Test drive Mercedes Benz SL-class R231 since 2012

High on the arrow

What Mercedes-Benz SL has learned in sixty years.

the ritoremos at a traffic light before the unilateral traffic on the Spanish serpentine, my colleague and I notice how the Spanish worker moved in our orange reflective vest in our direction. Approaching closer, he seemed to ask us the most important question: Well, a cool car, guys?. Why did it seem? Because in Spanish we do not understand, otherwise they would answer him something like: this is not a car, Signor. This is the new Mercedes-Benz SL, almost a plane!. Only without wings.

The flight topic has always been close to the brand from Stuttgart. Their racing cars from time immemorial are called silver arrows, and one of the most famous models has a named wing of the Seagull for a special design of the doors. The wing of the Seagull is not mentioned by chance: the current SL direct heir to the legendary car. Pra-great-ruble, if I may say so. That is why the presentation flaunted two naked SLs of 1954 and the new SL, the year 2012. A steel tubular frame of rarity and high -tech, ultra -light and almost completely aluminum body from a beginner.


Mercedes-Benz SL selfish square! In a rather big place of place for two.

In the design of the new relatives, the proportion of winged metal reaches 89 percent. As a result, the new SL 500 turned out to be easier than the previous model of 125 kilograms. And if the new car was made according to the old recipe, then it would have gained about 110 kilograms in weight.

Compared to competitors, the new Rostster really turned out to be super -light: it weighs even less than the aluminum Jaguar XK Cabrio with a five -liter compressor engine, and 230 kilograms less than a direct competitor of the BMW 650i. However, if you operate with absolute numbers, then you can’t call the new SL lightweight: the equipped mass of the car with the V8 biturbod is considerable 1785 kilograms. Folding roof, expensive skin, Harman Kardon audio system and countless options all this contributes to an increase in mass.


But in motion, all this mass is almost not felt: SL flies forward, like an arrow released from a giant crossbow. And you are sitting on her.

And not just sitting you can manage it! And with filigree accuracy. A hard body, an accurate steering wheel (a mechanism with a variable gear ratio does not interfere here at all) and a perfectly configured chassis provides full control over the car. Surprisingly, SL carefully hides its large sizes from the driver, but the Rogster turned out to be long (4612 millimeters) and monstrously wide for narrow Spanish serpentines (1877 millimeters).


All 700 nm of the torque of the 4.7 -fraud of the SL Biturbomotor are available from 1800 revolutions per minute.


Acceleration at SL at the moment. The machine switches smoothly, and the maximum engine speed only slightly exceeds the mark of 6000.

At the same time, all useful space inside SL is intended for only two passengers. In the modern automotive world, striving to reduce the size of the vehicle to a minimum, a double car is more than 4.5 meters with an inadmissible, absurd luxury long. So, after all, he also has a 4.7-fraud of gasoline biturgist, which, despite all the engineering tricks and the Blueedirect eco-child, no matter how hard to save, properly eats its 15 liters per hundred with a very enviable appetite.

You click on the gas, and the engine, first in the womb, rumbling, and then moving to more and more evil notes, powerfully accelerates the car, easily sending SL to the attack on a new turn. So I want to do it again and again: on the way to the turn, to besiege the relatives with the brakes and the light, unambiguous movement of the hands to direct the nose of the fighter to the apex. SL accepts the commands accurately and after a moment, slightly wagging its tail at the exit, already rushes to the next turn.


SL has an accurate chassis. The steering wheel is light and stunningly clean, and it is not enough to control this class with a comparable pleasure.

The tenacious of the SL chassis is amazing, and it is uncomfortable to search for its limits on public roads. On Spanish serpentines, only soft departments of the rear axle and a slight twisting inward can be felt, which provides a rear self -locking differential.

The new SL is not just in German is effective, but also spectacular: with a lowered roof, the growl of the motor interspersed with sobs of turbines is reflected from the rocks and penetrates directly into the salon. At the same time, with raised side glasses and a special screen behind the seats, an open SL is caring for passengers: even at speeds for 150 kilometers per hour, the breeze only slightly strokes the crown and does not interfere with the talk in an undertone.


The frame of the folding hard roof is made of magnesium alloy.


You can remove or raise the top in just 20 seconds.


