it value better that the 600.
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'10 MB E63, '08 ML550 ('05 E55, '05 SL55, '08 E63 GONE)
Originally Posted by DBERRY7578
If the torque is what allows a 600 to run a better 1/4 time, then why is there a reason for disbelief in the HP. I refuse to believe that MB did all of this research and didn't know that a equal size engine with twin turbo's would outperform the 55. I have even heard someone at MB state that the 600 performed so well that the 65 had to be created so that AMG would have the top perfoming roadster. Regardless both are great vehicles, however according to MB the 55 holds it value better that the 600.
~ Ian
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Originally Posted by IanSL55
I don't question performance - I do question the rationale for understating HP of ANY CAR... not just the SL600... particularly if it's going to be postulated that it's done as to "not **** off previous owners". That simply makes no sense from a business perspective. I mean, does anyone think that when the new 500HP+ E63 rolls out MB won't be squaring it up against the M5 and publish the correct HP? Or are they going to understate it (again - lol) so that E55 owners feelings don't get hurt - at the expense of positioning the car for better sales vs. it's direct competitors at BMW and Audi?
~ Ian
~ Ian
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Originally Posted by Auraraptor
I do not understand how you can account for the actual real world dyno results conducted by SL600 owners of stock cars all resulted in a actual rear wheel horsepower rating which was GREATER then SL55s.
BTW IF your logic was correct, then Ferrari numbers would be quite a bit different then what you see....
BTW IF your logic was correct, then Ferrari numbers would be quite a bit different then what you see....
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Originally Posted by ///CLKfiftyfive
Why thank you, that is why I bought it. However, I guarantee that I am younger than you and I did not fall victim the Daimler-Benz marketing department.
What is up with the "old style" comment
An SL600 with the AMG package looks pretty much identical to your famed SL55:
same front bumper
same foglamps
same side skirts
same rear bumper (you have black mesh instead of black plastic with a wider exhaust cutout)
same wheels (AMG)
same 8-piston 14.2" brakes
Yeah, you have the quad exhaust and the ///AMG badge but is that really worth having a slower ride? On top of that I get exclusive leather everywhere!!! That is a $3,750.00 option on your vehicle!
AMG these days is alot about marketing. The SL55 is a wicked fast ride and sounds great. But don't think for one minute that the V8 Kompressor engine is identical in power to the V12 Biturbo. The V12 Biturbo has more horsepower and more torque, period. It is that torque that allows me to pass any SL55 at 90mph+.
What is up with the "old style" comment
![nix](https://mbworld.org/forums/images/smilies/nixweiss.gif)
same front bumper
same foglamps
same side skirts
same rear bumper (you have black mesh instead of black plastic with a wider exhaust cutout)
same wheels (AMG)
same 8-piston 14.2" brakes
Yeah, you have the quad exhaust and the ///AMG badge but is that really worth having a slower ride? On top of that I get exclusive leather everywhere!!! That is a $3,750.00 option on your vehicle!
AMG these days is alot about marketing. The SL55 is a wicked fast ride and sounds great. But don't think for one minute that the V8 Kompressor engine is identical in power to the V12 Biturbo. The V12 Biturbo has more horsepower and more torque, period. It is that torque that allows me to pass any SL55 at 90mph+.
But once again............its about what you want.
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360 Spider
Originally Posted by IngenereAMG
...the 55 will run away from most cars on a road couse or mtn road.
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Originally Posted by IngenereAMG
It is plain knowledge that the 12s are nose heavy sleds.
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Originally Posted by ///CLKfiftyfive
I didn't know that if you took away 149 lbs from the nose the R230 became a Porsche! Thanks for the enlightenment, I think I might trade my 600 for a 55.
No sports car weighs over 4000lbs, only GTs.
Last edited by Auraraptor; 03-06-2006 at 01:07 PM.
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Originally Posted by IngenereAMG
Ferrari gas been overquoting HP figures for years!
And Porsche understates....
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Originally Posted by ///CLKfiftyfive
not too many road courses/mountain roads in my area, just highways & stoplights.
WHAT! North Jersey has some of the best driving roads around. If you head N of Princeton on Rt 206 towards Sparta and High Point.....great stuff. If you are in the South..........go to PA. Also....NY state and New England........all great roads. As for tracks...........Lime Rock in CT.
There are lots of places to practice those apexes!!
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Originally Posted by ///CLKfiftyfive
I didn't know that if you took away 149 lbs from the nose the R230 became a Porsche! Thanks for the enlightenment, I think I might trade my 600 for a 55.
I have owned far too many exotics and I have to say that the SL55 has been an amazing all 'rounder..........easily the best road car I have owned.