The SL63 rights some of AMG’s wrongs.
9.5
The SL63 rights some of AMG’s wrongs.
Images: Niki Louw
My left index finger rests on the start button. Press and pause. I briefly hear the faint ticks of relays and a whirr as the car is calculating the exact electrical impulses necessary to fire up the monstrosity lying in wait at the front. The starter cranks and 95-octane is converted into a controlled explosion deep within the cylinders. It is out-and-out character in an old-school kind of way. Something that is becoming increasingly scarce as the electric threat looms large.
Mercedes-AMG has a knack for turning metal, silicone, rubber, and some semiconductors into sensation…into gloriously unadulterated theatre. But long before the AMG badge, the SL badge had this same fizzle in its 300 form – minus the semiconductors. A different era, sure, but the mandate of turning a sum of parts into a heartbeat that transcended time remained unchanged here. The pitch was again a blank slate and read something along the lines of an aluminium spaceframe, 2+2-seater packaging and a return of the folding fabric roof for lightness and a lower centre of gravity.
Ease away, and the SL63 meets you with surprising courteousness. The loud pedal weight is heavy-laden with potential, but it’s easy to regulate. The steering too is heavy in feel, but its rotation is progressive and precise even when the car lies dormant in Comfort mode. The seating position is low, as expected, while the auditory notes are a lazy baritone conducted in delivery by the 9-speed automatic MCT gearbox and wet clutch, which saves weight and, Merc says, facilitates better throttle response.
The SL is still in character at this point. It’s still portraying itself as an easy-going cruiser. It is. Until it isn’t. Use the steering-mounted mode dial until the small digital display reads ‘Sport+’ and it steps out of its dormancy. The suspension becomes firm. The steering is dialled in and weighty with added agility courtesy of active rear-axle steering. The immediately noticeable change is the once gentle baritone that pivots from collected to portraying a mild sense of auditory psychosis.
Step on the loud pedal, and there’s virtually no hesitation as the turbochargers attempt to ram the exact amount of air into the engine’s workings for what’s next. The 4.0-litre V8 bi-turbo summons all 430kW and 800Nm to all four corners and the effect is a tunnel vision-inducing jolt off the line. It’s not the fastest car to the 100km/h benchmark, but the violence of the SL63’s delivery belies the seemingly mid-range supercar figure of 3.6 seconds.
The figures are only secondary here to the sensation. That thumping baritone embodies an old-school character that felt lost somehow during the 2020s, like Mercedes-AMG is using this as an opportunity to right the wrongs of the C63. It increases in urgency as the digital instrument cluster blurs in an upward trajectory until finally it’s up to me to rein it all back in. There’s no interference from the car. No nannying. It can be dialled in to be as relaxed as you want or, conversely, as far off the deep end as you want. If you want to cruise and just take in the intoxicating soundtrack, you can do that. If you want to wring its neck and challenge your mortality at its 315km/h terminal velocity, you can do that.
But if you just want to soak in all that is good about driving, without a meeting to make or really any destination… that’s where the SL63 just makes sense. When everything is dialled back. The point of this roadster is not to barrel down a stretch of road at full song. Again, it can do it, but that’s missing the point. There are other cars purpose-built for just that. This one, though, encourages you to leave some performance on the table and just feel the road’s surface translated into your hands. To listen to the engine’s resonance as it’s hardly strained operating at the speed limit.
The interior has been deliberately crafted for just soaking it all in. Set some dignity aside for getting in and out of the SL, and the low-slung car wraps around you. The seating position is perfect once you’ve lightly conformed for the sake of ingress, and the hyperscreen is swapped for an instrument binnacle that forms part of Merc-AMG’s hyperanalogue approach and is paired with a standalone central screen. It’s specifically optimised for visibility and can tilt and adjust according to the roof’s status. Open, it inclines in a way that minimises glare. Closed, it looks to hand back optimal visibility while ensconcing the driver in a quality, leather-wrapped and -decked driving opus.
Opening and closing the fabric roof takes some getting used to, as it’s operated via a slider, but once open, that V8 soundtrack sounds like it’s filling the open air with substantive notes. It melds with the wind’s subtle woosh and stimulates your every auditory gland. It’s sonorous. Mechanically deep. Beautiful. Addictive.
Cost? Momentous. The SL63 is just shy of four bar at R3,983,284 and yet it’s worth every cent in terms of the experience that it delivers. However, when taking the plunge on the Mercedes-AMG SL63, make sure to opt for run-flat tyres or, at the very least, an emergency tyre repair kit. I got a puncture while driving at night and to my surprise, the SL has no jack, spanner or spare tyre for that matter. One phone call to Mercedes-Benz Assist, no help, which I was guaranteed by MBSA is an anomaly, a bootful of tools shipped from home, and some hours later the issue was sorted.
The open-air meets V8 experience alone is well worth the near-R4m asking price for a car that’s tasked with carrying a weighty nameplate. It’s AMG once again doing what it does best. There’s substance, serenity and purpose in the way the SL63 goes about being a tourer. It doesn’t thrive on party tricks or looking to pander to emission regulations. It’s engineering at its very best, where driving enjoyment takes centre stage. But the best part? You can wring its neck, or just settle in and smell the roses. And that competence of purpose makes it a standout in an era when everything has just become overly sanitised.
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