2009 Mercedes SL Debut: Page 3

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They're broke, remember. Chrysler cost them too much... They're "fresh out of ideas" and money...
 
Why are American companies bickering about power and weight and efficiency, all while the new front bumper on this SL probably weighs another 50 pounds more than the last car? These cars like Benz and BMW gain hundreds of pounds within years and tons more power. The 1 series weighs freakin 3300 pounds! And it's the size of the typical 3000 pound "compact" car, which is still ridiculous.
 
Keef
Why are American companies bickering about power and weight and efficiency, all while the new front bumper on this SL probably weighs another 50 pounds more than the last car? These cars like Benz and BMW gain hundreds of pounds within years and tons more power. The 1 series weighs freakin 3300 pounds! And it's the size of the typical 3000 pound "compact" car, which is still ridiculous.
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This is why I love being German. :sly: We don't give a damn what the Americans or British say about the enviorment, we'll take our AMG Mercs with a billion brake horsepower to go along with out 80 million kilos of weight thank you. :dopey:










































And to anyone not paying attention to the smiles I was only kidding.
 
Omnis
We thought Bangle was bad...
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Bangle was never bad, except for the 1-series. People will soon come around, the 5 series is a very good looking car.

This SL is a bad looking car, its hard to believe anybody with half a brain didnt stop to think what they were releasing. I mean, did no one look at it? Or is the design so unimoprtant that they just didnt care? And who greenlighted this thing? Its actually hard for me to believe this is the design they actually went with.
 
Merc sure did a good job of messing up one of my favorites in their line-up. :indiff:
If you ask me this looks like a step back (towards the previous gen) and that's not a good thing in my opinion.
Heck, I think the SL is one of the best looking cars out there... I just hope they don't ruin the SLK in a similar fashion (which I'm sure they will do).
 
mercedes-benz_sl_350_2008-0.jpg

SL

bleischsec1.jpg

560SEC

I have discovered a conspiracy!!

Look closely. The new SL and the SEC have remarkably similar faces. Look at the position of the foglights, and the shape of the lower bumper. Note the lines on the hood. They're present on the SEC, but not as pronounced. The vent spaces on the bumper come inward and meet with the lines of the grille, forming two trapezoid shapes on both cars. Coincidence!? I think not!

That daft SEC.. He boinked an R230. I knew it.
 
I don't like it as much as the original one. The original has a purity in design that flows from bumper to bumper. This new one is too disjointed and just looks like a new nose grafted on (which it is). I wish they had freshened the rear end and door skins to match.
 
SagarisGTB
Bangle was never bad, except for the 1-series. People will soon come around, the 5 series is a very good looking car.

This SL is a bad looking car, its hard to believe anybody with half a brain didnt stop to think what they were releasing. I mean, did no one look at it? Or is the design so unimoprtant that they just didnt care? And who greenlighted this thing? Its actually hard for me to believe this is the design they actually went with.
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Except Bangle didn't design the 1-series, and, yes, Bangle was terrible (sans the 3 series). I whole-heartedly agree with your MB opinion, though. :)
 
Whilst the germans make some of the most unenviromentally friendly cars they also at the same time make some of the most enviromental and frugal cars.

Anyway I think the facelift is ugly.
 
High-Test
mercedes-benz_sl_350_2008-0.jpg

SL

bleischsec1.jpg

560SEC

I have discovered a conspiracy!!

Look closely. The new SL and the SEC have remarkably similar faces. Look at the position of the foglights, and the shape of the lower bumper. Note the lines on the hood. They're present on the SEC, but not as pronounced. The vent spaces on the bumper come inward and meet with the lines of the grille, forming two trapezoid shapes on both cars. Coincidence!? I think not!

That daft SEC.. He boinked an R230. I knew it.
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The hell are you talking about? Yes, they both have foglights. Just aout any german car you can think of within the last 15 years has had two horizontal headlights flanking a horizontal grille, and below that two foglight on each corner flanking a horizontal lower grille. Replace the lights with two more horizontal grilles on the cheap models. Germany took to a tic-tac-toe-grid front end a long, long time ago.
 
Most people hated the Mercedes SLR [McLaren] and how it looked compared to other Mercedes-Benz models at the time. I absolutely loved the SLK Roadster series 100,000 times better than the previous generation model. As for these new Mercedes-Benz designs, the rear remains vastly unchanged. The rear of this car reminds me of the rear of later Nissan 300ZX models- still looks like an old car, at least from the rear. I like the front of this car to be honest. Trouble is, I don't think the hood blends very well to match the beautiful front of the car. At least I think it's lovely. I don't know about all of you. I would have matched up the top of the headlights at the front to match up horizontally with the top of the grill. Mercedes-Benz kind of taken a Chevrolet approach as far as taking the crossbar of the grill and dropping it down some rather than making both pieces of the grill symmetrical. Doing the grill and its crossbar as such reminds me of the latest Chevrolet Malibu that's been paraded around in commercials and magazine ads. Overall, I approve this design to the tune of about 85% approval.
 
It's those entirely unnessecary but ultra luxurious headrest vent things. that blow air on the back of your neck? they've been in Benzes before, I think.

EDIT: I think they're called AIRSCARF or something. came out on this SL originally, before the rebody.
 
The Officially Official Debut



Atuoblog
Today, Mercedes-Benz officially released details regarding the 2009 SL-class, photos of which escaped onto the web last week. In addition to its updated exterior styling, which you can see for yourself in the attached gallery, the hard-shell droptop adds a new entry model for Europe -- the 231-horsepower SL 280. On top of that, the SL 350 gains power (now 316 horses) while improving overall fuel economy. The other engines are carryovers -- the 388-horse V8 in the SL 500 and the monstrous 517-HP twin-turbo V12 in the SL 600. Both get a slight improvement in fuel economy, too. The flagship 600 is distinguishable from its lesser kin via unique 18" wheels and the matte-finish "gills" aft of the front wheel well.

Also new for the SL is MB's direct-steer system, which was introduced on the new SLK and also recently made its way into the warmed-over CLC. Improved lighting is standard and the optional Intelligent Light System offers drivers five different light settings to handle varying road conditions. Inside, the usual raft of luxury and techno-baubles are in place, and we particularly like the SL's re-engineered AIRSCARF neck heaters, which now have their motors and blowers built into the headrests, with nifty views of their fans visible from the rear. You can read all about the new SL in Mercedes' ridiculously verbose press release, which we've pasted after the jump. Absent from the discussion is the next SL-class AMG missile, but our buddy Ashley at eMercedes-Benz has scored a photo of that bad boy already, which is shown above. The SL will have its coming out party in Geneva this March.
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Check out all of the official photos here
 
regardless of the looks (still undecided) this is a good technical improvement to the R230 until they replace it some time in the next 40 years
 
I like it, I do believe I would like one, although I've always like the SL's.
 

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