The folding roof control unit, rising glasses and a windproof screen is located under the lid near the armrest. One flaw: lowering or raising the top, you have to keep the key until the operation is completed - the automatic mode is not provided.

For the highest level of acoustic and aerodynamic comfort, thank you, you need to say the engineers who worked on the aerodynamics of the new SL. The lobe resistance coefficient of Rodster is only 0.27 is the best result among open cars. The last time the Porsche 356 Speedster reached this indicator, which, by irony, was born in the same 1954 as the classic seagull wing.

With a closed roof, Roadster is in Memstezovskiy is quiet and comfortable. The feeling of flight is one hundred percent. Isolated from the outside world, chained in your small, skillfully executed world, you seem to fly in a very fast and maneuverable plane.

Interior


Interior Mercedes-Benz SL the kingdom of luxury. Both passengers are surrounded only by expensive skin, wood and aluminum. Massaging multi -contouring seats are very convenient, the steering wheel with a cut through the chord itself lies in the hands, and access to the governing organs is surprisingly logical.


The dashboard in the daylight looks a little toy, and with night backlighting it grows and gains solidity. And this does not affect the convenience of reading readings. A large color display is located between the tachometer and the speedometer.


The automatic transmission selector decreased to very tiny sizes, and the parking mode is selected by pressing a special button. It can only be switched with the help of steering wheel petals.

It is with the raised roof, in the silence unexpected for the Rodster, that you begin to realize that despite your amazing dynamics and tenacious chassis, Mercedes-Benz SL is still a very calm car. His speed and power never enter into a direct conflict with the driver and do not force him to fight the car. And this is very much in the Mercedesian. SL skills are so skillful that it can afford even with active driving only gently rumbling with an engine rarely reaching the limiting revolutions, and always a soft change of gears (and in sports mode only faster). After all, its owner is primarily the owner of a Mercedes, and only then the owner of a sports family.

The real evil, which is deprived of the usual SL, is traditionally stored for AMG versions. The modification of the SL 63 AMG with a 536 -power B8 with a capacity of 536 forces goes on sale in March, along with the usual SL 350 and SL 500. And the appearance of a completely extreme SL 65 AMG with a 630 -horsepower V12 is expected by the end of the year. And this is probably a different car in nature.

An ordinary SL will come to Russia in July, SL 63 AMG in early autumn. Moreover, before entering the market of this AMG, it will be possible to order a rubber with a special sports package. In addition to the AMG-worship, 19-inch wheels, special interior decoration, the owner of such a machine will receive perforated rear brake discs (just ventilated in return), 10 millimeters of the suspension (instead of anti-Crene ABC in the database) and the sports regime of the gearbox (instead of comfortable). The price of this pleasure in Germany is 7556 euros for the SL 350 version and 6961 euros for SL 500.

With the interior and external AMG-Staleling, everything is clear: as you like. As for the suspension, a car that is not equipped with an AMG package, but equipped with a HAC hydraulic is good if it has the opportunity to vary the rigidity of the suspension. Even in small limits. In addition, such a SL can raise the face of 50 millimeters in order, for example, to move a lying policeman.

And most importantly, ABC is very cool with the rolls and really improves the controllability of the relatives. Moreover, SL remains equally good both in sports and comfortable modes. The only difference is that in a relaxed state it becomes quite suitable for movement along very flawed roads, because the suspension itself seems quite rigid.


High -contrast (diagonal 17.8 centimeters) TFT display of the Command system, located at the top of the central console, can not only display standard functions (media, navigation, climate, etc.) SL has a separate mode that allows you to display such information about a car, as a height of the clearance or the value of longitudinal and lateral accelerations. However, this toy is available only on cars with ABC suspension.

And this proves the version with the AMG package and a passive suspension: sports springs and shock absorbers, always the same rigidity, reduced clearance. The uncompromising option? But the effect of improving handling is not as strong as we would like. Such SL is more willing to arise, it has a higher limit of the grave of the chassis in a bend, and the sports mode of the machine allows you to almost do not turn to the steering wheel petals.

But there is also the reverse side of the medal: this car always remains tough, and the chassis is no longer so spitting a sharp increase in gas or a sharp turn of the steering wheel. The ESP light flashes here more often, and the rear axle equipped with a self -block runs away from the trajectory with even greater pleasure. Feeling on the highway on SL with an AMG package is more exciting, but radically, the car’s behavior does not change all these improvements, but only a little bring the usual SL to future AMG fighters.

