SL ostensibly stands for Sport Leicht—“Sport Light”—but Mercedes’ top-dog roadster hasn’t lived up to the billing for decades, instead morphing into a heavy boulevard cruiser. The outgoing SL is certainly quick, but it’s far from nimble. Small wonder: The SL550 tipped our scales at 4233 pounds. At a recent tech day, Mercedes told us what it’s doing to change that, along with a few other things to expect on the 2013 SL-class.
Mercedes says the new SL will weigh 275 pounds less than the old car, which has been offered since the fall of 2001. Almost 250 pounds of that savings comes via the aluminum-intensive body (a development which this author reported way back in October 2010). The current-gen SL only has an aluminum hood and doors, with the rest of the car constructed from steel; in contrast, only the new car’s windshield and roof frames are made from steel, and the rear bulkhead is partially constructed from even lighter magnesium. The rest is aluminum, save for the trunklid. That piece is made from plastic composite and allows Mercedes to integrate all antennae for the radio, navigation, and phone systems into the panel itself without the wart so common on today’s vehicles.
The new SL is not just lighter. Its structure is stronger, thanks to various advanced bonding techniques and “bionic” elements inspired by structures found in nature. Torsional rigidity has improved by more than 20 percent, according to Mercedes.
Luxury-oriented items include doors that hold any open position and a new wiper system that goes by the somewhat ridiculous name of Magic Vision Control. The system takes into account temperature, velocity, and even the season to calculate the optimal amount of washer fluid to be sprayed onto the windshield. When you operate the system with an open top, the fluid—spurted from several arm-mounted jets—is sprayed mainly when the wiper is moving downwards, so you won’t receive an unwanted shower. The washer fluid is heated, but the wiper blade also can be heated as an extra-cost option.
Mercedes also has worked to vastly improve the performance of the audio system, especially in top-down mode. The bass speakers are now integrated on the underside of the dash, in the footwells, instead of their typical position in the doors or under the seats. We’ll have to listen to it for ourselves, but the company says the experience is hugely superior when the roof is open. This so-called “Front Bass” system is standard, and the auditory experience can be further enhanced by specifying either a 600-watt Harman/Kardon Logic7 surround-sound system or the top-spec 940-watt Bang & Olufsen system.
Further details were scarce at the event, but we expect to have more information on the 2013 SL-class soon. Stay tuned.
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