What's all this about?

This is the new Mercedes-AMG SL 63 S E Performance.

Wow, that's a mouthful. How do they fit the badge on the back?

That’s not the important part here. The important part is the power. This is the most powerful Mercedes SL ever made. This is a lineage that started with the 122hp 190 SL let’s not forget…

Go on then. How much power? 550hp? 650hp? 700hp?!

Nope, higher than that. In fact, this high-performance plug-in hybrid SL gets 816hp, and 1,420Nm of torque.

That's... A lot...

Oh yes. While the SL was traditionally Merc’s comfort-oriented sports car, ever since AMG got its mitts on this version, it’s been a bit more performance-focused. This SL 63 S E uses a 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbo engine mated to a 204hp electric motor mounted in the middle of the back axle.

It's a plug-in hybrid, so how far does it go if I only use the electric motor?

Erm... Eight miles.

Eight?

Yup. As Mercedes says: “the battery is designed for fast power delivery and consumption and not for the longest possible range” and that’s clearly the case. While you can trickle along on electric power for short bursts, think of this SL as being more like a road-going version of the hybrid system Lewis Hamilton uses in the Merc F1 car. So the battery, all 6.1kWh of it, uses F1-derived cooling technology allowing it to unleash savage bursts of extra acceleration when you need it, and always when you need it. The whole system has been designed to never leave you hanging.

Crikey. How fast is it?

Getting from 0-62mph takes just 2.9 seconds, and there’s a top speed of 196mph. Oh, and there’s a full active aerodynamics package, including a moving carbon-fibre flap under the engine that creates an F1-style (again) ground-effect suction under the car, and a mobile rear spoiler too. It’s not wildly inefficient either – being a hybrid it can manage an official 36mpg, and its CO2 emissions are 175g/km.

Does it stop as well as it goes?

It ought to. While there’s a clever regenerative braking system that can return as much as 100kW of energy to the battery while slowing down, there are also massive 420mm front and 370mm rear carbon-ceramic brakes with six-piston callipers for the ones in the front.

How about cornering?

The SL 63 S E comes with AMG’s Active Ride Control, which means you get electronically controlled dampers that are also hydraulically-interlinked. The hydraulic system replaces physical anti-roll bars and allows the suspension to flex with the road, keeping up the comfort levels, but also keeps the body flat and level when cornering hard. The hydraulic system even helps the steering to feel sharper, as it reduces the camber effect when the wheels are reacting with the road. There’s also 4MATIC+ all-wheel drive, which means that the rear electric motor can react super-fast on the back wheels to provide the extra thrust, but it can also feed its power and torque up to the front wheels if the rears start to spin up or slide.

What about the styling?

Actually, in SL terms, the 63 S E is pretty subtle — red badges, 20-inch dark-finished wheels, an E-Performance badge down by the front wheels, and the extra flap for the battery charging socket at the back.

Sounds good to me. When can I order one?

Hold your horses. Mercedes hasn’t really said as yet, but it seems likely that the order books will open at some point next year.

Neil Briscoe - 12 Dec 2023