Next-gen Mercedes SL likely to be a 2+2

The Mercedes-Benz SL will be faster and more practical than its predecessor due to a 2+2 cabin and AMG engineering. Speaking to our sister publication, Autocar UK, at the New York motor show about the eighth-generation car, AMG boss Tobias Moers told Autocar that a 2+2 layout "would make sense" because it would offer a "bit more space".

Development of the new two-seat luxury roadster was handed to AMG last year as part of a plan by Mercedes-Benz’s incoming research and development boss, Ola Källenius, to provide the new SL with what’s been described as “a more sporting character” than the existing model.
“It is being kept secret at the moment, but AMG is heading the engineering of the new SL,” a highly placed insider at Mercedes-Benz’s headquarters in Stuttgart told Autocar UK, adding: “It’s going to be a vastly different proposition to today’s model.”

Known internally as the MSA (Modularen Sportwagen Architektur), it is also planned to underpin the successor to today’s SLC.  The new platform, which supports scalable tracks and wheelbase, has been developed using various solutions from Mercedes-Benz MRA (Modularen Rear Architektur), as used by the new E-class.

Apart from receiving a new platform, Mercedes-Benz has also taken the decision to ditch the SL’s folding aluminium roof. For the first time since the fifth-generation model ceased production in 2001, the new model, codenamed R232, will flaunt a multi-layer fabric hood similar in construction to that used by the S-class cabriolet.

Among the engines planned to power the new SL is Mercedes-Benz’s new 3.0-litre, six-cylinder, in-line turbocharged petrol unit. In the new SL 300, it is planned to deliver 370hp, while added turbocharger boost pressure and other power enhancing measures will see it pumped up to 441hp for use in the SL 400. Ranged above them will be the SL 500 running a specially tuned version of AMG’s 4.0-litre V8 with around 461hp. The two other AMG models planned include the SL 63, running a 500hp-plus version of AMG’s 4.0-litre, twin-turbocharged V8, and the range-topping SL 65, with a 6.0-litre, twin-turbocharged V12 producing 630hp.
A Mercedes-Benz spokesman said it was unlikely that Mercedes-AMG’s 43 range would be extended to the SL, given that the current SL 400 uses the same engine as the 43 range with the same power output.

Nevertheless, if 43 badging were given to the SL, it’d almost certainly use the engine found in the current SL 400, which is also in the 43-badged AMG line-up. The current SL has been around in facelifted format since late 2015, so the next-generation SL may still be at least two more years away if it follows the standard timeframe for model cycles. Currently, the SL 63 produces 585hp – the same as the E 63 S because they use the same engine in the same state of tune.

As such, it’s likely the entry-level AMG-tuned SL 63 will have the same power output as the E 63, details of which were recently leaked in a document. If that's the case, the SL 63 could have 611hp and 850Nm of torque from a 4.0-litre, twin-turbo V8 engine. With the old 5.5-litre V8 fitted, both cars also weigh exactly the same – 1,845kg – in their current iterations and have a 0-100kph time of 4.1sec.

The S 63 Cabriolet is faster to 100kph by 0.2sec and still uses the old engine, so it’s safe to assume that the SL’s engine will be in the same state of tune, and that, when the S 63 adopts the smaller engine, it will be more powerful than the SL and E-class AMG-badged cars.

Meanwhile, AMG will continue to produce V12 engines, so it’s a safer bet that the flagship SL 65 will return once again. Another source said the SL was the next in line for development from Mercedes. The carmaker doesn’t sell the current-gen SL in India; however, it could make a comeback with the next-gen car.