Video: 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

Now it has similar proportions, long hood, short deck, has the vents here on the side. But what makes it a Gullwing? Well this does. (handle popping) Like wing of gull. Getting into the SLS is not exactly easy. It's low, it has a very wide sill. My concern is, that I'm gonna break the turn signal stock off with my foot every time I get in. At minimum, you find the high beams on when you didn't want them to be. All right. So once you're in, it helps if you have long arms, 'cause there's no strap or anything hanging down, the rest is pretty easy. Once you're inside, you'll find a it's roomy enough, in some regards. Now, if the seats too high, like it is here, once again, you find yourself clocking yourself against this center beam here, so I can put it down. Not too bad. The materials overall are really nice. The leather is high quality. I like the suede-like material on the steering wheel. Some of the things like the metal, there's a lot of aluminum in here and it's genuine, and where it's not genuine, it seems pretty convincing. This option package gives us some carbon fiber trim. One thing I'm not crazy about? This whole module seems to be borrowed from the C class, which is the least expensive of the Mercedes-Benz models. While you're paying attention to the getting out down here process. You might forget the doors here, and brain yourself, which I've done a couple times, and it really hurts. The absolute best aspect of this car, without a doubt, is the engine. Which you can get to real easily with the hood that goes up higher than you can believe. It is a 6.3 liter V8, it has 563 horsepower, 479 pounds feet of torque. Now you'll also notice that the engine is behind the front axle. Engine kind of ends here, front axle's about here. That helps with weight distribution. It's actually 47% front, 53% rear. Part of the way they get the weight distribution the way it is, is the seven speed transmission, actually, a transaxle is here in the back. Now with a little bit more of the weight in the back, the cars pretty balanced, but it's a little bit skittish. I'll send you to the review on cars.com to get all the details, but generally speaking, it handles well, lots of power, rides a little bit firm. Now the firm ride makes the SLS not the best pick as a daily driver. In terms of usability, the cargo space, not great. But the shape of the trunk is pretty good. Now people have asked me over the past few days, "Why didn't Mercedes have a supercar before this?" Well, they did. They had the SLR McLaren just before this, 2009. The problem is it costs almost a half a million dollars. So you probably didn't see them. This starts over 180, still expensive, but I suspect you'll see it. Not in my neighborhood, but you'll see it. <v Narrator>For more car related news, go to cars.com or our blog, kickingtires.net.