2013 Mercedes-Benz SL550

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Other new features include the unique FrontBass system, which turns the luxury sports car into a concert hall - with the top down or up - and the highly efficient Magic Vision Control. The 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL550 will be available in U.S. showrooms this spring.

Compared with its successful predecessor, the 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL offers considerably more comfort and athletic character, setting new standards in the luxury roadster class. This includes amazing everyday usability, making the SL the most versatile of all sports cars. In short, anyone talking about the new SL is surely talking about the ultimate in passionate, refined motoring.

Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars: "There are around 900 million cars in the world and thousands of models. But there is only a handful of automotive icons. Our SL is one of them: It has class, it has style, it is the ultimate in comfort and luxury. And it combines all that with an incredibly sporty and dynamic character. You would struggle to find a car that embodies Gottlieb Daimler's aspiration more perfectly than our new SL - the best or nothing."

Exterior Design: Classic Mercedes SL Proportions

The designers have brought the latest generation of the SL to life with a firm foundation in tradition, but with new perspectives and visions. The result is a stylishly sporty and elegant luxury sports car with balanced proportions that are classic SL. The long hood gives way to a compact passenger compartment that is set well back. A wide, powerful rear end with a strong racing character provides the finishing touch. Just a few carefully drawn lines define the powerfully sculpted, yet calm surfaces along the flanks. Finely crafted details, a striking rear end plus ventilation grilles with chromed fins from the dynamic tradition of the Mercedes- Benz heritage evoke the SL legend.

An upright classic sports car radiator grille clearly identifies the new 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL550 as a prestigious member of the current Mercedes-Benz sports car lineup. The centrally positioned star is a contemporary reinterpretation of the famous trademark, and now extends into the center section with its organically flowing contours.

Dynamically slanting headlamps set well to the outside frame the striking front end and give the new roadster its own unmistakable face. The Bi-xenon headlamps come with active curve illumination and corner illuminating lamps as a standard feature, as well as Adaptive Highbeam Assist. With different lighting functions tailored to typical driving and weather conditions and activated in accordance with the driving situation, they offer the driver a much better illuminated field of vision. The striking sidelights and the horizontal line of the daytime running lamps in the far ends of the bumper feature LED technology.

The new SL550 will be marketed as SL500 in Europe.

Mercedes-Benz SL550: Review (2/2)