Having flew to Mercedes-Benz SL all the allocated test drive time and almost completely drained his gas tank, I hurry to my flight. There is only time to press the gas on the floor a couple of times, to attack the last power of the serpentine, and once again rejoice at the chassis settings. And then, having measured the ardor, quietly roll up on the parking lot on the drilling exhaust pipes to the parking lot. Calmly and sedately, as befits a real Meredesa.

But, leaving the car, I really want to utter the phrase: our flight is over. Thank you for choosing our company.


Alternative
Jaguar XK. The Yaguara body, like Mercedes -Benz SL, is aluminum. So, he also wins in terms of the equipped mass of competitors. In Russia, XK Cabrio is available either with an atmospheric five -liter V8 engine (385 horsepower), or with a compressor version of the same motor (510 forces, 625 nm of torque). All Jaguar XK convertibles are still equipped with a 6-speed automatic gearbox. Prices for atmospheric HC start from a mark of 5,220,000 rubles. Compressor Cabrio HC costs at least 5,620,000 rubles.

BMW 650i. BMW 6-series convertible has the largest number of modifications. In addition to the top 4.4-liter gasoline biturobomotor V8 (650i, 407 horsepower), the six can be equipped with less powerful 3-liter in-line sixes (640i, also with two turbines, 306 forces) or a 313-horsepower 3-liter turbodiesel (640D) . All modifications are equipped with an 8 -speed automatic, and versions 640D and 650i can be ordered with all -wheel drive. The most expensive BMW 650i XDRive costs from 4,700,000 rubles.

Maserati Grancabrio. A competitor from Italy Maserati Grancabrio is initially more expensive than competitors. The minimum price of Italian is 7,288,000 rubles. This model provides the only modification of the V -shaped eight with a volume of 4.7 liters (440 horsepower, 490 Nm of torque) paired with a 6 -speed automatic transmission. It costs 350,000 rubles more expensive with an increase of 10 horsepower with power and modified by a sports suspension.
The matter of technology

Mercedes-Benz SL of the sixth generation is perhaps the most technological Mercedes of our time. It is aluminum, equipped with the most modern engines and almost all advanced electronics available in Mercedes-Benz technology warehouses. According to tradition, those solutions that will find their application on the flagship S-Class sedan, whose debut are scheduled for 2012-2013, are running on to SL.


The Mercedes-Benz SL body is 89 percent made of aluminum. Wintering rigidity increased by 20 percent compared to the previous model - until 19400 nm per degree. This indicator is even higher than that of the open SLS AMG supercar.


The frame glass frame is steel, with an integrated tubular frame. Steel is still the best solution in all cases when it comes to passenger safety.


In the design of the SL body, leaf, cast and extruded aluminum is used.


It is hard to imagine what will happen to this high -tech body in the event of an accident. The repair will definitely be expensive: damaged aluminum parts cannot be edited and pulled out, they can only be changed entirely.


In Mercedes-Benz SL, the Frontbass technology audio system debuted. Its peculiarity is that the bass speakers are under the feet of passengers and use natural body voids to improve sound. As a result, the sound SL gives out amazing, both with the lowered and with the closed roof.

At the presentation, cars were provided only with a 4.7 -fraud of a biturboator. This engine is equipped with a pair of turbines, has a block and head of the cylinders cast from aluminum, is equipped with a third-generation direct injection system with piezo-records, an oil performance variable pump and a smart generator, which turns off when it is not necessary. There is even a Start/Stop function. According to the manufacturer, this engine is able to consume less than 10 liters of gasoline in a mixed cycle, and the CO2 emissions indicator are 212 grams per kilometer. In addition, no one can reproach a new engine with insufficient power of 435 horsepower, or in a lack of torque of 700 nm. And this unit sounds amazing!

Back to the past
The Mercedesovites carefully prepared for the test drive of the new SL. In the backyard of the hotels, all SL models made from the distant 1954 were exhibited. The sight is grandiose! And in the morning rumbling in the morning in the morning, inherent six of the 50s, they also give the necessary sound design to what is happening.

