10 September 2009 - 12:00
Return of the Gullwing
See more Mercedes SLS pictures
The Gullwing is back.
We've seen sketches and camouflaged prototypes and we've even driven a development car around the Nurburgring... but this is our first proper look at the SLS, Mercedes' all-new supercar and the spiritual successor to the 1954 300SL.
It is going to be fast. Seriously fast. Underneath that long, long bonnet - two metres long, in fact - is a hotted-up version of the 6.3-litre V8 from the Merc C63 AMG, hoofing out a massive 571bhp and 479lb ft of torque through a seven-speed dual-clutch box.
That means it'll hit 62mph in just 3.8 seconds and top out at a whopping 197mph, making the SLS very nearly as quick as the outgoing McLaren-Mercedes SLR 722. And hugely fast in its own right.
Despite that giant nose, the SLS is technically mid-engined: the V8 sits in front of the cabin but so far behind the front axle that the SLS has slightly rear-biased weight distribution.
As for the looks - well, we'd appreciate your opinion on this one. It's certainly not as cohesive a design as the Ferrari 458 Italia or the understated McLaren 12C, borrowing heavily from the SLR with a host of retro styling cues - but hey, it has gullwings! Everyone loves gullwings. Don't they?
Prices will start at around £140,000 - right on the money with both the new McLaren and the 458 Italia. The SLS will reach our shores early next year, likely followed by a roadster, a hardcore Black Series edition - and an all-electric version in 2012.
So - McLaren 12C, Ferrari 458 Italia or Merc SLS? Where's your £140,000 going?
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To me it looks a bit like a souped up Crossfire and that ain't a good thing! Gullwing doors are great, but I don't think that can make up for the rest of the looks especially not for that amount of money. It would have to be the 458 for me.
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I like this one most of the lot. I love the retro look and the gullwing doors. Love the swooping rear too, it's very much like the original gullwing. Its a good change from all the modern/futuristic designs of the Ferrari and Mclaren. If i had to chose between the three (ferrari, mclaren and this), this is where my money would go!!
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That is one UGLY car. But no suprise really, it being a Merc...
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Beautiful car - would love to buy it. Its the modern interpretation of the original Gullwing myth - smart move. It should also perform very well on the track. Can´t wait to see one in real life.
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It looks a bit brutish, and I'm not sure of those SLR Moss headlights - or the roofline, although I'm sure that's a 50s throwback or something - but it just seems like it's going to be muscular and thunderous, like if it were an AMG-only car. I can picture it drifting very easily, mostly because of the FR layout, but I'm not sure I'd pick one over the McLaren - it's most blatant rival after the SLR split-up, and then there's the Italia trying to split the pair up. I can imagine the Brit and Italia(n) will be balanced and poised (two words practically synonymous with MR sports cars these days), and I'm sort of leaning towards the MP4-12C (not a pretty name, is it?) from an aesthetic viewpoint, just, but really I'm eagerly anticipating a 3-way test. On TV and in-depth in the mag, plz!
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It has all the required drama at the front, but sadly it all goes wrong past the B pillars, the rear end looks like it belongs on a sensible Merc saloon. A better road car than the Ferrari though I suspect, which is a different thing than being a better car.
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it just seems..........well, messy! like someone arranged a random design scheme and bolted together bits from various cars (all of them made on entirely different design principles). The front grill is kind of retro but the air intakes and the headlights dont go with it. The gullwings....well I personally prefer scissor doors but I wont say it's a bad idea but again it's the same problem, they just seem to work with the rest of the package. The performance is'nt out of the world either, I can think of lots of other cars which give the same or even better performance numbers but aren't as controversial. For me it's a marmite car, You'd really have to want it, infact you'd have to want only it or nothing else to actually walk into the dealers and buy one. I know I would'nt (and I adore Mercs).
