2022 Mercedes-AMG SL63 at Lightning Lap 2023

From the February/March 2023 issue of Car and Driver.

Lap Time: 2:52.6

Class: LL4 | Base: $196,850 | As-Tested: $216,250
Power and Weight: 577 hp • 4227 lb • 7.3 lb/hp
Tires: Michelin Pilot Sport 4S; F: 275/35ZR-21 (103Y) MO1A, R: 305/30ZR-21 (104Y) MO1A

The new four-seat SL63 isn’t an obvious track car. In fact, most tracks won’t even let it run hot laps because it can’t pass the so-called “broomstick test” for rollover safety. A softtop fails when an imaginary line connecting the top of the windshield header to the rear edge of the trunk (or other prominent structure, such as a roll cage) bisects the driver’s helmet. Without its automatic rollover protection deployed, the SL doesn’t pass. Keeping this car off a track would be a shame because it’s more than able to rip a fast lap. On the Front Straight, it hits 151.8 mph and averages nearly 120 mph in the Climbing Esses (just don’t be too alarmed if the rear end wags a bit over the curbing). Those numbers put it remarkably close to the 2020 Corvette Stingray Z51’s.

The SL’s 2:52.6 lap time is only 1.6 seconds off the two-seat AMG GT S from Lightning Lap 9, an amazing feat considering this car weighs 4227 pounds, or 529 pounds more than that 2016 GT S. The only car heavier this year is an electric BMW, and the only cars posting faster laps wore tires with “R” or, more blatantly, “Race” in their names. Despite its street-focused Michelin Pilot Sport 4S rubber, the SL63 clung to Turn 1 at 1.03 g’s. We can’t pretend to know the SL demographic better than its maker, but does the official convertible of South Florida really need that much capability?

Probably not, but it definitely lives up to the AMG letters on it.

The shocking thing is that we may have left some time on the table. The 577-hp V-8 flattened the hills, the gearbox never stumbled, and even the steering told us everything we needed to know. But an electrical gremlin kept the seatback angle locked at a too-relaxed recline, leaving the steering wheel at an uncomfortable distance. It sounds trivial, but the right seating position is as key to minimizing lap time as it is to cruising the Keys.

Back to Lightning Lap 2023