Review of the new Mercedes SL55 AMG

Is it possible to call any car that retails for £99,000 a bargain? Value for money being relative, the Mercedes Benz SL55AMG warrants the description, for despite its inconspicuously sleek good looks and Boulevardier flip down roof it is, to all intents and purposes, a fully paid up member of the supercar club. Granted, you may find that description being applied to the Lotus Esprit, Honda NSX and Maserati Coupe, but this is serious stuff, a premier league performer that can mix it with top line Lamborghinis, Porsches and Ferraris. A bargain.

Don't let the 517bhp power output or the bland 'electronically limited to 155mph' party line fool you. Think torque. The SL55 generates a monstrous 531lb/ft of it, which is put into stark relief by the fact that a Ferrari 550 Maranello manages 419 and a Lamborghini Murcielago cranks out a mere 479lb/ft. Even the Aston Martin Vanquish and the Porsche 911GT2 couldn't get close to that figure. In a performance test undertaken by Autocar magazine, a pre-facelift 476bhp SL55AMG was divested of its speed restrictor and proceeded to give all of these cars a good larruping in a sprint to 300km/h (186mph). Trailing in last was the tardy old Ferrari 550 with an elapsed time of 61.2 seconds. The Aston romped to the benchmark in 55 seconds while the Porsche lopped over 14 seconds off that showing, taking a mere 40.9 seconds. The Lamborghini Murcielago zipped to the triple ton in 34.5 seconds, but even Sant'Agata's finest had to give best to the Mercedes. Requiring only 32.5 seconds, the SL55AMG bested all comers, running on to 202mph. The current model has 517bhp.

"It's like being rammed from behind by a bullet train?"

Such a feat is laudable in itself. That it managed to do so when costing £20,000 less than the Porsche, £61,000 less than the Ferrari, £67,000 less than the Aston Martin, and £70,000 less than the Lambo is almost beyond comprehension. It's said that approaching the top speed, the stability was so good that the test driver even hit the switch to activate the massaging device integrated into the seat cushion. This is a car that takes crushing performance and doles it out in easy to manage spoonfuls and gives you a clever folding roof to boot.

At the heart of the SL55AMG is a supercharged V8. This 5.5-litre behemoth is no peaky performer, its full onrush of torque being available anywhere between 2,750 and 4,000rpm. It's coupled to a five-speed automatic gearbox which can be marshalled via slickly-designed shift paddles on the steering wheel. The gearbox produces impressive smoothness, but there's no longer the one-pause-two feel to gearchanges that had afflicted Mercedes models past. Hit the sport button on the fascia and it really ups the ante. For those not wishing to experience what it feels like to be rammed from behind by a bullet train, the gearbox also includes standard and winter settings, as on its mainstream sibling, the SL500.

The boffins at Affalterbach have also had a hand in the SL55's braking system, the AMG technology incorporating perforated, internally ventilated brake discs with eight-piston fixed callipers at the front and four-piston affairs at the back, all painted silver with a natty AMG logo. Sensotronic Brake Control is a world first for the SL, featuring a true 'brake by wire' system. The brake pedal is connected to the master cylinder electrically, rendering the traditional vacuum-powered brake booster redundant. The braking feel is replicated by a simulator that using spring pressure and hydraulics. At 70mph, SBC reduces braking distances by 3% in the dry, whilst in the wet it will imperceptibly allow the brakes to skim the discs, drying the rotors and improving the wet weather performance.

The roof mechanism has stepped forward a generation from that of the SLK, lifting or lowering in a mere 16 seconds. Whereas the SLK sacrificed its boot in order to accommodate the flashy Vario roof, the SL55 is cleverer. When opened or closed, the rear screen rotates to reduce the amount of boot space the folded roof impinges upon. Still, the 11 hydraulic cylinders utilised help the SL55 to a hefty kerb weight of 1974kg; a fair bit heavier than even a long-wheelbase S-class limousine.

Mercedes has gone to great lengths not only to make the car safer, cleverer, quicker and cleaner than its predecessor but also to improve the dynamics of the car. The SL was never a car that would look upon a corner with any great relish but the latest model has not only shed weight - due in no small part to extensive usage of aluminium body panels - but it also features the astonishing automatic body control (ABC) system used to such devastating effect in the behemoth Mercedes CL coupe. Put simply, the Mercedes SL doesn't roll through corners yet does without the attendant bone shaking ride quality you'd expect from such a taut handling car. This is due to a set of electro hydraulics that lower the ride height when the 'Sport' button is jabbed.

On the latest facelifted model, 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 been 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. AMG side skirts, partially darkened tail lights and four chromed exhaust pipes ensure that the SL55 won't be mistaken for its humbler brethren, but the overall effect is understated. The 18-inch multi-spoke alloys are well-judged and the rear diffuser with black mesh grille is just the right side of brash.

Inside the AMG sports seats are trimmed in perforated leather while the dash is finished in sand cast-effect aluminium. The binnacle features instruments with pale dials ringed with titanium, with silver minor instruments and red needles. Light it up at night and the effect is breathtaking, a term that applies as well as any to the Mercedes Benz SL55AMG as a whole. A £99,000 bargain? It certainly looks like one next to some serious supercar metal and the £149,000 SL65 AMG. Please form an orderly queue.