Even just sit behind the wheel of any of these rarities an event. And then they offer me to ride on the very first family of SL 1957! I get the key and try to revive the bright red oldimer. The three-liter 215-horsepower engine is not starting the first time, but having started, it requires welding to cold and works unevenly. Having warmed up the motor, I try to figure it out with a four -speed gearbox.

Anyone who speaking of modern cars mentions a fuzzy switching mechanism, should ride a car released at least 40 years ago. The transmission lever here does not have a return to the neutral it needs to be brought to this position manually. Yes, and the selectivity of the mechanism leaves much to be desired: you are constantly forced to look for the desired transmission.

But it's time to go. Gently working as a clutch, I taxi on the roads of resort Marbella.

The first impression is not a sports car, but a truck! The pedal heavy by modern standards, howling in all ways of transmission, a sweeping steering wheel and not God the news of what acceleration. But rolling half an hour around the city, having become embarrassed, I am getting courage to go to the head of the serpentine leading to the mountains.


The imperfect aerodynamics does not allow to live calmly on the Kutz armchair inside the cockpit: the wind penetrates wherever he can. The sound of the motor at low speeds is nothing special, reminding the grumbling of an ordinary truck. At medium speeds, he becomes more like the sound of a sports car, and after 4000 revolutions it becomes so angry that it resembles the growl of the wounded beast! It is then that 300 SL demonstrates its remarkable agility, unattainable for most cars of that time.

But how bold you need to be bold to bring down on this piece of metal at 200 kilometers per hour? Grandmother hawks of the distant 50s and 60s you were really cool guys! I tried to get into your skin, and it was not easy.

It turns out that managing one of the most advanced and advanced cars of the mid -20th century is not sugar at all, by current standards. A constant search for the desired transmission, a long and uncomfortable clutch pedal, a steering wheel with a play, unacceptable in our time, uncomfortable landing and smeared reactions of the chassis. The gearbox, when switching down, constantly asks for nudes, and the engine, having received it, noisily shoots into the muffler with unbroken fuel, filling the salon with a characteristic smell. Such a harsh romance is obtained.

But 50 years ago it was a very dynamic and perfectly controlled device. Even now, you can evaluate the excellent work of its two -winged pendants: the rolls are almost absent, and SLs are so that some contemporaries will envy.

Of course, those pleasures that 300 SL gave to their owners in the middle of the last century are now not so relevant. But from touching this living legend on the skin, goosebumps still run. The first Rogster SL became a time machine that has been transferred to me for an hour in those years that we now recall with pleasant sadness.

Winged story
Aslan Antonov. Photo from the Daimler AG archive

The story of the super-fingered Mercedes-Benz (this is how the abbreviation SL is deciphered) began with the famous 300 SL wing of the Seagull. The appearance of this machine in the Mercedes-Benz lineup was initiated by Max Hoffman by the official importer of German brand cars in the United States, which proposed to build a civilian sports car based on racing cars of that time. The leadership of Daimler-Benz supported the idea of \u200b\u200ban American, and in September 1953 the project was launched.


The beginning of the 1950s was also marked by the return of Mercedes-Benz to the international motorsport arena. In 1952, the racing 300 SL wins the 24-hour Le-Man and Carrera Panmerican, it was the car that became the basis for creating a mass model. From the racing copy of the 300 SL road, and doors like a wing of a seagull.

It is interesting that this type of door was due to constructive necessity, since the scheme of the 50-kilogram tubular frame underlying the machine did not allow to place the usual doors. A 215-horsepower engine was located under the hood of the car, which, depending on the transfer number of the main gear, could disperse the car to 260 kilometers per hour. To achieve such a speed, a transfer number was required 1: 3.25 (the standard was 1: 3.64 and a maximum speed at a level of 235 km/h). In the interior, attention was drawn to the steering wheel, which could be thrown back for the convenience of planting the driver. Of the 1400 300 SLs, about 30 copies were equipped with alloyed body and one (experimental version) had a body of polymer material reinforced with fiberglass.

In 1957, the heir to the wing of the seagull 300 SL Roadster appeared. The body frame was finalized, which made it possible to install traditional doors. But let this car no longer have wings, 300 SL Roadster did not lose its elegance. The car turned out to be beautiful both in the open version and in the performance of Coupe with a hard roof with a panoramic rear window. The body of this model weighed only 185 kilograms, which was about 1/7 of the mass of the machine.


