Erecting or retracting the power-folding fabric roof on the all-new, seventh-generation 2022 Mercedes-AMG SL takes just 15 seconds. This action can be completed at speeds of up to 37 mph, a velocity at which this sporting, six-figure, 2+2-seat luxury cruiser is just getting going.
Longtime SL fans, and many have bought multiple generations, will notice the “2+2” setup right away. The first Super Leicht designed with a back seat from the start, the new model is intended to replace both the previous SL and the S-Class coupe and convertible, dropped last year. The new back seat won’t fit adults, but it does add a whole lot more space for baggage.
For the first time since 2000, the new SL has a traditional cloth top rather than a retractable metal one, which also frees up space and reduces weight. Putting it up and down, however, brings out my main quibbles with this largely delicious droptop, which I sampled at a Mercedes-Benz hosted event in the mountains around Palm Springs, California.
As flawlessly as it vanquishes highway miles and conquers mountain twisties, as adept as its onboard advanced driver’s assistance technologies are at mitigating on-road challenges—it can literally be taught to remember the steep cut of a specific driveway, and automatically lift its nose as it approaches—it is sometimes too smart, or too complicated, for its own good.
How Much Tech is too Much?
To raise or lower that top a driver must press a small button at the base of the crisp, 11.9-inch, vertically-oriented central infotainment screen, wait for a touch-sensitive slider to appear in the middle of the display, and then skate and hold their finger on this digital icon for the entirety of the roof’s contortive process.
While the latest generation of the onboard Mercedes Benz User Experience (MBUX) digital assistant is capable of being summoned, Alexa-like, by calling out “Hey, Mercedes,” to complete tasks as specific as activating the front passenger’s massaging seat, it cannot raise or lower the top.
Encountering an unexpected sleet storm atop the San Jacinto mountains above Palm Springs—top-down, heat blasting, windows up, wind-blocker raised, seat warmers and AIR SCARF neck nape heating vent set to roast—we couldn’t help but wonder, wouldn’t a simple hard switch be superior? One the driver could just reach down, locate, and hold, without having to take their eyes off the road for 30 precious seconds? This is how it’s done in the BMW 8 Series and Porsche 911 convertibles, and it works better.
Other simple tasks, like adjusting the thermostat, require further hunt-and-peck stabs at this screen, as there are no hard knobs to twirl.
Its sign reading technology will note the posted limits and automatically slow the car to keep a driver within them. But sometimes it will notice a 25-mph limit on the proximate petal of an approaching cloverleaf, and frighteningly haul down from freeway velocities. Its active lane-keeping assist is adept at preventing the car from coloring outside of the lines, except when it follows the contour of a forthcoming right term lane.
Its augmented navigation system can broadcast animated arrows or video clips of buildings or house numbers onto the screen to assist in reaching a destination, but this isn’t helpful if it has misidentified I-105 as CA-110, sending itself off course for miles in the wrong direction.
And it remains mysterious why, at every stoplight, the central display—which, notably, can be powered into more or less recumbent positions to prevent glare when the top is down (or up)—projects a live video feed of precisely what is visible out the windshield. If a driver can’t see through the windshield, perhaps they shouldn’t be driving.
A Sportier Drive, but Still Refined
Speaking of driving, the new SL is wondrous to pilot. Though it has expanded significantly in cabin size and overall length from the outgoing generation, it drives like a smaller, nimbler and sportier car This is in part because it is the first SL available with all-wheel-drive and four-wheel-steering, and it makes the most of its newfound traction and enhanced nimbleness to put all available power to the road.
And there is plenty of power to be put. In the high-test SL63 version, the twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 makes a raucous 577 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque, enough to launch the roadster to 60 mph in just over 3.5 seconds. In the SL55, this same engine produces “only” 469 horses, 416 pound-feet, but the car still hustles from zero to 60 in 3.8 seconds.
The design of the engine, like the rest of the car, was spearheaded by AMG, Mercedes’ go-fast subsidiary. While this provenance demonstrates itself in terms of alacrity, the SL shares none of the harsh ride and bit-champing acceleration and braking that was baked into the last car the speed demons from Affalterbach created for the three-pointed star, the AMG GT.
In contrast to previous SLs, this new version will only be offered as an AMG-badged model, and it tacks closer to a sports car vibe than the luxury dreadnought feel of the last four generations even if it isn’t as razor-sharp as the AMG GT. That thoroughbred offered Nürburgring-slicing moves but was difficult to love as a daily driver.
The new SL always feels refined, even when it accelerates flat-out to get up to speed with superhighway traffic, or being hammered through hairpin curves. The comfort setting on the adjustable suspension provided ideal impact absorption without limiting precision. If a driver wants things to get a bit more harried, or attract more attention, sport or sport plus (or race mode on the SL63) provide a firmer cling, as well as a more dramatic exhaust note.
When and How Much?
In all honesty, the SL55 felt like more than enough sports car. And since it will probably start at around $25,000 less than the SL63, that might be a wise choice—though even the “base” vehicle will likely set a buyer back more than $100,000. Pricing has yet to be announced, but the previous-generation SL550 started at $114,700 in 2020 and SL prices only go in one direction with a redesign.
As in most contemporary Mercedes vehicles, that asking price seems worth it. Fit and finish and material quality are at near-Bentley levels. Moreover, so is a sense of coddling; the cabin feels both literally and figuratively warm.
And, perhaps more important (at this price point) the SL offers delight. Unlike its predecessor, it looks like money and success. (Don’t be distracted by photos, in which it looks a bit anodyne. In person the proportions and details really shine.) And just try not to smile every time the car starts and the little bullets in the middle of the dash ventilation outlets light up hot pink or whichever of 64 ambient lighting colors is chosen.
Even the giant center screen, despite housing the fiddly and exasperating controls, shines bright, with sharp definition and excellent scrolling and tracking speed. And solving at least one of its endemic problems is simple: always leave the top down. The new SL should hit dealer lots just in time for warmer weather this spring.
