First Drive 2007 Mercedes-Benz SL ClassMinor Facelift, New Engines, New TransmissionThe R230 SL Class has received its first makeover. Slight cosmetic revisions, new optional equipment and new drivetrain combinations have been implemented for the 2007 model year.
The line's big seller, SL500, receives a new 5.5-liter V8 with two overhead cams per cylinder bank (previously one) and four valves per cylinder (previously three). The manufacturer claims fuel economy has remained unchanged despite the fact that the engine pushes a half-liter more displacement and makes more power, 80 bhp and 50 lb-ft of torque more than the outgoing V8. A base SL350 will also be offered with an all-new, 272-bhp V6 powerplant. Both the V6 and V8 engines will be linked to a seven-speed automatic (7G-TRONIC) transmission. An available sport option places paddle shifters on the steering wheel to allow the driver more active control over his gearing.The SL600's current biturbo V12 (sohc 36-valve) has been enhanced to produce 17 bhp and 22 lb-ft more than the outgoing engine. It will remain linked to the current five-speed automatic (apparently the seven-speed isn't yet quite up to the task of harnessing 612 lb-ft of torque). AMG models, too, will retain a five-speed, though the nifty paddle shifters will still be offered across the model range. The gear changes aren't as snappy as, say, Ferrari's F1 tranny, but they are a welcomed addition nonetheless. Next-generation Active Body Control will be offered as standard equipment on all models, except on the SL350 where it will be an option.
The cosmetic revisions are very subtle and include a revised front grille (three slats instead of four), reshaped airdam and chrome bezels around the foglamps. The taillamps now have white center inserts, and there are various upgraded trim bits and a wider range of interior customization, including upgraded materials, new interior colors, and new trim options (including, believe it or not, stone interior trim on certain models).
Regardless of which engine or what option packages you choose, this is the ultimate touring roadster. I say touring because it doesn't feel like a true, hardcore sports car. The ride is firm but fairly gentle for comfort. AMG suspensions are noticeably stiffer, but still not terribly hard when compared to something like a Porsche 911. This relative softness, coupled with the SL's considerable size and weight (about 4,200 pounds unladen), not to mention its massive power output-regardless of engine choice-can make things scary on tight, winding roads.
On less technical sections, or while just cruising, though, the driving is sublime. As far as fit, finish, quality and overall luxury Mercedes-Benz really has mastered its art, particularly on high-end models like this. They are an embodiment of tasteful, understated opulence. And the car is absolutely rock-solid; with the top up certain persons may not even know it's not a hard-top coupe. It truly is the ber-roadster.
Every time I go on one of these trips I come back convinced I'll never do anything that cool again, whether it's the location, the car, the drive route itself, or maybe just some strange and exotic location stamped into my passport. But every time, it seems, something comes up that one-ups my previous "coolest-ever" experience.
So there we are in Palma de Mallorca, primed to drive the newly facelifted SL range. As it turns out, we wouldn't get to drive the new car-at least, not until we drove the classics, which had already been ferried out to our location. One example-and in most cases, more than one-was available of every historical iteration of the SL: W113, R107, R129, and of course, W198s I and II.
I paired with Road & Track's Andy Bornhop, and we drove a 1957 300SLS "O'Shea" roadster from the staging area at Palma's airport to our first coffee stop. Well, he drove it. Despite Bornhop's merciless prodding and badgering, I was too terrified to take the wheel. (Keep in mind these cars came directly from the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart, and some of the early examples are worth upwards of a half-million dollars.)
When the chance came to get in the 300SL Gullwing, though, I couldn't say no. This car is a genuine automotive icon, and our example was absolutely pristine, with an original red leather interior and maybe a thousand clicks on the odometer.
In the last eight years I've driven a lot of new vehicles, but in my lifetime only a handful of older cars you could truly consider to be vintage. This one trumps them all, new and old. Naturally, it was nothing like a modern SL; the steering wheel was huge, the steering itself slow, the cockpit noisy, the throttle vague, and the brakes, well, let's just say braking technology has come a long, long way in the last 50 years. The first time I really had to hit the binders I ended up halfway inside a traffic circle, amidst a phalanx of angry, horn-honking Spanish drivers. I managed to avoid contact-or maybe it was contact that avoided me-and the three of us (Bornhop, 300SL and myself) made it back unscathed.
It has to be the coolest car-much less the coolest Benz-I've ever driven. SL65 AMG who?