SL-Class (R231) 2012 Mercedes SL (R231) - First Drives Thread

[Human]

^
As a person who grew up with the famous 3-pointed star and my respect for the brand and what it stands for, the innovations and prestige + the simple credibility of some of the worlds most desirable cars and its richest history, I feel exactly the same

**See, back in the day when the first A-class was launched and it did not have the Laureus badge o the bonnet I was furious at M-B. I wrote letters to Daimler-Benz and Herr. Schrempp + Hubbert. Also when the Merger with Chrysler was proposed I did the same AND they then replied on my concerns. I still have the letters of reply with Schrempp's signature.
It's the small things that can get me sometimes, but I feel it has to be done.

That is how strong I feel about a Brand and What it Stands for! "DO NOT LOOSE IN FUTURE WHAT MADE YOU STRONG IN THE PAST"

** i.e.
Where is the Laureus badge?? On the first A-class!?

AND they listened! Maybe it was me and my letters to Daimler's board? Who knows?

 

[K-A]

^
As a person who grew up with the famous 3-pointed star and my respect for the brand and what it stands for, the innovations and prestige + the simple credibility of some of the worlds most desirable cars and its richest history, I feel exactly the same

**See, back in the day when the first A-class was launched and it did not have the Laureus badge o the bonnet I was furious at M-B. I wrote letters to Daimler-Benz and Herr. Schrempp + Hubbert. Also when the Merger with Chrysler was proposed I did the same AND they then replied on my concerns. I still have the letters of reply with Schrempp's signature.
It's the small things that can get me sometimes, but I feel it has to be done.

That is how strong I feel about a Brand and What it Stands for! "DO NOT LOOSE IN FUTURE WHAT MADE YOU STRONG IN THE PAST"

** i.e.
Where is the Laureus badge?? On the first A-class!?

AND they listened! Maybe it was me and my letters to Daimler's board? Who knows?

Great writeup, my friend!! I can't believe he replied!! You should scan that letter for us.

I'm the same way. I know M-B represents something different to everybody, to some it's simply high quality mass luxury.... for me, it's another level.... it's the brand I wanted to be fortunate enough to afford and enjoy someday.... to me, it's as or more prestigious than RR, Bentley, or Porsche (current product politics aside). M-B has always been "IT" to me, the ultimate and quintessential in automotive luxury.

It's painful to me when I think of what "level" I hope to strive for next.... and I find myself talking myself out of M-B because "what's the point to spend so much money on one when I can enjoy some great products from the brand at a much cheaper price". Really, if I liked the CLS, it would be my ceiling on what I'd spend on an M-B these. For $80K you get pretty much all the prestige and quality, offerings that M-B has to offer (unless I needed S-Class size). Back in the day, I'd say it was the $100+K CL.

I love that line: "DO NOT LOOSE IN FUTURE WHAT MADE YOU STRONG IN THE PAST". From here on out I will be stealing it and exploiting the hell out of it.

 

[Human]

I have the letters at home in between the pages of a dictionary, will scan and post them!

You're welcome K-A

 

[Monster]

I have the letters at home in between the pages of a dictionary, will scan and post them!

You're welcome K-A

That will be quite awesome, please scan them, and post them as GCF exclusive content.

 

[Sovereign]

The star or sports grill has the lineage from the most beautiful sports car of the 20th century, the SL gullwing of 1950s. Than it was part of the beautiful Pagoda and later to R107 and R129. These were all beautiful cars that evoke our emotions comparable to the best from Ferrarais and Porsches of yore. The "regular" sedan grill dressed up all sorts of the other Mercedes cars in the past, from entry level 200s to beautiful 600s with variation in the size. This was not the case with BMW or now Audi where both of them have a single styled corporate grill, the kidney for BMW and what ever that open mouth of Audi is known as, that is part of their each and every model. Just like BMW and Audi if Mercedes was putting regular grills on the lower end models, I would not have emotional problem, however imo, Mercedes has cheapen the original SL grill and the design language by making it nonexclusive now.

