The online editors of Motor Trend have decided to spill the beans, which allows us to finally confirm the information circulating the interwebs regarding AMG's latest flagship supercar, the SL65 Black Series.
AMG has cranked an extra 66 hp out of the twin-turbo six-liter V12, now boosted up to 670 hp, while stump-pullin' grunt remains the same at 738 pound-feet. Unfortunately, all that torque still needs to be converted through a conventional five-speed automatic. The power boost, however, is only part of the equation that unburdens each horse of 1.6 lbs, now pulling just 6.1 lbs-per-hp instead of the "lesser" SL65 AMG's 7.7 lbs-per-hp. That reduction is thanks in no small part (but many small parts) to an ambitious weight reduction program that does away with the folding hard-top in favor of a fixed carbon-fiber roof, itself shaving 88 of the total 570 lbs cut off the curb weight. That figure is now down to a slightly more manageable 4,080 lbs, which is still in SUV territory for a two-seat sportscar. Carbon fiber is also features on the flared front fenders, hood, rear underbody diffuser and racing buckets. That reduced weight is sprung on fully adjustable coils with an electro-hydraulic Active Body Control suspension and one-piece forged alloys wearing Dunlop Maxx GT tires in 265/35ZR-19 dimensions up front and 325/30ZR-20 out back.
A deployable rear spoiler, flat-bottomed steering wheel and Alcantara-clad interior also factor into the package, which Mercedes says would be capable of hitting 220 mph if it didn't electronically limit it to 186 (300 km/h), but 60 will come in the three-second range. The extra kit is complimented by a lower hood line enabled by the Black's exemption from pedestrian safety regs due to its small production numbers: Only 350 examples will be made in either silver, white, black or red.
[Source: Motor Trend]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
John Johnson @ Apr 15th 2008 11:02AM
Why the eff are these cars so effing heavy?
LeRobert @ Apr 15th 2008 11:11AM
Because Mercedes hasn't embraced aluminium yet, and their cars are built like a tank.
CarbonBlack @ Apr 15th 2008 1:25PM
It is like the SLR! Mclaren built a sweet (light) car, then Mercedes went and put luxury crap in it. These companies had massive arguments over what The SLR should be (Mercedes won, and thus the SLR was castrated)
DCragtop @ Apr 15th 2008 11:03AM
Sounds spensive! If only I weren't saving money for a new Tata Sport....
Driver @ Apr 15th 2008 11:04AM
Holy dear mother of god.. if this beast generates that much heat.. what the hell does Mercedes have up its sleeve for the next generation super car that is meant to replace the SLR!?!?
phoenexius @ Apr 15th 2008 11:11AM
Did I read the article wrong?
autoblog:
That reduced weight is sprung on fully adjustable coils with an electro-hydraulic Active Body Control suspension
MT:
The electro-hydraulic Active Body Control suspension has been tossed for a fully adjustable coil spring suspension
Carlos @ Apr 15th 2008 11:16AM
Holy crap what a fat pig.
Matt @ Apr 15th 2008 12:23PM
Not to nitpick, but I think Inside Line beat MT to the punch on this one, Autoblog.
Ubizzle @ Apr 15th 2008 12:30PM
but it seems they sourced it from Motor Trend, as opposed to Inside Line, so they said who they got the information from, not the premier source, otherwise we'd have someone working in the AMG factory called Hans something as the source.
Matt @ Apr 15th 2008 12:42PM
Great point. It's just annoying that Autoblog is mostly a repeater of info, and rarely the originating source of info, and they make money based on it. Seems kinda like they're cheating. I dunno. In fairness I haven't clicked on a Motor Trend link in years and don't plan to start now!
Matt @ Apr 15th 2008 12:25PM
Also, your photo gallery is linking to the CLK Black Series.
Ubizzle @ Apr 15th 2008 12:29PM
It's 10kg more heavy than a Ferrari Scaglietti, but unfortunately, it should be a little closer to the 599, which it's 150kg heavier than, maybe somewhere in the middle of the two.
It should be an awesome car though, considering the reviews the normal SL AMG got (the ones i have read are good, anyway). They also made the CL63 Black which got lots of great reviews and is by no means a light car.
I don't think Merc are trying to play against the F430 with this car, despite the price; in fact, what i actually believe is happening is they are leaving a gap for a lighter HWA-built AMG SLC to come in and bridge, along with the new McLaren P11, which, from what i've read, will be built by McLaren this time with Mercedes simply providing engines, but i've found nothing solid on this, simply a few car magazines and articles on the internet, and i read somewhere that Mercedes hold part of McLaren (is this true? I thought it was the case, but i'm not sure)
Flea @ Apr 15th 2008 12:46PM
why do they need TWO turbos to get that power out of the engine? The 599 and the Enzo both have a 6L aspirated V12s that delivers almost the same power...
EuropaCar @ Apr 15th 2008 12:52PM
It's not easy getting the power Ferrari (and BMW for that matter) can get out of NA engines.. that's what makes them so great
MPL @ Apr 15th 2008 1:00PM
It's all about the torque.....like 290 more ft-lbs of it.
MikeW @ Apr 16th 2008 2:07AM
The MB V12 started out at 5.8 liters, 3 valves per cylinder (and cylinder shutoff), it had 362hp, 391ft-lbs (If I remember correctly)
There wasn't much performance potential to be had with the single cam 3 valve setup.
So what to do for the Maybaach?
Cue the turbos. Then AMG starts playing around, and they haven't stopped.
Look at the S600 510hp@5000, 612ft-lbs@1800-3500
or the S65, 604 hp @ 4,800-5,100 rpm, 738 lb-ft @ 2,000-4,000 rpm
It has more bottom end than the Bentley Brooklands 530hp@4000, 774ft-lbs@3250
around as much as the Audi diesel V12
493hp@3750, 738ft-lbs@1750-3250
madgamer @ Apr 15th 2008 1:29PM
more than that even if the transmissions would take it. These engines were originally designed for over 800 ft lb but they just break the drivetrain if they uncork them.
Hiro11 @ Apr 15th 2008 1:36PM
The Black Series cars make no sense to me. Mercedes is not Ferrari. The CLK Black was silly, but the SL Balck is just ridiculous. The SL is and always has been a luxury grand tourer. In fact, it's probably the best one in the world. People who buy it like to cruise around Palm Beach with the top down, they don't want to tackle the corkscrew at Laguna with it. Why the hell are they trying to make a stripped-down sports car out of a car that isn't suited to it? Who's going to spend the huge premium necessary over the SL65 to lose the electric top, gain (completely unnecessary) HP over the already ludicrous output and jack up the suspension spring rates into bridge-truss territory? Buy an SL550 and spend the difference on a Z-06 or Carrera4.
JagGill @ Apr 15th 2008 2:38PM
I wonder how well this thing is gonna compete with the Ferrari, Aston Martin, and other super exotic GTs.
DCragtop @ Apr 15th 2008 2:56PM
Why's it gotta be black!?!?!?