2010 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Gullwing - Official Info

The Gullwing returns! Mercedes releases the first details on its updated icon.

BY TONY QUIROGA

The car won’t be at the Geneva auto show, but Mercedes-Benz nevertheless used the event as an excuse to release some tantalizing details regarding its long-rumored new-generation Gullwing supercar.

The Cadillac of Names

First of all, the remixed icon won’t be called the Gullwing or even the SLC as we had believed; its official name is Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. (That said, Mercedes does refer to the car as the “new Gullwing” in its press materials and also confirms the car will utilize the unique door configuration.) We’re wondering if Cadillac will object to the SLS moniker, but we doubt anyone will confuse this super-Benz with a full-size, four-door Caddy. This might be a good time to mention that we don’t yet know what the SLS will look like. Mercedes is holding back on releasing official pictures of the car, but expect to see images surface early this summer. For now, information from Mercedes-Benz is limited to what’s under the SLS’s skin. Judging by the underlying structure, the car appears as if it will have proportions drawn directly from its 1950s forebear. Even the angles of the front and rear window openings look similar.

More Power from AMG’s Stonking V-8

Powering the SLS is a revised version of AMG’s now-familiar 6.2-liter 32-valve V-8. In the SLS, the engine makes 563 hp at 6800 rpm and 479 lb-ft of torque at 4750 rpm. Revisions to the engine for use in the SLS include a new magnesium intake with eight separate velocity stacks; two electronically controlled throttle plates feed the new intake. On the exhaust side, a new equal-length exhaust manifold reduces backpressure. Lubricating the engine is a new dry-sump system that allows the engine to sit low, thus reducing the center of gravity. But the engine doesn’t just sit low; it also sits behind the front axle line, an arrangement that is largely responsible for the SLS’s claimed 48 percent/52 percent front/rear weight distribution.

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