New AMG SL 55 vs old AMG SL 55: DRAG RACE
It’s time for an AMG SL showdown!!
We’ve got our hands on the all-new Mercedes-AMG SL 55, and it’s about to go head-to-head over the quarter-mile against a classic SL 55 from 2004!
So which is better? Well, let’s check out the stats! The old SL rolls up with a 5.5-litre supercharged V8 under the bonnet that can normally deliver 490hp and 700Nm. However, the one we’ve got our hands on has been tuned, and can now deliver 625hp! It s equipped with RWD, and it weighs in at 1,885kg.
As for the new SL, the supercharged V8 has been swapped for a 4-litre twin-turbo V8. This can put down 476hp and 700Nm, which means it’s down on power compared to the tuned SL. However, it has one key advantage… It comes with AWD!
So what do you think, will it be a clean sweep for the new SL? And more importantly, will it show that it’s worth the eye-watering £147,000 price tag?!
There’s only one way to find out for sure… LET’S RACE!
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Tuned AMG C63 Black v Tuned BMW M3: bit.ly/750hp-C63-v-700hp-BMW-M3
Classic or new SL 55... Which is best?
Classic always better
Classic
Classic
Classic
Classic new one sucks
Can we have a E 55, CLS 55, SL 55, CLK 55 and C55 drag race pretty please?
Even mix it up with a 500, 600cl and a 63 n 65
Sounds like a good idea
dont forget the s55
@@kartikay9122 GT40 MKI: HITORI DAKE NANTE ERABENAI YO!
@@thebonkarsgamer449 add also Ford GT40 MK1 and Mercedes 300SL.
The old one has a timeless design!
👍
@@SethEvermanofficial gerrara here!
No way look like a grandpa car
And it's cheaper and faster.
@@Porcodiokeno a grandpa car? Wow your grandmother must have given birth to your mother when she was 14 lol
The old SL looks so sleek. It’s such a beautiful and timeless car.
Back when the “55” portion of the badge actually meant something. And the sound of the classic SL55 is one of the all time greats. And the subtle styling upgrades to an already pretty car mean the classic wins in my book.
Meant 5.4
That rear view of the Old SL looks too damn modern
Yep. As modern like the 2010 SLS.
We're just getting old..
Timeless Trapezoid tail lights, pure class!
How does that look modern, its the epitome of old tail lights
It looks like the old Mercedes design language.. What are you on about?
The Old SL55 Looks great . Definitely aged well!
Kinda reminded me a lot to SLR McLaren 2003.
@@purwantiallan5089 Believe in JESUS today, confess and repent of your sins. No one goes to heaven for doing good but by believing in JESUS who died for our sins. “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. ”(Romans 10:9-10)❤️🙏
And the maintenance bills high as well
The gearbox and TC on it is appalling though, as is the handling.
Doesn't even look that good
Need more races like this 🎉 Thanks Matt
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please more videos like this. i loved, thank you
The old SL is one of the most beautiful cars of all-time. Timeless.
Most beautiful is a stretch
@@chamaldealwis9 I said 'one of the most beautiful.' Is English your 2nd language?
@@rebeltvr6046 why so defensive? you say ‘one of’ like it’s in the top 10 or even 5 which is very debatable 😬 though everyone’s entitled to their own opinion have a good day👍
Nah looks ok
@@chamaldealwis9 You said 'most beautiful is a stretch'. You didn't say top 10 or top 5 is debatable. Are you dyslexic or jjust stupid?
Here we go! I really liked the hard top on the "old" SL (they nailed the proportions)
What makes it better is the glass top so even if it’s raining you can still enjoy the “SL” experience
@@rohanr6708 Rohan R, the 2023 SL 55 has 16bhp less than 2004 version. The 2023 has 481 whilst 2004 version has 497.
@Lucifer Morningstar 🅥 Believe in JESUS today, confess and repent of your sins. No one goes to heaven for doing good but by believing in JESUS who died for our sins. “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. ”(Romans 10:9-10)❤️🙏
I hate soft tops so much lol... hard top 100% better
Looks like 2 buddies got some go pro’s and messing around with 2 SL’s. Then you look in the background and there’s like 8 trailers, big crew standing around. Crazy how much it takes to kick out these videos. Great job Matt, Yanni and whole crew 👍
Great race and beautiful examples of both cars. Something seems off with the SL55 tune though, there are so many of these with the M113k engine in the 11s with minimal upgrades like supercharger belt/cooling/tune. Regardless, lovely cars and the early to late 2000-2010s was a great era for Mercedes (bit biased having had W204 C63s!).
