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surprisingly, it looks neat on the track, and its undoubtedly fast, but i must say i was expecting more roar coming out of that exhaust...

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V-12's really don't have alot of roar coming out the exhaust, its more of a turbine sound.

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Bernd Schneider seems to like it but what is this track? Sudchleife?

Wonderful car to me.

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yea, what track is this? it's beautiful

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thx for da link

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haha WOW... that engine is working overtime to keep up with that fat ass of a car hahah oh boy. yea i was expecting a little more roar, but seriously, this car's all about the torque even though it has like 661 hp. ahh it's just too heavy god damnit lol, this can be so much faster with a little comprimise to the luxury addons inside i must say. personally i'd like it lightweight, especially considering its a "black" series merc.

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You realise its lost 550Lbs of weight right?

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and it still weighs about 1870 kg bud... u telling me that's light?? i mean look at what it did to the top speed... it can't even reach peast 200 mph with all that power. power can go a long way, but weight starts to kick in at some point, and this just proves it lol. but yea, that's a lot of pounds they shedded, but i feel they should have gone even further. personal opinion though

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What? No, weight does not just "kick in." The only thing that "kicks in" is aerodynamic drag, which increases exponentially with speed. You've got to remember this is not a ground-up speed machine. It is an evolution of a conventional GT cruiser that is as safe for its occupants as it is quick. Also, it's got a mammoth V12 which is no coin purse, let's be fair. I agree, nonetheless -- they should've pushed it past the 200 MPH barrier. There must be some sort of marketing reason regarding why they didn't.

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you have a point about the aerodynamic drag, but man, you have to admit weight does come into affect at some point. More power is given to this car to overcome the extra weight. If there wasn't this much weight to carry, they wouldn't need all this power because it would be useless aka only wheel spin. but yea you do have a point and that's also just another part of why a car has a specific top speed :D:D

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also, if you have a better power to weight ratio, the car will be faster in almost every way.

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198mph haha, you would think a company as proud of their car would have pushed their car the extra 2mph

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Why do people always think a car will do exactly the speed it says , you have wind ,Gravity and other things to make the speed go up and down.

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Well, they released the number 198 so they felt comfortable with that number. Why then would they have not pushed their cars design that extra little bit so they would have been comfortable stating a 200mph number?

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Is this an electric car or a piston car? LOL... Where the hell is the exhaust sound? I think its time for my ear phones (shitty laptop speakers). LOL...

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great job merc. i can picture the r8 peein in its pants already.

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I love that rear wing.

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AyE aYE

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That looks so planted and an absolute hoot to drive. Saw the tail end snap a few times as well.

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Bremen, They didnt push 200mph for the same reason the ZR1 didnt, around a real track, even the Ring and except for La Sarthe, 200+mph top speed is useless, its only for bragging rights. Supercars like this will never reach beyond that on a circuit, so Benz went for the speed thats needed. As for Carcrazy...yea the car still isnt "light" but for an SL and for a Benz period its quite light. The SL was alwayz a very fast car weighing over 4000lbs, depending on model, now it lost a key problem. Its not like it lost 1000lbs, but it did lose a respectable amount, and enough that it should be able to keep up with the ZR-1, GT2, etc. depending on track of course.

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ZR1 has a 200+ mph top speed though, I think the number they released was 205?

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the debate goes on and on........

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i've always think SL's are GT cars not meant for the track. being comfortable and fast at the same time is something a class of its own. if someone wants a car that drives 200 mph, bucket seats, high pinch exhaust, get a ferrari and call it a day.

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I know Joe, the ZR1 does 205, you're right, the gearing goes FAR FAR FAR beyond that but 6th as always is an economy gear. So Chevy didn't go for top speed there either although the ZR1 could hit at least 215mph, we can all agree. The exact same will apply for this Benz im not sure how many gears it has, but the regular SL65 has a 5 Speed automatic, 5th gear hitting in the high upper 200s and being much more of an economy gear as well. I expect the top speed here is only 198 for the same reasons.

I also want to mention, while this cars top speed may not be interesting don't forget how incredibly fast and hard this car will pull from 120kmph-280kmph.

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I am guessing about average for cars that expensive, sure it has tons of power but at that speed range it not only has to accelerate about 2 tons, but it also has to fight 120-280kph wind resistance.

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Yea, you're right, but again the cars in its class;120-280, are verry fast cars lol. Point being that Benz can now hang at least a bit better all around against the Gallardo LP560, 360SC, ZR1, etc. Not saying its the best out of that league, but it competes in that class quite well.

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all those cars you mentioned would whoop this car in that speed range, I was thinking more like the Continental GT and Maserati Gran Turismo.

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OK please don't compare the ZR1 to this. They are completely different cars with different ideals and very different prices. Now to this car, it is perfection materialized. I can't find a single flaw with it.

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were not comparing the ideals or prices. We were comparing top speed with hp

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pointless comparison either way as those 2 are not directly proportional or related.

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See im not so sure about that Joe, in the straight line, this car will keep up fairly well which is primarily what i meant. Around a track i wouldnt be so sure given its weight/size but that remains to be seen.

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The track is "Le mas du Clos",in France, in the middle of the country

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thanks so much!!! looking it up at this time...

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fabulous car, i must say Merc have really created a gorgeous car worthy of this new Black Series line

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I think you have to look past top speed on this one. More recent AMG's have indeed been fast but they didnt handle great because Mercedes didnt want to lose the great road comfort they have become well known for because lets face it aside from the power they had they are still luxury daily drivers. These new black series cars are closer to what companies like BMW and Porsche have been beating Benz's at in the performance game for years and with this, the clk63 black and the c63 they are finally giving in. I think within the next decade if they continue this trend mercedes will have some serious track cars but for now its a great effort. Also keep in mind the pricing, they keep the luxury to excuse the price tag. Benz is my fav but lets face it you can get a more worthy track car for alot less. Point is that it is early but they are on the right track so perhaps the next SL will have the black series in mind when it is designed and we can see these babies giving porsche and the others a run for their money on the tracks and not just at stoplights.

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very nice looking car. too bad about the power, i was expeting at least 680bhp. and it sounds great too. oh, and nice automatic rear wing....did VW/audi thought them to do that? :)

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Did VW/Audi teach them? Stop. This SL is a mean car all the way around. Everyone was complaining about the hp, but remember, Merc toned it down from 720 hp. These guys at AMG know what they are doing. It is "Electronicaly limited" to 198. This car was geared for 0-100 speed rather than top speed. If anyone getting this car is concerned about the top speed, I'm sure they wont have a problem letting Renntech or Brabus get a hold of it. AMG built this as a track car, not a drag car. To think merc is not "capable" of getting more top speed out of this car is crazy. I mean come on, you have tuned SL600's (that's right, 600's, not 65's) that are capable of 200+ speeds with the extra weight. I just can't wait for the guys at Top Gear to get a hold of one and let te Stig take it around the track.