Six cylinders at your fingertips

With a displacement of 2 996cc and an output of 245kW, the SL 400 has 480Nm of torque at its disposal.

The SL 400 V6 has two turbochargers, which are able to push it to a 245kW output at a charge pressure of 1.8 bar.

The slanting headlamps come standard with the intelligent light system – five different lighting functions that are tailored to typical driving and weather conditions – offering the driver a much better illuminated field of vision. The striking curved sidelights and horizontal strip of the daytime running lamps on the bumper feature LED technology.

The standard suspension with adaptive damping system operates fully automaticaly. Depending on the driving conditions, the damping forces are automatically adapted to the road conditions and vehicle status at each wheel. Changing from minimum to maximum damping takes only 10ms. The driver is able to select a sporty or comfort-oriented basic damper setting by operating a switch.

Like all BlueDirect petrol engines, the biturbo engine in the new SL 400 also works with a direct injection system with spray-guided combustion.

The system pressure is up to 2.00 (200 psi) bar, the pressure being variably optimised according to the engine’s mapping.

Piezo injectors enable optimal mixture formation with up to five injections per power stroke. The third-generation direct injection is supplemented by rapid multispark ignition (MSI).

How it works: following the first spark discharge and a brief combustion period, the coil is recharged rapidly and a further spark is discharged. The MSI system enables up to four sparks to be discharged in succession within one millisecond, creating a plasma with a larger spatial expansion than conventional ignition.

The SL 400 AMG Line is introduced at R1 212 600, inclusive of VAT, but excluding CO2 emissions tax at 178g/km.

Mercedes have also updated their E-Class coupe range to include the E 250 CDI coupe. With a displacement of 2 143cc, this engine produces 150kW of power and a healthy 500Nm.