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PALM SPRINGS, CA – Dripping with industrial-grade panache, Mercedes-Benz’s SL roadsters easily blend into the self-conscious car culture of the sun-drenched Los Angeles basin.
The posh, hedonistic market is hugely important for the German auto maker’s big convertibles, which get numerous improvements for ’09, including revised aesthetics and a new mechanical active-steering system that will greatly improve the agility of the standard models when it’s made available next year.
However, to show the new SL’s curbside zeal is not without mechanical gusto, Mercedes-AMG GmbH introduced the ’09 SL63 AMG performance version in the desert here, where the empty mountain roads resemble rally stages and the striking vistas pour unfiltered into the car’s carbon-fiber-trimmed cockpit.
Replacing the previous supercharged SL55, the SL63 offers the most thorough redesign in the new lineup, which arrives at U.S. dealers in May.
Although it lacks the thrust of the mostly carryover SL65 and its 604-hp bi-turbo V-12, the SL63 is a proper athlete and sports the highest output (518 hp) of AMG’s bespoke 6.2L V-8.
A new Speedshift MCT 7-speed automatic transmission offers a startling improvement over the lumbering 5-speed in the SL55 and V-12 cars, thanks to a lightweight clutch pack in place of a power-sapping torque converter. Unique to the SL63, the MCT gearbox doles out ultra-quick shifts and a more direct connection with the powertrain, as well as a launch-control function for controlled, tire-hazing starts.
