The rest of the world will have a choice of the standard bodywork or a more aggressive AMG upgrade, and the model range will extend from the six-cylinder SL280 and SL350 (powered by a new, high-revving 316-horsepower V-6), the V-8 SL550 (called a 500 elsewhere), and the V-12-powered SL600.
In the U.S., only the AMG-look bodywork will be offered, and at first only in SL550 and SL600 models beginning in mid-May. Director of design Hans-Dieter Futschik says preproduction clinics revealed that an overwhelming number of Americans, and Mercedes dealers, preferred the AMG's in-yer-face lines, adding, "This makes the car look as fast as it drives." The real deals, the 518-horsepower SL63 AMG and SL65 AMG, will arrive later this year. Unfortunately, there are no plans to bring in the new SL350, though it appears perfectly suited to deal with rising U.S. fuel prices with no unpleasant compromises to performance.
In structural and dimensional senses, the new SL is virtually identical to the outgoing model. Every engineer we asked regarding differences between the old and new answered with some variation of, "If it ain't broke, we will not fix it," but the corollary to that maxim in Mercedes's methodology, "If it ain't workin', we will fix it," was also in evidence. The company has shown a great facility of late for reacting quickly to aspects of its vehicles that could use improvement, and the best example in the new SL would appear to be the so-called "direct-steer system."
This new rack mechanically alters the steering ratio in reaction to vehicle speed and steering-wheel angle in an effort to better control a steering characteristic called "yaw rate," a function of vehicle speed measured against something called "yaw gain," which is essentially a measure of the steering's reaction to lateral forces. Or, as Jrgen Weissinger, director of passenger-car development for the SL, puts it, the new system delivers less effort at low speeds, better directional stability at higher speeds, and crisper response for improved guidance through the corners. (We'll let you know when we drive the new SL in early March.)
The move to standard 18-inch wheels certainly will contribute to sportier road manners, but we were told the suspension settings remain largely unchanged, as do the car's weight and fore/aft balance. Weissinger holds a thumb and forefinger a few millimeters apart to indicate the slight software adjustments he says were needed to accommodate the physical alterations to the new car, and then leads us on to a display of the new headlamp cluster.
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