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The front is certainly striking and imo, very good. Gullwing doors? Awesome. But the back end....it just doesn't look right in the photos there - there's too much metal and not enough window for me, and the boot line looks a bit like a Bentley Continental, which isn't so hot. It's a shame as it looks pretty darn sweet other than that. Out of the 3 mentioned...I'd go for the McLaren, probably. But then again I'd still rather have a Maserati GTS and spend (some of) what's left on a little hot hatch to go down the shops in......
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It looks great, except for the headlamps. Something about the hard angles kills the retro look, in my mind at least.
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it isn't all that special.the looks are ok at max
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Looks good to me, and seeing a Merc with a different color than grey or black is good.
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Styling is a bit overdone, particularly on the front end, could do without those chin spoiler grills and side grills. The roof line, or rather the angle of the rear part of the door windows, is a little odd but I guess thats symptomatic of using the gull wings. Rear is rather nice though, and for once the wheels aren't made of solid tackyness. All around it looks ok, but the SLR is better looking.
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I don't like the look of it from the front it looks a bit like the current SL which would have been nice when they wouldn't have ruined it somehow. And that back... Bloody hell it's ugly For me it's gonna be the McLaren. Definitely!
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at first glance i thought it was ugly. but it kinda grows on you. Its unlike any other supercar made today. its not sleek and sexy its mean and brutish. it looks like a mucsle car from the 70s which is a brillient thing. its unique and the tiny cabin and huuuuuuuge bonnet just make it stand out. i love it.
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The gullwing SL idea has always been held in hig regard. So why did it take Mercedez 50-70 years to revisit the idea?!
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THAT IS A UGLY UGLY UGLY CAR! An SLR looks a million billion trillion gazillion times better! McLaren or Ferrari is the obvious choice if your not braindamaged. I even think the Gumpert Apollo look better than this car
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But now it has grown a bit into me, like someone in here said it would, and it is no longer uglier than a Gumpert Apollo, but still way out of Ferrari and McLaren's league
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i want a mclaren more
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my god could they have made it any uglier. it just doesnt have to look that horrible! it is the worst looking car ever built. i am sorry but it just is. i want the mclaren. technically the mclaren should be backed by the government for creating new jobs! go mclaren!
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That car is stunningly beautiful and at 140k, a bargain frankly! Just look at all the stats! I don't whether it's faster than the other two or not, that's what my money would go on without any question or shadow of a doubt!
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My money is on the SLS It looks gorgeous
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In terms of the looks, i'm sure this will prove to be a Marmite kind of car, I dont think this is anywhere near as good looking as the 458, but it is my favourite out of the 3 cars... it's a gullwing thing.
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really beautiful car i love it just the frame of the windows its too thick
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I have just noticed a funny thing, SLR McLaren's doors actually were not gullwing...
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I just signed up only to make this one statement: This, Sirs (or whatever you wish to call yourselves up there on the island), is an outstanding bit of design. It is charismatic, modern, beautiful to look at... but most importantly, it achieves this without using the usual boring supercar formula most of modern manufacturers follow. - this car is unique and it will be an icon of motoring. Now. And Then. It is awesome.
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For that price Ill take the Mclaren anyday.
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Now that is ugly, disappointment from Mb, as ugly as the GLK for example.
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I Just love it. And it's fast, and a lot cheaper than the Merc 722. I would have it.
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NURBURGRING LAP TIME - 7:40 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfkDKznMH6c
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Hmm Black Edition , sounds gooood
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Hmm Black Edition , sounds gooood
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now they brought back the gullwing doors so why dont someone bring back the pop-up headlights anyway this car is not good looking but it makes that thing up with those gullwing doors. i would buy this or the ferrari 458 italia not the mclaren whatever it was cause the mclaren should be the fastest car in world not the usual 200mph it has to over 250
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I like Mercs,there stylish at times but this,this is weird Its a shame though,this Merc looks like pinnochio Seriously it does though the doors are cool enough but the bonnet is oversize If u think im wrong try park this in central Dublin Point Made
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Yikes - looks a bit hideous to me. Doesn't flow well, huge gaping mouth on the thing, and the boot looks like it was lifted from an Accord. The Mercedes badge looks a bit lost...
