For an idea of how different the R323-generation Mercedes SL is to its predecessor, consider the press pack, which runs to nearly 20,000 words.
A dissertation-length work, it contains an onslaught of information that explains Mercedes’ repositioning of the model from aristocratic two-seat tourer with sporting undertones to something much more muscular, aggressive and, according to at least one exec, with the basic ingredients to tempt people out of their Porsche 911 Cabriolets and Targas. Long story short, the SL has been properly AMG-ified.
It starts with an all-new aluminium platform. The material used isn’t surprising, given the SL has since 2011 been constructed from lightweight aluminium, but this time the structure is dramatically more rigid (the old R231 was hardly a damp flannel, either) and the development has been undertaken not at Sindelfingen but by AMG in Affalterbach. That alone is quite the statement of intent, at least in dynamic terms, and the upcoming replacement for the Mercedes-AMG GT will inherit plenty of this new SL’s hardware. The long-snounted roadster also now comes with front driveshafts and rear-axle steering, for added performance and agility, and returns to having a lighter fabric (rather than a metal folding) roof. Lastly, and for the first time ever, there are back seats. So the SL is overhauled, and has a new game plan.
But is it any good on the road? We thought so when we drove the range-topping 577bhp, £176,000 Mercedes-AMG SL 63 in the US, where its ability to engage one moment and coddle you over distance the next seemed outstanding – even if at that price, in that balmy weather, and on those smooth roads, you’d absolutely expect as much. The less spectacular SL 55 driven here, on wintry UK roads, has an altogether tougher task.