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If your friend asks what they want this year, think: a high-performance touring car. For Mercedes-Benz, they are rolling out a new SL550 luxury sports car to fill that void. I was lucky enough to test out the new SL550 as a test driver for Mercedes-Benz and it was an absolute blast to drive.
The choice of cabin materials is exquisite. It’s all leather and carbonfibre throughout this vehicle. As far as comfort goes, the ergonomics were terrific, the comfortable seats, well; they felt like $50,000 worth of cushy accommodations. The seats are not really adjustable but that’s not such a bad thing. On the other hand, we were expecting something a little more premium and somehow that didn’t fit. Then again, you could go in as an F1 driver in the back and get used to it.
It’s powered by a 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged engine, but this is not your typical big engine. Instead of a hulking V8, this is a lithe sounding 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V6. It has 390 horsepower and is mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission that shifts by itself. The transmission is exceedingly smooth. If you have a couple of passengers with full stock seats and a comfortable ride, there’s no reason you can’t hit 60 mph in 4.5 seconds and manage over 200 miles per hour. The SL has tons of power and yet the rest of the car gets pretty decently (depending on your driving style) in terms of comfort and luxury.
The interior is wonderful, very high-tech with all the mod cons you would ever want. You also can select between two DIN aux inner controls: one that plays music and one that fires up your favorite luxury bedside aux-in. There’s also an amazing in-dash touchscreen with everything you would ever need including navigation and connectivity.
In a review, my fellow test driver said the SL could be looked at as a vehicle as an elite car, which I found was a fair summation. It’s fast, it’s luxurious, it’s very comfortable, it’s extremely powerful and it has tons of pep.
Since every luxury car must have lots of exclusivity, no-one could mistake this for your average family or tourist based car. Mercedes knows what it is doing when it comes to these sorts of high-performance supercars. No more chintzy choices. With this new SL550, Mercedes has definitely given our generation of supercar buyers what they want.
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