SL55/63/65/R230 AMG: SL65 Highspeed at night
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 471
Likes: 33
From: Germany
SL65 R230
SL65 Highspeed at night
Hi Folks,
in another thread we talked about a little comparison of some High-Speed Acceleration-Data of a tuned CL65 and SL65.
This is a private video of my SL65, measured with Garmin-GPS on the Autobahn at night. Sorry, for the bad quality, but this was my first attempt in 2013 to get some data.
At 1:00 min. of the video I come out of the bend on the long straight and then go full throttle from 270 KM/H - 337 KM/H = 167 MPH - 209 MPH.
You can see the Hight in meters on the Navigation, so this test was done on a nearly even road - no cheating to drive downhill etc.
As it was my first attempt, I was not really sure where my safe brake point is in the night for the next bend which is coming real fast at these speeds - I thought it was the right time to let the throttle off...
Maybe there were a little few more MPH in the car, as it still was slowly accelerating.
@Race Horse
When I take the time from 189 MPH-201 MPH it seems something like 8 seconds.
My intercooling is stock - only a minor tweeks to let the pump and fans go on earlier. Seems that at higher speeds with a lot of airstream the stock cooling is not that bad.
Of course I must admit, that your run in the Standing Mile was a lot more challenging for the intercooling-system because you were full throttle from the standstill, so your system seem to work very well.
Maybe someone here can do a reserach what time ( in seconds ) the average car needs for a 189MPH - in the Mile and 201 MPH for 1,5 Mile.
Then we can compare it to my times in the video.
Have fun!
in another thread we talked about a little comparison of some High-Speed Acceleration-Data of a tuned CL65 and SL65.
This is a private video of my SL65, measured with Garmin-GPS on the Autobahn at night. Sorry, for the bad quality, but this was my first attempt in 2013 to get some data.
At 1:00 min. of the video I come out of the bend on the long straight and then go full throttle from 270 KM/H - 337 KM/H = 167 MPH - 209 MPH.
You can see the Hight in meters on the Navigation, so this test was done on a nearly even road - no cheating to drive downhill etc.
As it was my first attempt, I was not really sure where my safe brake point is in the night for the next bend which is coming real fast at these speeds - I thought it was the right time to let the throttle off...
Maybe there were a little few more MPH in the car, as it still was slowly accelerating.@Race Horse
When I take the time from 189 MPH-201 MPH it seems something like 8 seconds.
My intercooling is stock - only a minor tweeks to let the pump and fans go on earlier. Seems that at higher speeds with a lot of airstream the stock cooling is not that bad.
Of course I must admit, that your run in the Standing Mile was a lot more challenging for the intercooling-system because you were full throttle from the standstill, so your system seem to work very well.
Maybe someone here can do a reserach what time ( in seconds ) the average car needs for a 189MPH - in the Mile and 201 MPH for 1,5 Mile.
Then we can compare it to my times in the video.
Have fun!
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 471
Likes: 33
From: Germany
SL65 R230
Thanks. It needs a little overcoming to do such crazy speeds at night. You never know what happens, but I did a lot of research for tires and know the part of the Autobahn. But still on thr risky side and I will not do something like this often. Nevertheless the SL is a stable car even above 200MPH.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,181
Likes: 59
CL65
Nice video it leaves alot to the imagination, but it does show how the car continues to accelerate. I wonder if the slight difference in final drive ratio makes much of a difference in top speed. 2.65:1 on the CL65 to 2.82:1 on the SL65. Either way I doubt I will be lining up any time soon to test. In order to do things like this you have to stop thinking logically. I'll check back for the calculation.
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 358
Likes: 14
From: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Mercedes SL63 AMG; Mercedes E63 AMG S 4matic; Mercedes C43 AMG; Mercedes S Class, Mercedes GLK
Wow, that's something. I'd love to be able to try speed like that at some point, but not under those kind of conditions. Glad you were able to do it without incident! 
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 471
Likes: 33
From: Germany
SL65 R230
@Race Horse
When I remember correctly,my car (2004 Model) has also the 2.65 final gear ratio, which allows a top speed of approx. 220 MPH. It is only a matter of how much Power you have at the end of the RPM range and how long your intercooling system can keep the temps down. As soon as IATs get to high the ECU takes away so much power, that you think you hit the brakes a little bit.
You can really feel how much power you need for the immense air-resistance at these speeds.
With the 2,82 final gear ratio you can reach a top speed of approx. 205 MPH.
My tuner had this modification on his SL65 and he said it really woke the car up, feels like 80 HP more...
@ mcguirja
Yes, you have to decide if you want to drive with more traffic at the day or with very, very little traffic at night - which I did. With traffic it is not possible even with 3 lanes - too dangerous - from my experience.
When I remember correctly,my car (2004 Model) has also the 2.65 final gear ratio, which allows a top speed of approx. 220 MPH. It is only a matter of how much Power you have at the end of the RPM range and how long your intercooling system can keep the temps down. As soon as IATs get to high the ECU takes away so much power, that you think you hit the brakes a little bit.
You can really feel how much power you need for the immense air-resistance at these speeds.
With the 2,82 final gear ratio you can reach a top speed of approx. 205 MPH.
My tuner had this modification on his SL65 and he said it really woke the car up, feels like 80 HP more...
@ mcguirja
Yes, you have to decide if you want to drive with more traffic at the day or with very, very little traffic at night - which I did. With traffic it is not possible even with 3 lanes - too dangerous - from my experience.
