I'll tell you what the expensive flop is: the SL65 AMG Black Series. Even MB people admit that. I don't know how it is In the USA, but in Europe those things won't sell at all.

The SLS on the other hand seem to be selling like hotcakes over here.

 

May I ask why..?
Never heard of anyone disliking the 7-speed before..!
And preferring the 5-speed even..!

 

Yeah, the 6.3 engine has only won "Performance Engine of the Year" for two straight years (last year with the largest margin of victory in the award's history) but as you say "it is basically disliked."

 

Ok. I think we get it now - you have ***** envy for those driving an SLS and you are trying hard to convince yourself that you're much better off with your SL63. Done

 

I can honestly say I do not envy people who bought the SLS. People have
got me wrong, I loved the SL63 the first time I saw it, 18 months later I
know I made the right decision. The SLS reminds me of an American car, not
that there is anything wrong with them, I love the Corvette ZR1 and would
rather have it than the SLS. Besides it's looks I'm 200lbs and that's to big
to be comfortable in. Actually the shape of the SLS reminds me of the Crossfire.I'm hardcore MB man so I hope it doesn't bankrupt them, if it was
much cheaper and bigger inside I may have considered one, but the 63 with
it's convertible wins it for me.

 

Thanks for qualifying that, then. It sounds more like personal taste and requirements, as in a preference for a convertible, rather than the Gullwing is a poor car.

Personally, I covet one.

 

Yeah...all multi-millionaires are in great physical shape...

Tom

 

Hold your horses and speak for yourself. I love my 63, so you really can't say nobody likes the 6.3. . I find it quite full of character and bloody fast with the best sound track I've ever heard, short of the SLS. If the SLS is a finer more rawer car from this then I'm all for it. I saw the launch at Frankfurt and saw a few at AMG and liked the looks a lot.

 

Bro, comparing the 63 engine in your SL to the SLS 63 is like comparing apples and oranges. You claim to have seen the car in person, did you pop the hood? Did you see the size if the intake tubes and airboxes, that alone should have clued you in. Diferent intake, different runners, different heads, different cams and it's DRY SUMPED! The standard 63 motor is awesome, I own one of the most modified 63's on the planet as well as the quickest 63 on the planet, I drive the hell out of my car on road courses and at the strip, the 63 motor is bullet proof, hands down its the most durable engine currently available in ANY supercar or sports car, name me a better powerplant and I will tell you why you are wrong. We are all entitles to our own opinions, I'm not knocking yours, I agree with you from the aspect of styling, I don't like the looks all that much, its not ugly but not a beauty either. IMO its a great bargain for $200,000, there are not too many cars at that price point that could touch its performance.

 

In my humble opinion the 63 enigine is the bees knees

 

The SLS is just WOW if you ask me. The SLS Black is quite frankly a game changer. AMG, Mercedes did not flop at all with this car. You really need to drive one and report back. It has dusted off some of the quickest cars on the planet.

 

Hello Everyone.Before Michael Medved matured into a right-wing idealogue and his brother Harry into obscurity, they wrote a series of books on "bad" films and "flops", of which this was the last. Other reviewers have listed the main contents so I won't bother repeating them; suffice it to say that the book concentrates on mostly large-scale spectacles that cost significant amounts of money but failed to recoup at the box-office. The films are almost entirely Hollywood products, though there are a couple of "Fascist follies" made by Italy and Germany during the WWII era, and some of the later films might better be characterized as international co-productions.

 

Define flop?
price point/ sales or from performance stand point?

might want to go take a look at what the SL blk did on the GT boards

 

Commercial flop.

I'm sure performance wise it doesn't disappoint.

 

Woow,Woow hold on there, I said the 63 engine is disliked, by most members, but not ME. I love my 63, and it's engine. Just ask any member and they will tell you I bore them with the attributes of my SL63.
And let's get another thing straight, it's much harder to increase the power
of a nat *** engine, than it is a turbo or supercharged one, and of course
the extra torque you get from the latter. Sure the SLS has a new induction
system, tubular headers and all that, but it has only increased the power
by about 30, what makes the SLS quick is the fact it's around 300kgs lighter.
And the definition of a flop is something that doesn't sell imo.
I think the doors do not contribute much to their desirability, it's far to expensive, if it had normal doors with more room inside, I might consider one,
but for now the 63 to me is the best SL they ever made.

 

Pics as promised.

 

can someone who has driven the SLS comment on its performance. Steering feel, ride, cabin noise, braking etc. Thanks

 

Maxabo asks why I don't care for the 7-speed. I have always left the C-S-M switch in S mode on AMG cars owned and love the way the car shoots out in 1st gear with great performance. In my S63, however, I find that the initial start is somewhat "jerky" as is the shift from 1 to 2. When my wife is with me, I have to change to C, something I never did before. And, I have to agree with her, that the S setting does not provide smooth, seemless power. I complained to my dealer and they provided another S63 for me to test that was the same way. Last Sept, I rented an S63 from AMG while in Germany and it too started and shifted like mine. So, I've given up and accept it is what it is and therefore prefer the 5-speed.

On to driving the SLS. At Laguna Seca there were at least 10 of these for the AMG Driving Academy event last Nov. I drove most of them around the track and in sprints around cones in the parking lot. They also had other AMG cars such as the SLK that in former slalom events were fastest through the cones. Much to my surprise I was actually able to drive the SLS faster than the SLK! That being my 8th AMG driving event I've driven virtually every AMG car over those years at Pocono, Lime Rock and Laguan Seca. Hands down, the SLS outperforms them all. It is amazing through tight turns, forgiving and explosive. And it's 7-speed is incredible but, of course, it is the double clutch version and transaxel.

I was not sure I would order an SLS until driving it convinced me it was a "had to have" Mercedes. I don't care what others think about the looks, some disliking the overly long front/hood or thinking the rear is too American looking. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and for me it is one terrific looking, exciting and about as high performing vehicle as anyone could want or expect absent a Veyron.

 

I do not believe that the 63 motor is "disliked by most members", it is sometimes picked on by the e55 guys who tune their cars because the 55 motor is more easily modifiable with a simple pulley and tune, but members like JRCART have proven that the 63 still has some HP left in it in the hands of the right mechanic. Personally, I loved my 63 motor in my E, and the 65 motor in my S has it's own virtues, but it certainly ain't a more balanced package than the E63. (Its like a rhinoceros, powerful as hell and don't make it angry, but calling it nimble would be a stretch. Also, putting the torque down is a bit tricky compared to the 63.)

 

+1 ..... and I CERTAINLY would not call 6ft, 200lbs overweight - by any stretch of the imagination.
I have seen/met/known personally a lot of older millionaires who are overweight and quite out of shape physically

 

Oh yeah! Looking like the Kool-Aid man.

 

The OP said he was 5'9" and 200 lbs. 5'9" 200 lbs=overweight, hence the reference to go buy a cts-v.

 

I have been toying with the idea of getting a SLS. In Canada it is $198,000.00. That is in the same price range as a well equipped Porsche tt. IMO that is great value.
I am trying to find the courage to make the leap. The main drawback comes when I look at my birth certificate. It may be just a tad too late for me. My kids just about had me commited when I traded my SL for the 997 and that was four years ago.

 

go for it. the enjoyment you derive will be worth it... and it will be a salutary lesson to your children.

 

TMC M5 changed his CL65 to a CTS-V (I think ) but despite my efforts
to find how he likes it, no fruit has been bared.