Brands have their key attributes called associations and for me Mercedes sports grill and the accompanying design language was the key attribute in its brand equity for models that compete with cars from upper strata and keeping the Mercedes name above its direct competitors. All the brands that demand emotional response from customers have key design element such as the radiator grill of RR, round tail lights of Ferrari and the 911 body style or 356 body style for Porsche. For me Mercedes was comparable to these brands and was always above BMW, Audi, Jaguar, Lexus etc in terms of desirability if not exclusivity but the sports grill was keeping the brand exclusive also.

Finally my eyes see much similarity in design language between CL and C coupe, even the rear is quite similar. If you take out the star grill from the Mercedes front what is left there, 80% or so is taken by that star grill which is angled the same way and yes the star is also the same in the center. Since the grill is now a days angled in V shape, even the angles of the headlights are same. Same was the case for me with the previous gen CL, SL, and CLK from the front.

 

[Human]

I think these are new photos. Looks like they are taken from a road test, hopefully the actual reviews are far away.

You may be sued for these pics! It's XXX Porn on a public site!

 

[Monster]

You may be sued for these pics! It's XXX Porn on a public site!

Just in case if others are wondering what it was, I have accidentally posted the F12 pics in the SL forum, I have fixed it up now.

 

[K-A]

I sat in an SL65 (or 63, whichever one has that smaller REALLY nice grille and the aluminum colored front bumper middle lip).

The front is SO MUCH NICER than the SL550. I mean, it makes the SL550's giant grille look goofy and unfinished. The interior is nice, but honestly, doesn't feel much more special than "any other Benz". Too homogenous in feel and parts. Yeah, it's nicer, but just doesn't "dazzle" so much for a $150K car. This again brings up that issue of Mercedes putting too much emphasis on their cheaper cars whereas it dilutes the specialness of the upper end cars.

The structure of the new SL feels really impressive though, even off of first impression. All new Mercedes' have a very high quality door closing sound, but DAMN, the new SL's door close sound is just gorgeous, absolutely crisp, strong, flawless, and not a peep of vibration anywhere on the car.

 

[Merc1]

K/A I honestly don't know what you're talking about regarding the interior of the SL. This SL is no different from any other SL regarding what it shared with the others Benzes at the time. The R230's interior wasn't even up to quality of the new SL. The R129 was an exact copy of every other Benz at the time? This imaginary standard you're trying to hold the SL to, interior wise has never existed. The R230 was cheap and looked like the W211 E, and the R129 looked like the W140 and W210 models interior wise. What is it that you expect the SL to be? A totally different interior? This SL has an interior that is quality wise beyond anything else Benz makes right now.

M

 

[K-A]

Maybe, but the issue is, with the previous SL's, there weren't SO many cheaper Benzes that shared the same design and parts. It's just "pulling the covers on the SL" now, per-se.

I saw an SL driving as well, I just don't see anything special about it. Not that it's ugly, but it doesn't scream "more expensive" than lots of standard Benzes right now, either visually or interior design/parts. Yeah, of course the Roadster aspect IS the difference, but still, the language for whatever reason doesn't move me like other SL's did during their times. It's not ugly, and were other SL's similar to other M-B's as well? Sure, but there weren't SO many cheaper M-B's back then.

I mean, we're talking a car with a $120K+ price tag, realistically speaking. These days, with so many sharing the same language both inside and out, it needs "more", IMO.

I sat in an E, a CLS, then an SL. Sure, there are some quality differences (slight) between the two formers and the latter, but the latter costs more than double the E! I just don't feel that when getting out of the E and sitting in the SL.

 

[Merc1]

K/A I don't know what to tell you my friend, I think you're just not feeling the SL itself, because it really isn't any different compared to other Benzes now than other previous SL's were. Maybe it is time you stepped up to a SLS roadster lol.

I haven't seen it on the road yet, which for me is the ultimate test of desirability.


M

 

[K-A]

Lol. No Roadster for me, but yeah, the SLS Hardtop has been calling my name for a while now. It's basically the answer to all my complaints.

Depreciation couldn't happen soon enough!

