First Drive Review
If the eyes are the windows to the soul, then the dazed peepers on the 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG, with their heavy, cockeyed lids, would reveal the newest iteration of the hot-rod SL to be an incorrigible drunk with a fondness for the snooze button.
But like many things your granddad told you, it’s poppycock. The SL63 is actually fully alert and has its metaphorical shit together. In fact, it was up hours before you—fresh as a daisy—closing deals like the master of the universe it is.
So ignore the eyes. They mean nothing at all. For soul, you’ll want to look at the great, stonking hunk of twin-turbocharged 5.5-liter V-8 that produces, in base-level form, 530 horsepower and great gobs of torque with no apparent effort. That’s 12 more horsepower than the naturally aspirated 6.2-liter V-8 made in the previous SL63. With so little difference in peak power, you might wonder why AMG bothered. Indeed, so good was the 6.2-liter that AMG engineers get wistful just talking about it, even in front of the meddling, judgmental press. Goodness, was it a lusty thing with perfectly linear power delivery, immediate throttle response, and an exhaust snarl that would cause wolverines in neighboring states to believe they’d heard the voice of their God.
But, while the 6.2-liter is making its last stand in the C63 and the SLS gullwing and roadster, AMG hasn’t forgotten what keeps buyers coming back.
“One of the most important things for our customers is the sound,” says Tobias Moers, who heads vehicle development at AMG. And despite having a couple of turbos diminishing its exhaust-gas energy, the 5.5-liter in the SL63 positively blares out of its square tailpipes. It has an almost marine-engine quality, with a deep burble at idle that implies positively cavernous cylinders despite giving up 0.7 liter of displacement to the old engine. And that’s not its only trick: When the seven-speed so-called Speedshift automatic upshifts, the exhaust produces a gratifying pop like a single handclap of applause. It invariably makes passengers say “oooooh.” It is also carefully orchestrated by AMG. Some software code in the engine-control system cuts two or four cylinders (depending on load) on upshifts to produce the sound. “It is for emotion,” says Moers.
We’re guessing most owners will love the trick and the engine’s performance. It’s a sort of mobile tsunami of torque. It churns out 590 pound-feet between 2000 and 4500 rpm. That’s a whopping 125 more than the 6.2-liter, which delivered its torque peak at a comparatively high 5200 rpm. If it isn’t as pure and linear as the old engine, this new one is devastatingly effective. Thanks to this engine and a launch-control system, the SL63 should pop off 0-to-60-mph runs a bit below 4.0 seconds. Opt for the AMG Performance package (an extra $9000 on top of the car’s $146,695 base price), and AMG turns up the turbo boost, resulting in a total of 557 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque. The package also brings red brake calipers, a speed limiter pushed from 155 mph to 186, a steering wheel partially covered in synthetic suede, and a locking limited-slip differential. Mercedes officials acknowledge that the take rate on previous boost packages has been minuscule. But let the record state that it is available and not just something that appears on test cars built for the press (although it surely does appear on most of those). Anyway, an SL63 with the AMG Performance package should produce 0-to-60 times of about 3.7 seconds. Also, Mercedes estimates that the new SL63 (thanks in part to an annoying but easily defeated stop-start system) gets significantly better fuel economy than before.
