"dr861" (dr861)
05/12/2014 at 12:25 • Filed to: Classic Car Club, SLS, Mercedes, Reviews
4
0|
"dr861" (dr861)
05/12/2014 at 12:25 • Filed to: Classic Car Club, SLS, Mercedes, Reviews | 4
| 0 |
Some people call the SLS a GT car. It isn't. It's a super car. When it's doors open, it screams to be looked at, and everybody looks. That's what supercars do. This is the first time I've driven anything in the "Super" category.
My friend actually wound up using the car for his company photo shoot, and before we were shooting, before the doors went up, nobody looked twice at the car. I guess most people just thought it was a hardtop Mercedes SL. But with the doors open, this thing makes everybody stop and look. EVERYBODY.
But enough about the SLS' dashing good looks. Let's get down to the nitty gritty.
The Bad: It's tight inside. Not as tight as you might think, but not as spacious as it looks from the outside. Think of this car like cigarette boat for the road. Tons of hood, a fat ass, and oh yea we have to put drivers in there. The other problem I have is the interior design. While it does look pretty inside, the usability factor is not great. Things aren't where they are in normal cars. For instance, the signal indicator is right underneath the cruise control, which looks like it should be an indicator, and definitely is where the indicator SHOULD be. As a result, instead of slowing down, putting on your indicator, and then slowly making that right turn; you wind up slowing down, turning on the cruise control, letting off on your foot, realizing cruise control is still on and your moving forward under power, hit the brakes, turn off cruise control, and then hopefully make the turn... Not so awesome.
The Good: Pretty much everything else is awesome. Let's start with that naturally aspirated 6.2 liter v8. This thing is ridiculous. The force with which the torque comes on and this beast lunges forward is unimaginable. Triple digit speeds are reached purely by accident. I keep looking down and being surprised by the number on the speedometer. This car is built to go fast and drive fast. When we get off the highway and hit the twisties in Harriman Park north of NYC, the car handles awesomely. One tends to be a bit worried about the width (over 76 inches), but inside it doesn't feel so broad. My co pilot for these rides tends not to scare easy, in fact he's pretty much fallen asleep in every car I've taken us out in, including the new jag f type r roadster. This car scared him though. I think it was because the limits for this car were so much higher, that running it around 70 percent skill (my driving level) would make it seem like 100 percent in something lesser. It was good. It was fast. It stuck very well to the road. I didn't get any of that tail happiness that I got from the F-type r, which I was happy with, since I like to keep cars that are worth over $200,000 generally pointed in the right direction, especially if they aren't mine. The suspension is soft enough for the bumpy palisades and hard enough to not lose any of that handling feel. It's not an s class by any means, but it won't break your back either.
Overall, I was very impressed with the car. It was mean when I wanted it to be, and very drivable at any level. Some of the design of the interior could use some help but that's not a huge issue. The exhaust is awesome whether you are going all out or weather you are angrily using all that torque low down on the highway. Is driving a supercar like driving anything else? Yea, pretty much. It's a car. No more difficult than driving a camry. You just have to be aware that a monster is living under your foot when you drive, and what a lovely monster it is.