Powerful yet luxurious.

The SL55 AMG is probably a car that I wanted to get since it came out, and recently, I finally decided to get rid of my SL600 and get the '06 SL55 AMG.

The look and feel of this car is great, a hard top convertible is definitely better than the one with a canvas roof as I used to replace the rear screen once every 2 years.

Here is my review.

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External review:

The SL55 AMG comes with AMG-designed front air dam with mesh air intakes, side skirts and rear apron with mesh air diffuser, four polished stainless steel exhaust tips, electrohydraulic retractable aluminum hardtop, operated via console control or SmartKey remote.

With the top down, the whole AMG package makes the car look more agressive and sporty than the regular SL500.

The rims are nice, but a little small, 255/40ZR18 front and 285/35ZR18 rear is not exactly what I picture an AMG, I guess they are pretty decent sized for winter driving.

The brakes are big and nice. The AMG-enhanced 4-circuit electrohydraulic brakes make the car look "sporty and agressive". 14.2" perforated and internally ventilated front discs. 13.0" perforated and internally ventilated rear discs. 8-piston fixed front and 4-piston fixed rear calipers.

Interior - the interior is much more luxurious than the SL500. I almost did not want to get an SL as the interior was the same old mercedes interior. However, the SL55 AMG has 12-way power front seats with pneumatically adjustable lumbar support and three-position memory, AMG-designed sport seats, dynamic multicontour seatbacks with pneumatically adjustable side bolsters, shoulder supports and triple lumbar supports, hand-fitted AMG-designed gAMG-designed perforated leather seating surfaces with metal AMG badges,

It not only looks great, it also feels great. Depending on your dealer, you have a great choice of leathers and trip to suit your SL55, and mine came customized to my requirements.

The navigation system is just a regular so-so system. I've played with it but I liked the one on my 750iL much better.

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Performance:

The car really moves. With the AMG 5.5-liter intercooled supercharged V-8 engine, the SL55 achieves 0 to 60 in a mere 4.5 seconds. On the highway, I would say I can out accelerate any BMW M3, Corvette, Mustang, you name it!

The car also shifts very fast, the speedshift make the car very enjoyable and fun to drive. With the top down, the wind in your hair (or head for me), driving is a real enjoyable experience.

Knowing that you have plenty of power, and great braking system thank to the 8 piston caliper brake in the front and 4 piston caliper in the rear, you can make the car push hard and brake hard.

Handling is quite nimble for this car. Steering and turning radius is good. Stability control helps first time drivers get more control over the "beast", but it feels more fun with the feature turned off.

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Here are the Specifications of the car.

engine

type. .
AMG-built intercooled supercharged 5,439-cc SOHC 24-valve V-8. High-pressure die-cast alloy cylinder block. Alloy cylinder heads. Lightweight camshafts. Reinforced engine block, oil pan structure, pistons, connecting rods and crankshaft.
displacement. .
5.5L
bore. .
3.82 in
stroke. .
3.62 in
compression ratio. .
9.0:1
output. .
493 hp @ 6,100 rpm
torque. .
516 lb-ft @ 2,750 - 4,000 rpm
valve gear. .
Belt-driven SOHC, 3 valves per cylinder.
redline. .
6,500 rpm
drivetrain
type. .
5-speed driver-adaptive automatic with AMG SpeedShift™.
final drive ratio. .
2.82
1st gear. .
3.59
2nd gear. .
2.19
3rd gear. .
1.41
4th gear. .
1.00
5th gear. .
0.83
reverse gear. .
3.16
performance
acceleration . .
0 - 60 mph in 4.5 seconds.
top speed. .
155 mph (limited)

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I have this car for a few months now, and there are a few things which I think Mercedes should consider.

1. 5 Speed Gearbox. - I could not understand what I paid $108k for a car with only 5 speed. I read about the new mercedes 7 speed gearbox, and I could not believe even the AMG model had only 5 speeds.

2. I have to spend $1500 ~ $2000 for a chip to byoass the speed govenor. The speed govenor is set at 155mph, but with the chip, I managed to past 180mph on the track.

3. 18" rims - The standard 18" rims are for winter use. Even the M3's come with 20" rims. Seriously, these rims are too small to be seen in during summer.

4. Difficult to read gauges - Its not easy to read as the old SL500 gauges, these new ones are confusing, and just -- bad.

5. Push-button manu-matic transmission - inferior version of the tip-tronic controls. Left hand shift down while right hand shift up. You cannot have a cigarette in one hand and shift up and down with the other!

6. Bad fuel economy. Nuff said...