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The new Mercedes-AMG SL 43 no longer houses that roaring V8 engine. News24 Motoring contributor Tyrone Paulsen drives it to find out if it's a hit or a miss.
The new Mercedes-Benz SL 43 AMG is presented as "an icon reborn" by its makers. It's the very car that birthed the famous gullwing doors. A vehicle that was designed as a racing car and later transformed into a luxury open-top sports car.
With all that said, one thing concerned me when this car arrived in my driveway: The number 43. Why 43? The most recent SLs were either a 63 or 55 model. Both sported that well-loved AMG V8 power unit. Then we got the new C 43 with a four-cylinder engine. Even though it had similar performance figures to the outgoing C 63, it just sounded strange, but that's a story for another time.
Yes, Mercedes-AMG did the same as the C-Class and added a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine, but the SL 63 is still around, so why this change?
