Mercedes SLS AMG

Mercedes has a brand new supercar named the SLS AMG. With starting prices of approximately one hundred and eighty thousand bucks it is priced to directly compete with the likes of Porsche, Ferrari and Aston Martin. Aside from all the usual performance comparisons there is one thing this supercar has that the other cars do not - the gullwing Mercedes has returned. Entertainment: well, there's a 6.2 litre engine in the front offering a rumble to match anything to leave Detroit. With over 550 hp the Mercedes SLS could be an enjoyable drive even if the handling was poor. Luckily that's not the case. It is really agile, poised and even though its feels a little stiff on the highway the combination of engine and handling provides a wonderful drive.

Regarding practicality the vehicle is a bit of a mixed bag. Mercedes have obviously considered how this car is going to be used and the Mercedes SLS AMG incorporates typical functions to provide daily functionality like sat-nav as well as a good stereo. Nonetheless the gullwings, as renowned as they're, make it a real pain to get inside and out of the vehicle, make the car very wide and you really have to stretch to pull the doors down once you're inside. The style also means headroom is fairly tight as well.

The gearbox is a double clutched affair which operates extremely well. There is a slight delay when you flick the paddles however overall it feels extremely sharp and responsive. The vehicle is really obviously rear wheel drive. The seating position is really back and also harks back to old school, honest GT's and combined with the sharp steering you have complete faith in where the front of the car is going to go. This super car can go round corners really, really quick - if you tried hard enough you can probably keep up with a 4-wheel drive 911 Turbo. It's also blazingly quick in a straight line - really impressive for a weighty, front engined GT.

Looking at value for cash - can any car at this price tag be regarded as reasonable value? Possibly not but put together with its peers it is competitively priced. Let us look at it one more way - against the Mercedes McLaren SLR, the SLS is quicker, handles better and is much less pricey to the tune of nearly two hundred thousand dollars. So, the Mercededs SLS AMG is a raucous and loud matter dominated by the huge powerhouse of an engine - yet at the exact same time civilized by the common high standards of usability and refinement that you'd expect from a Mercedes-Benz.