More of 2000's era sports and supercars please! That was awesome
Absolutely agreed
The old looks so much better. 10/10
Yep. The new 2023 model only 5.8/10.
Believe in JESUS today, confess and repent of your sins. No one goes to heaven for doing good but by believing in JESUS who died for our sins. “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. ”(Romans 10:9-10)❤️🙏
Delusional
I mean lets be honest for a second. The new one does look better but I still love the older one
They both look good.
I had an 04 E55. I would take it to the drag strip a couple of times a year. It ran consistently 12.7s at 113. The SL is slightly quicker. I tried a variety of ways to launch it, but the best was no power breaking, just mash the gas, let the electronics do their thing. Power breaking actually slowed it down and put it into the 13's
I'm thinking the euro car must be a little quicker....
Yes, it seems like they usually are. My car was stock usdm, but I had a friend who did cams, software, a pulley, and a couple of other things. His was in the low 10s.
The E55 especially the Estate tends to be slightly quicker in the quarter than the SL55. The saloon is about 200 kg lighter, the estate almost as has heavy as SL55 but more rear end traction.
@@ahemgee9542if you do the pulley upgrade otherwise sl got more powah
1:04 immaculate transition Matt 🤣
The old one looks so much classier. So sleek.
Believe in JESUS today, confess and repent of your sins. No one goes to heaven for doing good but by believing in JESUS who died for our sins. “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. ”(Romans 10:9-10)❤️🙏
@@zoekmath u belong in the scrapyard mate
There's always people like you who will always go on about the good old days. Absolute rubbish
@@zoekmath Why does it matter if it looks common? Do you buy a car just to feel special
@@Jallu555 thats part of it, if i buy a car it might as well have some personality instead of the dead expression of old cars
Love the thunderous exhaust note of the old M113K. 🔊⛈
M113K? What is M113K? Some sort of old Merc prototype sedan engine?
@@purwantiallan5089 M113 is the V8 engine Mercedes used in many of its cars back at that time. The K stands for Kompressor which means supercharger.
no comparison to the m156
@@purwantiallan5089 wtf ?
@@gepixelt7712 you're right. its much better than the 156 :)
As much as I love your shows, I’m freaking out on the top down competition.
I love the new SL but the 2000s SL is a timeless and beautiful design. Both are definitely my dream cars
Ooof, that old SL 55 is still looking nice and modern for being a nearly 20 year old car. What a classic car that is~
The “proper” SL55… has such a timeless design and sounds a lot better than the new one. A true supercar during its era!
I’d take the older one in a heartbeat.. lovely sounding and reliable engine, timeless design, and fast enough for 1/3 of the price of a new one!
That siund coming from the old sl 55 is legendary 🙌
siund???
A full black old version with good rims might look better than the new for many people 🤧❤️🔥
True!
@@R4GS63AMG w204, the 2023 SL 55 obviously has 17bhp less than 2004 version.
Nostalgia merchant detected
@@modaoz9987 saying a car looks good isn't being a nostalgia merchant
The best wheels imo are the performance package ones with the bolts around the rim.
Amazing that the old Merc held up 1/3 of its value considering it’s almost 20 years old 👍🏻
There's no way that's 30k.
@@joxepojoxepin2752 Nope. Found MANY for sub-£20k
@@Danse_Macabre_125 for me exactly like 45k pounds.
@@joxepojoxepin2752 more like $140000.
@@joxepojoxepin2752 yeah but he said this one’s in exceptionally good condition. Seems a bit over priced but it’s a seller’s market these days. Probably had really low miles too. Bad examples of these can be found for around $10k here in America.
IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS
Love my sl55 and this made me love it even more!!
The old SL with its tall gearing has no chance in 3rd gear. Glad to see he did it in 2nd!! Good call, mate! ✌
Not to mention it’s not making 650 hp. If it’s a Renntech tune they lie about the gains.
@@Youcallthesebagels_ No its 625hp. Which might be correct. It has half the gears.
@@martinsvensson6884it's not making 625hp. It would be much faster on the roll otherwise. 12.3 1/4 with half decent launch, it's more like 550 hp max You need quite afew mods to get 625 and they didn't even detail what's been done.
@@ahemgee9542 Only thing you need is a different pulley, headers, ECU and better cooling. VRPs stage 4 for example is nearly 700hp. You have to remember that the engine will have to work with almost half the gears as the newer car. That will easily offset the actually delivered hp from the max hp figure to something lower for a much longer time than in the new car
@@martinsvensson6884 that's still 4 modifications which this car doesn't appear to have. Stock cars with a good launch can do low 12s.
The old SL 55 had always been a dream of mine! One of the best looking cars ever made! The rear of the car is amazing!