 

[Merc1]

Lol. No Roadster for me, but yeah, the SLS Hardtop has been calling my name for a while now. It's basically the answer to all my complaints.

Depreciation couldn't happen soon enough!

Only one thing wrong with that though, have you seen the SLS' interior? It is more cut and paste from lesser Benzes than the SL is.


M

 

[K-A]

Only one thing wrong with that though, have you seen the SLS' interior? It is more cut and paste from lesser Benzes than the SL is.


M

Very true. That's a huge negative effect of M-B's "trickle down theory" and plethora of lower end models, it's even ruined the SLS's interior.

Let me give an update on the CL comments:

I took a long and hard look at CL's today. And I need to backtrack a bit. It IS a seriously STUNNING design. Actually, I was kicking myself for not buying it earlier as this is the M-B for me, I adore the E-Class, and especially like its front more than the CL's, but this could be the one truly for me, it's big (too big, but that's better for me than too small), it's a 2-Door (don't need a 4-Door but I love Sedan designs more usually, though sometimes it feels excessive), and it isn't so common on the roads. The lines are clear, timeless, elegant. In fact, I'd go and work a deal for one tomorrow if there wasn't a new one coming out next year (I hate buying a car right before it gets replaced, even if I hate the replacement, just a bad money-move). The CLS is a total fail to me (no headroom for my height, questionable design), therefore upmarket wise, the CL is designed for me....

Which leads me to my next point.... there's a big reason as to why I never could fully appreciate the CL's styling.... it's not the fault of the styling, but it's the fact that its styling IMO just isn't *arresting*.... why? Not because the design is technically lacking, but because how shared the language is with M-B's ever-growing segments of downmarket cars, has rendered the car almost homogenous-ly languaged. The problem is, for the price they ask, it doesn't pull my leg enough to have ever taken it so seriously.

So, I halfway have to do an about-face, and I halfway have to stick to my earlier "stance". For the prices they go for used, I gotta say I am insanely enticed. Not much more than the remainder/buyout on my E. But I just couldn't make the "outgoing model" mistake again.... I did it with the W211 I had, and now 2 W212's in just a couple of years later....

 

[Human]

The CL is and ALWAYS will be the the jewel in M-B's crown.

 

[Gianclaudio]

Excuse my guys, I must bitch slap K-A for realizing just at this point how special the CL is

 

[K-A]

LOL. Idk, all of a sudden I really want one. The fact that it's so unpopular is the best part, I realized. I have one of the most popular Benzes of all time, the W212, and it's a great testament to the car, but I have to admit, the ONLY thing shaking me from my long honeymoon with it is the damn commonality effect. The CLS is a fail in more ways than one for me, therefore the CL is basically the only worthy pricing upgrade from the E via the M-B line for me. Too bad it's gonna be replaced next year!

 

[Gianclaudio]

No excuses Mr, you still must be punished!

The fact the CL is going replaced is a double edged sword, as we don't know what Mercedes may come up with.

End of the off topic about the CL, back to the SL

 

[Pagani]

K/A I don't know what to tell you my friend, I think you're just not feeling the SL itself, because it really isn't any different compared to other Benzes now than other previous SL's were. Maybe it is time you stepped up to a SLS roadster lol.

I haven't seen it on the road yet, which for me is the ultimate test of desirability.


M

I saw it and my jaw dropped. Much more muscular and, how shall i put it, strewn together than pictures would suggest. In pictures it looks bland. Not so in real life. And the exhaust noise? It nearly converted me: had not been much of a SLS fan, but for the next month, could not even picture having the SL, would have felt like a letdown.

 

[Pagani]

LOL. Idk, all of a sudden I really want one. The fact that it's so unpopular is the best part, I realized. I have one of the most popular Benzes of all time, the W212, and it's a great testament to the car, but I have to admit, the ONLY thing shaking me from my long honeymoon with it is the damn commonality effect. The CLS is a fail in more ways than one for me, therefore the CL is basically the only worthy pricing upgrade from the E via the M-B line for me. Too bad it's gonna be replaced next year!

I don't think you are a snob, per se, but your comments hint at an intolerance for what the "hoy polloy" have.