In the cabin, on the dashboard between the analog appliances there were vertical sensors of the level of gasoline, oil pressure and water temperature. At that time, such a stylistic combination of devices was a real modern.

The maximum speed of the relatives was 250 kilometers per hour. In the early 1960s, the model received disk brakes on all wheels and a modified motor with a alloy block. The production of 300 SL Roadster was completed in February 1963.

At the Geneva Motor Show of the same year, the SL debut in the back of the W113 took place. In style, this model was radically different from the previous SL. In the version of the compartment, a hard but removable roof had a slightly concave central part, and its sidewalls were raised. This solution, firstly, increased the overall stiffness of the structure, and secondly, it made it possible to increase the area of \u200b\u200bglazing.

The machine of this generation had two-three- and even four-seater modifications, and the only rear seat was installed transversely.

On W113, for the first time for SL, an automatic transmission with four gears debuted for SL. The most powerful option SL 280 SL was equipped with a 6-cylinder engine with a volume of 2.8 liters and a capacity of 170 horsepower. Such a return was enough to develop a maximum speed of about 200 kilometers per hour. As an option for this modification, tires with white sidewalls, two -color body color, climatic installation and a steering mechanism with an amplifier were available at that time.


In 1971, the relay wand of the lineup passed to SL in the back of the R107. The superficiality of this generation was to use light alloys both in the body design and in the technical filling. We are talking about 8-cylinder engines with an aluminum alloy unit. The design of the model acquired more streamlined outlines, and on powerful versions, like 500 SL, a small spoiler was installed on the trunk cover.

In 1985, R107 suffered restyling, receiving at the same time a 5.6-liter V8 with a capacity of 272 forces, which was installed under the hood of version 560 SL.

R107 turned out to be an exceptional long -liver: he lasted on the conveyor for more than 18 years. Its production ceased only in August 1989, but back in March of that year, his heir was shown to the public series 129.

When maintaining the overall concept of an elegant Life-old car, the 129th car had practically nothing to do with the previous SLs. The folding top was equipped with an electrohydraulic drive, to protect passengers, they provided an U-shaped arc, which, when overturned, shot in 0.3 seconds.

The hard roof was made of aluminum and was easier than 10 kilograms, and the hardness of the body torsion increased by 30 percent. There was a mesh windproof screen behind the seats and an adaptive suspension. Since October 1992, SL received a six -liter V12, which allowed the car to accelerate from a place to one hundred kilometers per hour in 6.1 seconds.

Since June 1993, Mercedes-Benz has been changing the nomenclature system: the letter part of the name is placed before digital. Thus, 500 SL became SL 500. In addition, in 1993, a version of the SL 60 AMG with an 8-cylinder 381-horsepower engine appeared. To accelerate from a place to a hundred, this relatives left 5.6 seconds.

Interestingly, the SL assembly in the back of the R129 was carried out in Bremen, and not in Zindelfingen, where the previous generations SL were produced. The 129th lasted on the conveyor from 1989 to 2001 and during this time restyling twice in 1995 and 1998. In the late 90s, the SL 73 AMG version was born, which was equipped with a 7.3-liter (!) V12 engine with a capacity of 525 forces and a moment of 750 Nm. The car accelerated from a place to hundreds in 4.8 seconds.

The next SL appeared in 2001 and received the internal designation R230. The hood, front wings, doors, trunk lid, the bulk fuel glutton, as well as some other structural elements were made of aluminum. A hydraulic system for monitoring the position over the road (Active Body Control), electronic brakes (Sensotronic Brake Control) and a folding hard top that turned the relatives into the compartment and vice versa appeared on the New Esel.

In the updated version of 2006, the design of the front of the body slightly changed, new motors appeared, and the interior has become even better.

The next generation of SL debuting at the beginning of 2008 turned out to be even more perfect. The seven -speed automatic was obtained by the pissing function, an air scarf (AIRSCARF) appeared, which supplied jets of warm air from the head restraints on the seats directly to the neck of the driver and passenger.

In 2011, the motor tested the most extreme version of the last generation SL: 670-horsepower SL 65 AMG Black Series.

Source: Motor magazine [April 2012]