Agent 001 was burning up the back roads and highways with glee, testing the new 2009 Mercedes-Benz SL's (SL550, SL600, SL63 and SL65) last week in Southern California.
The route took us from Santa Monica to Palm Springs.
As a previous owner of a few SL's, the first thing I can tell you about these new rides, is to forget EVERYTHING you know about the previous generation cars.
Check Out The 2009 Mercedes SL-Series
Forget the feeling of a car being too heavy, numb handling and underpowered for its weight.
These new SL's drive like a more comfortable BMW.
Yes.
You heard me right.
BMW.
The new SL in my opinion drives BETTER than the 650.
WAY better.
In virtually every single way, these new SL's are executed almost perfectly.
And the new look is a lot nicer once you see it in person.
Photos don't do the new design justice.
So reserve your opinion until you see one face to face.
The only flaws I could find on these cars was a sub-par navigation system (shocking on a German car I know!) with NO traffic updating (that comes next year), no rear backup camera (C'mon boys, these babies start at $90k...no excuse for that omission), and sticker shock perfected.
But the strengths outweigh the flaws by a factor of a billion to one.
Of all the models, the SL63 was by far my favorite.
It was one of the best cars I have EVER driven.
I am in LUST with it!
What a package...power, sound, refinement, design...I could go on and on and on.
It even got a respectable 13.9MPG under extremely aggressive circumstances in my testing...17MPG highway if you baby it.
But who on earth would baby this thing if they owned one.
I'd probably be in jail for speeding at least once a month!
So, in a nutshell, Mercedes has done an amazing job on this set of cars.
They have done virtually NOTHING wrong.
The real problem they have with the SL, is outside of their own control.
In the old days, the SL was the ICON of the 'I've made it' and 'I'm better than you' crowd.
When you saw someone in one you said WOW!, that dude is a big shot!
They've reached the pinnacle in life.
Not any more.
Their 'king of cool' trophy has been knocked of the mantle by vehicles like the Bentley Continental, Rolls, BMW 650, Ferrari, Lambo, Audi R8, Maserati and Range Rover.
You notice I omitted Porsche from that list...that was not an accident because they are facing the same dilemma.
Cars like the SL and Porsche's have become rather ordinary...especially in the markets like Socal or Florida where the influencer's for the rest of the country are...
Dare I say it?
SL's and Porsche's are considered 'OLD MAN' cars by the new socialites.
And unfortunately for Mercedes, most people will never know HOW good these new SL's are because they won't be on 'the top of mind' list.
That's a shame if you ask us...Because the new SL's are AWESOME!
SL63 for me please...In the flat 'Yosemite Grey' color (7G's extra).
Check Out The 2009 Mercedes SL-Series
*AutoSpies.com was a guest of the manufacturer for the purpose of providing our readers this advance preview.