Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG Black Series 2009 Review - International

Name: Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG Black Series 2009 Review - International
Brand: Mercedes-Benz

Prodgious power and a suit of clothes unlike any other SL make the AMG 65 Black Series a very different sort of Mercedes

Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG Black Series

Quickspin
Malibu, California

What we liked

>> Seamless, almost-limitless power
>> In-your-face racecar looks
>> Sheer madness of it all

Not so much

>> Needs a racetrack season pass
>> Surprising number of rattles and squeaks
>> We'll never get to drive one again

Overall rating: 4.0/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 4.5/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 2.0/5.0
Safety: 3.5/5.0
Behind the wheel: 4.0/5.0
X-factor: 6.0/5.0*

*okay... 5.0/5.0

About our ratings

Explosive, incendiary, apocalyptic... There are any number of adjectives to describe the critical mass of performance that lurks under the carbonfibre bonnet of AMG's most extravagant model yet.

Off the record, the engine boffins from Affalterbach are happy to admit that before it was reigned in, the tweaked twin-turbo V12 that powers the SL 65 AMG Black Series pumped out 850hp (633kW) and well over 1200Nm. The as-delivered max outputs of 493kW and 1000Nm are, it seems, there in deference to their colleagues in the gearbox department. Put simply, unleashed, this 5980cc fast breeder petroleum reactor makes mincemeat of even Mercedes/AMG's toughest five-speed auto.

In a limited edition model like the SL Black (only 350 will be built for worldwide consumption -- depending on who you talk to 10-12 will come Down Under) any other car company would have gone for the big numbers and dealt with the aftermath behind closed doors. But it's a measure of how Mercedes and AMG does business -- even at the super rarified end of the automotive spectrum -- that the SL Black has to pass the same sort of durability testing as a 'normal' Mercedes.

That means, in effect, you could choose to drive 'your' SL 65 Black to work and back every day... You could -- if you were a complete buffoon!

Built to take the SL nameplate to the very pointy end of road car performance, the SL 65 Black Series is many things... A commuter it isn't. Faster and quicker than a Mercedes McLaren SLR (once the 320km/h speed limiter is switched off), it's a single raised digit to the cross-company tensions that will see Mercedes soon exit its 'partnership' with the English performance house. In that way, it's also a precursor to what could prove the fastest and most desirable modern Mercedes yet -- the reborn Gullwing (more here).

It's an equally proud finger to the likes of Porsche, Ferrari and the other supercar brands that for so long have prised huge wads of cash from the super-wealthy of the world for their respective performance flagships. It's AMG's assertion that many of these clients use Mercedes exclusively as their 'other' car(s). The Black Series allows them to keep the badges in their garages consistent.

The theory behind AMG's Black Series are therefore simple -- take the sharpest of the AMG production models and make them sharper, without losing their 'Mercedes-ness'. The very first Black was a honed version of the SLK. Last year the CLK Black arrived -- and even made its way Down Under. The SL Black is the sharpest, least compromised example of the breed yet.

The hand-fettled hand-built engine is only part of the story. Though it gets bespoke larger turbos, revised intercoolers and exhausts, the lion's share of the changes wrought on the SL Black are to the chassis and suspension.

Most of its bodywork has been optimised for work on the other side of 220km/h and is fashioned from carbonfibre to save weight. For the same reason, the cooking model SL's trademark folding hardtop is gone -- in its place a fixed lid of -- you guessed it, carbonfibre. In total around 250kg has been stripped from the car -- think three passengers!

Fully-adjustable coil-over suspension is fitted at each corner and the car's track has been stretched up to 115mm (!) over the SL65 AMG. The brakes look like they've been stolen from a Group C Le Mans racer.

We've detailed the changes that AMG has made to the SL Black previously (more here), what we didn't think we'd have the opportunity to deliver to you was a behind-the-wheel impression.

Well, we've driven it and it was a blast.

A blast... Bit weak word-wise really, isn't it... You're disappointed at the writer's literary ineptitude... Frankly, it's hard to put down in bytes just how explosive the SL Black's performance is... Any attempt to 'launch' the car from a standing start has the safety systems intervening (it's a Benz after all and is fully kitted out with stability and traction control -- albeit switchable) and yet is still fast enough to leave a slightly jetlagged head spinning.

