Review of the new Mercedes SL500

With almost any iconic series of cars, you'll find one model that best exemplifies what the manufacturer was driving at. Embodying all the right design cues, priced foursquare into the target market and making all the rest appear a supporting cast, the 'right' car can even be specified right down to colour and trim choices. In the Mercedes SL Range, the right car is undoubtedly the SL500. Yes, the budget SL350 and hot rods like the SL600 all have something to be said for them, but there's an undoubted element of rightness about the SL500. It's the SL for the connoisseur.

Here's why. It has provenance for a start. That SL500 badge (or, if you're intent on betraying your 'Merc-nerd' status, 500SL) can be traced right back over a quarter of a century without interruption. No other SL model can boast this unbroken bloodline across three basic shapes, the R107 (1980-1989), the R129 (1989-2001) and the R230 (2001-date). What's more it's the model that has shifted the most stock, customers recognising that it offers the perfect blend of performance and practicality. Why spend more on a car whose performance you'll barely ever use? The SL500 is a triumph of pragmatism. It's also a car that has recently come in for a few tweaks to keep it on top of its game.

The SL500 retains its elegantly recognisable shape, remaining possibly the best-proportioned 'coupe-convertible' style hardtop roadster. Although the basic silhouette remains largely unchanged, there's been some significant surgery under the skin to keep the car feeling fresh but let's kick off with the more obvious cosmetics. The front end has been redesigned, although it helps to have the old and new cars side by side to see exactly where the nips have been nipped and the tucks tucked. The front bumper assembly has been revised with three large cooling air intakes integrated, giving it a more aggressive V-shaped appearance. The fog lights have also been repositioned with chrome surrounds, visually lowering and widening the front of the car. A matte silver finished grille with three broad slats and chromed headlights complete the changes up front. At the side, there's a wider choice of alloy wheel designs and the rear view shows a redesigned light cluster with horizontal divisions between red and white clear lens sections.

"The SL500 is a car that needs little in the way of introduction. It wears a classic badge"

The interior has also been revised with a commitment to offering the sort of quality that buyers in this sector expect. So it is that Mercedes have fitted even softer leather for the upholstery, revised the interior colour palette, added high quality embossed metal doorsills and a redesigned chronometer-style instrument pack. A remote bootlid release system is included for the first time along with aluminium-look switches for opening the roof. More significant news comes under the bonnet of the SL500.

Contrary to what you may expect from its badge, the SL500 sports not a five-litre lump up front but a hefty 5.5-litre powerplant. Whereas the previous SL made 306bhp, the current car fronts up with a seriously punchy 388bhp, all backed up by some 530Nm of torque. Wind the V8 up and launch it from standstill: you'll see 60mph flash by in just 5.1 seconds on the way to an electronically limited top speed of 155mph. Despite a 26 per cent improvement in the car's sprinting ability, fuel consumption matches its predecessor at 23.2mpg. Mercedes' excellent 7G-TRONIC seven-speed automatic transmission is fitted as standard and although this can't offer the same level of involvement as a classic manual 'box, it's possibly the best automatic system currently available. Slick shifting and with a 'manual' override facility, it suits the SL500's character superbly.

Also standard is a second generation ABC (Active Body Control) system. Compared with the old model, body movements in dynamic driving situations are claimed to be reduced by up to 60 per cent, offering a flatter, more composed ride. ABC has the wonderful effect of making a very big and heavy car feel light and 'chuckable'. Re-geared steering and punchier brakes also boost the SL's appeal as a serious driving tool. The ABC system has been designed to interface more efficiently with the ESP stability control system to avoid the stRangely artificial feel when cornering hard that afflicted earlier incarnations of this technology. Turn the ESP off and an SL will still display its lairy side. If you can overcome the mental block about treating a super premium roadster like a Mazda MX-5, the SL is extremely capable and, dare we say, fun. In the past, most sporting Mercedes models seemed to wilfully introduce impediments to the process of enjoyment, either lazy automatic gearboxes, laughably poor manual gearchanges, vague steering via steering wheels that resembled something from the Cutty Sark or woolly chassis. It appears the killjoys never got their hands on this SL's design.

Although the changes may be missed by some, make no mistake, they drastically improve the SL500. In a market where power counts, Mercedes couldn't afford to be outgunned by its rivals from Munich. The fact that the BMW 650i Cabriolet is a significant 21bhp down on the SL500 and features a less attractive fabric roof should swing sales in the Mercedes' favour. Sometimes there's no substitute for the definitive article.