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Brilliant looking. I like that Mercedes has done with the Gullwing what Ford has done with the recent Mustangs. They kept a retro look to it, while keeping it fresh and lovely. It's nothing like a 599, 8C or Vantage, but it looks very nice. I'm very curious about the future lap time...
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It's not pretty, but I like it, if only the cockpit was smaller
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There is something strangely wrong with this car... I think even if this is a designer's work the management was still controlling the final look and had the last say once it passed production.
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Loved it until I saw the rear 3/4 view (B pillar). What a let down.
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Loved it until I saw the rear 3/4 view (B pillar). What a let down.
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i don't know how theyve done it but it looks nicer in the moving photos then it does in the stills, hideous, id much rather have the mclaren or ferrari 458
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I'd have all 3 :) Merc for normal driving cuz it probaly have an auto 'box like every single merc does lol 458 for showing of and McLaren for whoping everyones ass at track days!
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For me its either the merc or the Ferrari. I mean al three have throwbacks in them of legendary cars but stylingwise I like those two the best. But I probably wouldn't be able to make a decision so I would probably buy both. (If i had the money offcourse)
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Looks.....AMAZING!
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I'm sorry but i think the back end is HIDEOUS! i love the gullwings and stuff but the back just doesnt work! i wanted to love this but for now im stuck with loving the slr still.
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sls, then 458, then 12c btw, anyone else see godzilla in the front and cayman at the back of this?
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this car is pure sex .... it's angular, agressive and farts in the face of every wind tunnel soap bar out there .... top marks merc .... wish i could afford one!
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Yeah, but just look at the angle of the wheels... How sideways would you need to go to get them vertical to get the most tyre contact with the road? Still, would prefer a ferrari though.......the engine noise. Ferrraris 60th at silverstone, I can still hear the howling now.
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Love the car, looks fantastic. Are you going to have it on the show.
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I'ld love it with a big V8 making large grunting and angry noises darting and sliding around like a pure muscle car. Its slightly vulgar and so should it feel and handle. I hope thats exactly how they built it!! I don't want it to be a precise supercar but a vulgar muscle car!!
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It looks brilliant and the colour just set's it of and it got the engine out of a c-class but what about the engine of the SLR
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i really struggle to see its beauty it must be really fast and it has the lights like a nissan gtr
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I love this! I loved the old one and this one is as beautiful, if not more beautiful. What a car!
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Most of us can't afford one of these......so... love it or hate it..... we are the lucky ones who have the luxury of waiting to see if it ages well...... and then decide wether to buy it once some other bloke has "paid off the depreciation" for us.
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It's a great car but i wish the car would have stayed a beautiful classic rather than being brought back as almost a brand new car. I'm not big on the remaking of cars. which is what happened too the camaro. Remaking that beautiful classic was not so much joy for me.
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I. WANT. THIS. NOW!!!!
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Hmm. Not sure this one. Overall, I do like it. However, it just doesn't grab me like the uber-muscle car SL 65 AMG Black. Here I think we have a German take on crossing a C-5 Corvette Z06 with a Dodge Viper, & adding in historical references to the original 300SL of 1954. Perhaps I order one for the Mrs.
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I can not say anything becouse thats what we call >PEASE OF ART< let the car talk about it self and let us listen
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I wanted it and them i looked at the back, now i know how Jeremy must feel in tights. Dont get me wrong the front looks great but the back (no offense Jeremy) looks like a paralyzed walrus
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i like the old timey style
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look at those doors!
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458 Italia over this any day... this looks alright but the retro styling is no real match for the futuristic Ferrari
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Musashi commented on this article
10 September 2009
£140K? I'm sure there's plenty of punters out there with the requisite £420K to buy all three of them... Personally, I've ALWAYS wanted a Gullwing, so if I had the readies, that is what I'd go for...
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