The power-mad crew at AMG is getting ready to unleash the third in its series of bad-to-the-bone Black Series models, and this time it's the SL that gets the race-car treatment. With the SL65 AMG as a starting point, the Black Series is a more powerful, lighter, and more single-purpose extreme machine. Unlike every other SL, the Black Series has a fixed roof complete with a more rakishly sloped roofline. The elimination of the folding hardtop mechanism, the switch from Mercedes' active-body-control suspension to coil springs with adjustable dampers, and the extensive use of carbon-fiber body panels (roof, trunk lid, hood, front fenders, front and rear bumpers) enable the Black Series to shed a whopping 570 pounds. The twin-turbocharged V-12's more-than-ample 738 lb-ft of torque is unchanged, but power output is nudged from 604 hp to 670 hp - easily enough for a sub-four-second 0-to-60-mph time and a 200-mph top speed. Ultrawide tires - 265/35YR-19 fronts and 325/30YR-20 rears - hide under massive fender flares. The brakes are the same as those on the SL65, as is the five-speed automatic, here with a second, more aggressive manual mode. This super Benz will be superexclusive, with only 350 built. Roughly half of those will be for U.S. consumption.
SOMEONE MUST BE SPIKING THE HEFEWEIZEN: Sport Leicht indeed.