From 100km/h on dry, well surfaced tarmac a full-welly kickdown has the car slewing sideways and struggling for traction -- again with all the nannies engaged. Turn the same systems off and it's like trying to drive away from an icy stop light... Uphill! Only accompanied with smoke!... Lots of smoke! Forget funny cars and top fuellers -- the SL Black could rank with the burnout champions of all time.

AMG's raw numbers simply do not do convey the latent performance of the car -- 3.8sec 0-100km/h; 11.0sec to 200km/h... Just numbers... The in-gear part-throttle acceleration of the SL Black is like no other car this writer has driven. Gently squeeze the throttle from an indicated 120km/h and the speedo needle zaps past 220km/h in the space of a single-car overtaking manoeuvre. Mash the throttle, even at triple digit speeds and the acceleration is eye-opening...

The only ingredient missing is noise... The tyres scream in protest but unlike the sonorous 6.2-litre V8 that powers most 'lesser' AMGs, the blown V12 is, well, somber. There's a hint of edge to it, but if you're expecting a dose of Messerschmitt you might be disappointed.

We drove the car on tight, twisting and at times poorly surfaced roads to the north of Los Angeles. Hardly a happy hunting ground for a car with the extended performance envelope of the SL Black, the roads gave little, if any, opportunity to exercise the mega-V12. Nonetheless, they were clear indicators of the competence of the car's chassis.

On sections of the (in)famous Mulholland Highway and well-known sportsbike and hot car haunts like South Westlake Boulevard and South Kanan Dume and Decker Canyon roads, the SL Black creaked and rattled more than we expected over some of the bumps, but was never hard or crashy like its CLK brethren. It turned in with a sharpness we'd normally associate with a Porsche-badged product and gave the impression of huge reserves of front-end grip.

Rear end grip was entirely proportionate to throttle -- but then even the best traction control system in the world would struggle with the huge percentage increase of torque the bi-turbo V12 serves from 1500-2000rpm... Over the 1000rpm band from idle to 2000rpm, the twist delivered swells four-fold to 1000Nm... Even the stickiest 325-section rubber can't cope.

Most if not all of the corner exits and short straights on these sinuous roads were 'attacked' at low percentage throttle openings. I write 'attacked', because the acceleration even a 'twitch' of the throttle delivers has the car swallowing 100 metres of road in what seems like the blink of an eye. It would take a wide, open circuit like Phillip Island (and pre-warmed slick racing tyres) to allow any serious exercising of the right foot... The Malibu canyon roads are anything but wide and open.

Still it's a credit to the degree of refinement AMG's engineers have wrought over the SL Black's total package that the car proved drivable -- even if it absolutely demanded your full attention.

It was other's full attention that the car got once back in civilisation, however. The upscale sections of the Californian megalopolis are a car-lovers dream, but nothing we saw garnered the same amount of attention as the SL Black Series.

Even at first glance, it's clear this is no ordinary SL -- or indeed any ordinary modified SL. And even casual car observers get the message.

While the CLK Black (with the benefit of hindsight) looked like a lightly modified standard car, the very stance of the SL Black is fundamentally altered. The huge track increase, pumped bodywork, low front splitter and fully-functional rear diffuser and bob-tailed rear end gives it a true racecar for the road look that's arresting. For one of our small number on the drive, almost literally...

Around town the benefits of AMG's choice of a conventional auto are obvious. In traffic, the SL is remarkably civilised. Though we'd happily opt for a proper dual-clutch manual on the track and in the hills, here the fettled auto makes sense.

The car has all the normal satnav and audio niceties we missed in the CLK. The fully electrically adjustable seats in the US delivery model we drove lacked support in the twisties and would be useless at the track but are kinder to the driver in town than the full carbon-backed race buckets Aussie Black buyers will get.

It seems AMG will be true to its word (dating back to the CLK iteration), including Australia in all Black Series programs from here on in. AMG boss Volker Mornhinweg, told the Carsales Network the input of Mercedes Australia was sought on the SL Black and will impact future models. That doesn't men the entry price will be shaved to soften poor $A/Euro exchange rates, nor the availability of numbers of cars stretched to accommodate tardy local Benz aficionados. Like any Black Series customer the world over, they'll pay THE price and have to order promptly and wait in line for a delivery date.

When the first local SL Black customers take delivery of their cars later this year, they'll have waited for nearly a year and pay around $680,000 plus ORCs for the privilege... Think $700K plus change...

Rarely has such a stratospheric amount seemed like such value...

Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG Black Series 2009 Review - International

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