2012 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster: An American in Stuttgart? - Ignition Episode 21 - video Dailymotion

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On this episode of Ignition

Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:13 This week on Ignition, the grandest grand tour of them

00:18 all.

00:18 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:29 Welcome to the stunning, powerful, and massive

00:34 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG.

00:37 This is a beautiful looking car, inside and out,

00:40 from its aluminum chassis to its 6.3 liter V8, which,

00:45 by the way, develops 563 horsepower, 479 pound feet

00:49 of torque, but most importantly, one of the greatest V8 engine

00:53 sounds in the world.

00:55 [ENGINE REVVING]

00:58 But there's a problem.

01:00 [ENGINE REVVING]

01:12 It's the doors.

01:15 So it's a good thing that the folks at Mercedes

01:17 made a roadster version of the SLS,

01:19 because it means they had to install normal doors.

01:23 And it's much, much better because of it.

01:26 For one, you don't have to worry about knocking yourself out

01:28 every time you step out of the car.

01:30 Two, you get to enjoy the aspects of grand touring cars

01:34 way more.

01:35 And that's what this car is.

01:36 It's a grand touring car.

01:38 It's focused as much on fun as it is on luxury and comfort.

01:43 And with the roof down, you get to hear that exhaust note.

01:46 [ENGINE REVVING]

01:50 You've probably heard of the Big Bang in school.

01:52 Well, that's what this exhaust sounds like,

01:54 the beginnings of time.

01:57 [ENGINE REVVING]

02:01 The power, the charisma, the character of this thing

02:05 makes me think.

02:06 Let's go over the traits of your stereotypical American sports

02:10 car.

02:11 It has a massive engine that sits

02:13 underneath a long, long nose.

02:17 It's very fast, tons of power, lots of grip, too,

02:22 but not a lot of finesse.

02:24 Hmm.

02:24 [ENGINE REVVING]

02:30 It's still a wonderful thing to drive,

02:33 but this thing makes me feel like Mercedes

02:37 got the idea of what a Dodge Viper might be

02:39 and then tried to make one of their own.

02:41 [ENGINE REVVING]

02:45 I'm listening to the engine in this thing,

02:48 feeling the way it drives, and I have to wonder if AMG stands

02:52 for the Alabama Motoring Group.

02:54 [ENGINE REVVING]

03:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

03:04 This may very well be the most American sports car

03:07 in the world.

03:08 I mean, consider how fast it is in a straight line.

03:11 We're going to do an acceleration run.

03:13 We have launch control, and to use it,

03:15 you hit the traction control button once to get

03:17 in sport handling mode, then twist this dial here

03:20 until RS is illuminated.

03:21 That's race start.

03:22 Confirm it by hitting up shift with the paddle.

03:25 We don't actually want launch control.

03:27 Launch control is fast, but it gives you too much wheel spin.

03:30 In our testing, it actually slowed the car down.

03:33 The best way to launch this, we found,

03:34 is to just mat the throttle and hold on, like this.

03:37 [ENGINE REVVING]

03:40 [MUSIC PLAYING]

03:43 Now, that gives you a 0 to 60 run in 3.6 seconds.

03:48 [ENGINE REVVING]

03:50 And a quarter mile run in 11.8 seconds at 121 miles an hour.

03:55 [ENGINE REVVING]

03:57 That's almost the exact same speed as the SLS Coupe,

04:01 and this thing's 100 pounds heavier.

04:05 Pretty good at stopping, too.

04:06 Our best stop from 60--

04:07 [TIRES SQUEALING]

04:11 --takes just 100 feet.

04:12 [TIRES SQUEALING]

04:17 If you look closely, you'll see little pieces

04:20 of America leaking out of the seams.

04:21 [MUSIC PLAYING]

04:23 [ENGINE REVVING]

04:26 [TIRES SQUEALING]

04:30 It's still fresh.

04:37 And if we pop the hood, there's pie.

04:41 [ENGINE REVVING]

04:44 Apple.

04:48 [ENGINE REVVING]

04:52 And now for our figure eight handling course.

04:57 And when you drive the SLS on the limit,

05:00 you really realize it wasn't intended for this.

05:04 Big sideways movements, tons of power, lots of grip,

05:08 but not a lot of communication.

05:10 The steering is rather ropey.

05:14 The throttle is super sensitive.

05:16 And super sensitive throttle is not

05:17 what you want when you're using it to deliver nearly 500

05:20 pound-feet of torque.

05:22 It's a car you got to work really hard in order

05:28 to get a decent time out of it.

05:30 [TIRES SQUEALING]

05:32 You have to anticipate everything well in advance

05:38 in order to get out of a corner really fast.

05:40 [TIRES SQUEALING]

05:43 It's on the edge the whole time.

05:47 [TIRES SQUEALING]

05:49 But you know, when it comes to killing its rear tires,

05:52 it does it better than most muscle cars.

05:54 [MUSIC PLAYING]

06:16 This, then, is what the Duke boys would drive,

06:18 had they gone on to become rich and successful executives.

06:21 [ENGINE REVVING]

06:24 You know, we may crack all kinds of jokes

06:28 about this being the most American sports car

06:31 in the world.

06:32 And the powertrain feels like it,

06:34 although the rest of the car still

06:36 has cues that make it feel like a proper Mercedes-Benz.

06:40 There's still a bit of elegance hiding

06:43 behind all that brutality.

06:45 And that's what makes it so exciting.

06:47 [ENGINE REVVING]

06:49 Inside, it still has the cues of the classic Mercedes-Benz.

06:53 This tiny windshield and extremely long hood

06:57 makes it feel like an old Mercedes-Benz roadster.

07:00 [ENGINE REVVING]

07:02 You get the sense that they've paid careful attention trying

07:06 to mimic those features.

07:08 [ENGINE REVVING]

07:14 This may be the best muscle car Stuttgart's ever created.

07:18 [ENGINE REVVING]

07:21 The SLS is so impressive because it's so brash,

07:32 because it's so against the grain of environmentally

07:35 conscious supercars.

07:37 [MUSIC PLAYING]

07:40 [BELL RINGING]

07:44 [BELL RINGING]

07:47 [BELL RINGING]

07:49 It's loud.

07:50 It's striking.

07:52 It's wholly unapologetic.

07:53 [BELL RINGING]

07:56 And it's wonderful.

07:57 [ENGINE REVVING]

08:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:04 [BELL RINGING]

08:07 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:11 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:14 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:17 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:21 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:25 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:28 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:32 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:36 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:40 (upbeat music)

08:42 you

2012 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster: An American in Stuttgart? - Ignition Episode 21

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