Thank God for de-badging. If your style demands outweigh the capacity of your Gucci wallet, and the Merc 500 SL is just beyond your manicured grasp, just place a tick in the no-cost 'badge delete' box when ordering your new SL 350. Now, when it arrives in March, it will look identical to its brawnier SL 500 sibling. Fantastic, dahling.

But this smaller-engined £56,340 version is no second-rate option, though. On the contrary. Buy the SL 350 and you still get an almost flawless motorised sunbed. You still get a car that oozes must-have-one appeal from every angle, and there's a useful £11,450 saving over the 500. So what don't you get? Two things really - there's no big V8 engine and no Active Body Control suspension.

The engine first. Mounted behind the front axle sits Merc's new 18-valve V6 that made its debut earlier this year in the revised S-Class range. At 3724cc, the 350 badge is a little white lie and another good reason for not having it on the rump of the car.

Breathing through a revised cylinder head, the big-bore bent six develops a healthy 245bhp at 5,750rpm and 258lb ft of torque at 3,000rpm; only 61bhp less than the SL 500. But the 350's rather feeble torque figure is more noticeable and you feel a lack of oomph when tackling inclines or overtaking slower traffic. Where the bigger 500 simply surfs on its tsunami wave of V8 torque, the 350 has to be worked hard to shift the SL's thick-ankled 1,755kg kerb weight with determination. That's no chore, mind - it zings through the mid-range with a smooth and refined eagerness that makes whipping it up against its 6,200rpm red line an addictive treat.

Progress is aided by the superb ZF auto 'box that slips smoothly through its five ratios with real intuition. The transmission can change from wafty cruiser mode to flick-knife-fast shifts the moment you decide to up the ante. And, although the six-pot lacks the vocal thunder of the 500's V8, the 350's twin exhaust pipes still spit out a crisp bark. The 350's performance deficit is only relative, remember. The 350 will still launch itself off the line and touch 60mph in seven seconds and an electronic limiter is still needed to reign in the fun at 155mph. Pretty quick for a big roadster, and all the more impressive since this performance is never achieved with anything other than a chilled insouciance.

The other major mechanical difference is the suspension. The SL 350 is fitted with conventional aluminium multi-link suspension, rather than the Active Body Control system unit fitted as standard to the 500. Driving over the Mexican roads on our test route - roads that ranged from passable to downright diabolical - it took numerous changes between the standard SL 350 and one fitted with the optional ABC (yours for £2,540) to throw up any major differences between the two. Both systems sponge away intrusions with real finesse at all speeds and unwanted body movements are all kept in check. But ultimately, the steel-sprung Merc feels slightly more brittle over badly scarred and acned blacktop and the suspension is a little more likely to get caught out by sharp intrusions. Both front and rear ends seem to lack the Nth degree of tyre-on-tarmac security the dynamic ABC system generates. Still, in most driving conditions you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference.

For all its girth and gross, the SL 350 can be driven with real precision and scruff-of-the-neck zest. It feels agile in a way something nudging 1,800kg has no right to be - you bullet it down a road with utter confidence, rather than steer timidly around its size and weight. The quick-witted steering is direct and accurate and the drive-by-wire brakes are simply astonishing, hauling down the Merc from big speeds with effortless stability and strength. Pretty useful when Mexican cops unexpectedly wave a radar gun in your direction. (“Eh gringo, usted maneja muy rapido...”)

And, of course, there's that roof. Intelligent, quick and cosseting, it gives SL drivers a real two-in-one deal. From tin-top GT to sun-seeking roadster in 16 seconds. You just can't argue with that kind of flexibility.

It may not have the muscle and friskiness of the bigger 500, but the 350 is still a hugely desirable means of transportation. In standard trim (only get the ABC unless you are into posturing over your Chardonnay), it effectively puts a tick in all the important boxes - performance, handling, image and appeal. It also has few other worthy rivals in its price bracket - the flaccid Jaguar XK8 is too old and the floppy Lexus SC430 is too ugly to mount much opposition, and you'll need more money to get into a Porsche 911 Cabriolet or Maserati Spyder. In a first for Mercedes, less is more.

Ben Whitworth



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