Mercedes wired for speed

By DAVID LINKLATER

Believe the badge and the Mercedes SL is sporty and light. But, as with the original 300 SL in 1954, that's only half-right. The fifth-generation SL 500 is a real sports car - assertive, agile and staggeringly quick in its responses. That's all the more remarkable when you consider that it's 4535mm long and tips the scales at just over 1800kg. It's a lot of car, even for $264,000.

What's the secret to the SL's dynamic success?

It's partly Mercedes-Benz's considerable expertise in building large cars and partly the astonishing amount of high technology incorporated into this regal roadster.

The SL inherits the Active Body Control (ABC) system from the larger CL coupe, a high-pressure hydraulic system that reduces body roll by instantly adjusting suspension damping at high speed. But it's the Sensotronic Brake Control (SBC) that leads the way in the SL.

It's the first production vehicle to be fitted with a brake-by-wire system, meaning that there is no mechanical connection between the pedal and the braking hardware at each corner of the car. Instead, the driver's commands are communicated electronically by cable.

SBC also works in tandem with the SL's other electronic driving systems, such as the fly-by-wire adaptive throttle and Electronic Stability Program (ESP). Advantages of the SBC system include extremely fast build-up of brake pressure and careful observance of driver behaviour - at times this car knows what's about to happen before you do, by monitoring driving style and the attitude of the car, especially in a potential emergency. Automatic skid control (ASR) is also standard.

The SL 500's 5-litre V8 engine will be familiar to Mercedes' owners. It pumps out 225kW and 460Nm, enough to catapult the car to 100km/h in just 6.3 seconds. A five-speed automatic gearbox is standard, including the Touchshift sequential shift function.

Mercedes-Benz's launch programme around Cairns, in the far north of Queensland, provided plenty of opportunity to explore the SL's considerable performance and handling abilities. A particular highlight is the communicative steering; the previous model's recirculating ball design has been replaced by a rack and pinion system.

Another highlight was the hot and sunny weather, which allowed us to experience the superb piece of street theatre that is the SL's Vario roof.

The folding hard-top can be operated from outside the car with the key fob and lowers in an especially elegant fashion in just 16 seconds - nine seconds faster than the similar system fitted to the smaller SLK roadster. A glass roof option will also become available next year.

The Vario's new tilting mechanism liberates extra luggage space. The boot is still modest at 235 litres, but the capacity rises to 317 litres with the Vario roof raised - 52 litres more than the previous model. And since any pretence at rear seating has been dropped, there's now extra storage space in lidded boxes behind the front seats.

The SL 500's luxury-car equipment includes walnut cabin detailing, leather trim, multi-function steering wheel, integrated Nokia 6210 mobile phone, six-disc CD changer and the Command control and display centre. Passive safety features include two-stage front airbags, new head-thorax airbags, integral seats (containing all seatbelt equipment) and a sensor-controlled rollover bar.

When too much is not enough there's also the SL 55 AMG. Its supercharged 5.5-litre V8 packs an extra 140kW and 240Nm over the SL 500's powerplant - enough to power a performance car all by itself - with maximum outputs of 368kW and 700Nm. It thunders to 100km/h in 4.7 seconds.

Extra equipment on the AMG version includes 18-inch wheels in place of the standard seventeens, Speedshift steering wheel buttons for the automatic gearbox, larger brakes, an upgraded Bose stereo system, sports seats, Keyless Go entry and a full styling package. Cost is $342,500 - $78,500 more than the SL 500.

The old SL is a hard act to follow, but customers are already queuing for the new car. DaimlerChrysler New Zealand has already sold the 20 cars it hopes to land before the end of 2002 and will up the ante to 45 cars in 2003 and 60 in 2004. By that stage it will easily have surpassed the 110 total sales it gathered for the previous SL from 1989-2001.

A sporty family

The Mercedes-Benz SL line stretches back 50 years to the iconic 1954 300 SL "Gullwing". Just 1400 cars were produced before the W198 model was discontinued in 1957.

The Gullwing evolved into the first real SL roadster, the open-top 300 SL (1957-63). It, too, is now a rare car with just 1858 W198II cars produced. The W113 230-280 SL (1963-71) became known as the "Pagoda" because of the concave shape of its roof. Production reached 48,912 units.

The R107 280-560 SL (1971-89) was designed to meet increasingly strict safety standards and was dubbed the "Panzerwagen". An incredibly long model life ensured that it reached 237,287 units.

Not even the R129 SL 280-600 (1989-2001) surpassed that production number, although it cracked the 200,000 mark over its 12-year lifespan. Innovations in this model included an automatic soft-top and rollover bar.