Mercedes-Benz has gone so far as to release its own “spy footage” of the upcoming SL Roadster, but one of our spy shooters has captured just a little more than what Mercedes revealed in August this year.
A few grainy, zoomed-in photos of the interior reveal that the Mercedes-AMG SL gets the same gigantic screen as the new S-Class. The few revealing shots give us a glimpse of the unmistakable vertical screen in the center console, reclined at the same angle as the new S-Class. Of course, we can’t look under the window line to confirm this, but its shape and size have convinced us that it’s the 12.8-inch touchscreen running Mercedes’ next-gen MBUX software. For all the details on this screen, check out our extensive dive into the new S-Class infotainment technology. Expect it to come with even more features from AMG.
This makes perfect sense given the Mercedes-AMG SL’s status as a top performance product. And yes, Mercedes stated in the previous announcement that the new SL would be an AMG product, so they will all bear the Mercedes-AMG name, not Mercedes-Benz. In addition to the central screen, we also get a passing look at the digital instrument panel. It’s very similar to the screens found in other Mercedes products today, so there’s nothing special going on here.
Outside the interior, these new shots provide a slightly different view of the roof. All previous shots were of SLs with tons of black trim across their plush tops, but this prototype removes the trim in favor of standard camouflage print. Other than giving the convertible a more normal look in profile, this doesn’t really reveal anything groundbreaking. At the very least, enjoy a less obstructed view of the SL’s shape.
Judging by the exhaust design of these two testers, they look like AMG SL 63 models – since they’re in the Nürburgring’s test center, this makes perfect sense. However, we expect Mercedes to give us some powertrain options with this performance convertible, which spans the entire AMG range. No exact dates have been announced for the SL to make its official debut, but our best bet is placing a reveal in 2021 and a US sale date sometime in 2022.
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