2024 Mercedes-AMG SL43 First Drive Review: Four's Not Enough

The seventh-generation SL is a Mercedes-AMG developed model from the ground up, and its platform will underpin the new AMG GT sports car/supercar. This shows, as through high- and low-speed corners, the SL 43 remains planted and well-composed. Under braking, there's no nose-diving or unsettling of the rear, which suggests an inherent balance to the platform AMG is working with.

The steering agrees, and the turn-in is tight with precise weighting, albeit not giving the most feedback. Still, with a four-cylinder engine up front, one would expect keener turn-in than what you get from its larger eight-cylinder brethren.

Braking performance also seemed decent, with strong feedback from the pedal and the ability to shed speed well and get the car perched nicely on the front axle.

The fundamentals seem right, but one aspect let them down.

I've never been one to slag off a car for having a four-cylinder engine or even a three-pot, but a Mercedes SL isn't justanycar. It's the S-Class of sports cars, a car that once wholly embodied Mercedes' racing ethos. And in something like that, a four-cylinder doesn't work.

The 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinderhas an electric turbochargerto mitigate lag and a 48-volt mild-hybrid system for an extra dose of torque. Its on-paper figures of 375 hp and 354 lb-ft seem fine, too, and with peak power at 6,750 rpm and torque between 3,250 and 5,000 rpm, it seems like a car that'll be happy to rev out to reward the driver.

But it feels limp.

Perhaps the direct comparison to a 416-hp/369-lb-ft Mercedes-AMG A45 S hyper-hatch ahead of me left me wanting, but for a car entirely developed by AMG to have weaker performance than a run-of-the-mill hatch tuned by the department is a big problem.

It revs out fine, picks up speed decently, and the nine-speed automatic gearbox does a fair job of being in the right gear at the right time. But the engine feels flat, lacks character as it revs out, and because it doesn't have the DCT of the A 45 and CLA 45, it doesn't give off the same flatulent upshifts.

More power and noise could be a remedy - giving it the engine tune from the facelifted A 45 S should've been a no-brainer - but I think this would be a Band-Aid on a bullet wound. When the AMG SL lineup is going to be headlined by an800-plus-hp plug-in hybrid V8with AWD, a four-cylinder seems like a weak attempt to scrape up the remaining buyers who can no longer get a new Mercedes-AMG SLC. Those aren't SL buyers, and cheapening the SL nameplate to cheapen the admission price (ifsix figures can be considered cheap) is a disservice to a product that otherwise impresses and leaves the door open for shoppers tofind more cylinders and noise elsewhere.

I'm sure it'll have more than enough power in a real-world scenario, but the Mercedes SL has never been described as 'enough' or 'ample.' The SL is meant to be superlative - a feast for the senses. At idle and low-speed trundling, the engine needs to hint that there's more to be unleashed, and on song, I expect to be assaulted by an acoustic symphony. The SL 43 doesn't do that.

这篇文章可能是标签第一次开车,但是truth is that I experienced the SL 43 in a very limited environment, on the pristine tarmac of an FIA Grade 2 circuit where its suspension rides as smoothly in Comfort as it does in Sport +. My time behind the wheel was limited to just a few laps, too, so these are very brief, very rudimentary impressions, most of which warrant further investigation on a week-long test drive, which will happen soon.

Within the confines of a race track, you can't evaluate ride quality, and your mind is (or should be) so focused on the act of driving so much that you can't really look at interior details.

A race track is a great place for manufacturers to launch a product and a terrible place for a first drive, as so much of the everyday experience isn't seen or felt on a track, and just being on a great track immediately puts any gearhead car tester in a better frame of mind than being behind a keyboard.

Remember this the next time you see first drive impressions from a track-only launch. There's more to a car than its behavior in a conditions-controlled environment.