@@OfficialCarwow1 scammer
The R230 SL is the still my absolute favorite. After owning many soft-tops and watching the plastic windows and stitching come apart, the hard-top convertible is a must for me. I have a base model 5.0 L SL500 and while it's my cheapest car (I paid only $9k), it's still my absolute favorite to daily drive.
How’s the ABC treating you ?
@@peymantalkhekar8598 Now that I've replaced all 4 shocks, 2 accumulators, 1 ABC fluid line, rebuilt the valve-block, and change the ABC fluid every year, it's working flawlessly. I even race my SL at AutoX and Hillclimbs, and push it to it's limits - still no ABC problems even after a couple years of this. I believe these components need to be replaced after a decade or so (due to rubber and other wear-and-tear materials), but once they are, they should last at least another 10 years or so.
The old SL was a work of art so desirable by all and sounded like thunder ❤️💯🥇
I love this channel because of races like these. It's like the stuff we think of but won't actually get a chance to do.
There’s a used dealer in my town with an old sl55. I hadn’t known what it was but drove past everyday and thought that car looks so amazing. Today stopped and checked it out now I want to buy one
2 amazing cars nice to see the competition Beetween both😍
I'd forgotten how good those old 55 AMGs sounded, lovely Supercharged V8 🔥
Great race Mat!
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I once sat in an SL55 as a passenger. The feeling of being squished and pushed back into the seat was what started my interest in performance cars. Since then I've owned a C63, GTR and a model 3 performance. But that experience was still somewhat irreplaceable. Brings back good memories!
I’ve had all 3 of those cars and you are spot on my friend. Still have the 55 and don’t think it’s going anywhere
Mat and Yianni are the best car friends ever and Mat and Yianni jokes never gets old!
Unfortunately the same can't be said about your comments💤💤
Mat, you chose the box mode wrong. This car has the M, C, S and A. The Agility mode, (A) with the ESP off makes the car fly.
that r230 SL55 is fantastic and sounds amazing.
Such a funny quy, 😁 😂 animal noises were fantastic. Cars ain't bad either 😂😂. Loving all the drags races and reviews 👌
Love the ild one. It looks do good
Have you guys considered doing a race to 1/2 mile from a stop? Could be interesting.
My God that clas"sick" SL66 looks absolutely stunning even today. And it has SO much soul. Save the classics!
Classic cars never die against Modern mammoths.
Sl 66?
SL55*
SL 77
@@cnegi SL 88
The confidence in Yianni as he's mentioning all those incorrect figures. Priceless 🤣🤣🤣🤣
He's just a poser. He buys Lamborghini over Ferrari for example. And in races always wants to drive the most expensive or luxurious car to associate himself with that kind of lifestyle. It's so predictable
@@davidt8087 sorta what i think about him
"speaking of heavy things" got me rolling🤣 1:04
Monster performance from the old SL. What a beast!
I'm sorry but the Old will never stop being beautiful in my eyes🙌😭🔥
yet the sl65 black series still looks so much better
Yea .... Mercedes designs back then we're cool as hell .... They have evolved backwards in terms of design .... The SL 55 ... SLR .... C63 amg .... Etc ...All looked better back in the day then what Mercedes has to offer currently
I agree with both of yall
This particular SL design, and SLR McLaren are to die for.
The sound of that old beauty...🤩
Not only design but also sound 🔥🔥🔥
I never thought I was see this comparison race so many years later …long live the m113k
Yep. Also long live the 300SL.
great vid! Would love to see one with the SL63 from 2009! With the real "6.3" (actually 6.2) engine!
Yes
how bout SL65 ? V12 Biturbo
Cars back in the days was made with so much more ❤
Nice product placement with the jacket Matt
Old one looks way better than the new one. Timeless classic!
Can you also do the new SL63 vs the previous SL63 with the 5.5 V8 biturbo
Glad to see the roofs are up at launch.
I had the E55 version running the same power. what a car it was
Damn, those exhaust notes are fantastic...pure AMG...!
☝️Yoo Let's talk🌈.........👈👈
Matt Watson is the absolute G.O.A.T (literally)
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goat that literally miss spec a car? after edits? wow
It would be amazing to see the race with the old sl 65 amg, the one equipped with the V12 twin turbo engine
The SL55AMG has a special place in my heart, early 2000s and just turned 20 years old, a more than a few memories of doing silly speeds down the local bypass with that glorious noise, the newer stuff is undoubtedly quicker and even the facelift R230 SL63 was a big step up dynamically but I still prefer the supercharged V8 brute. The only thing better than a SL55 is a SL65, definitely doesn’t have the noise but is monstrously fast.
I do prefer seeing ( both ) untuned car drag races though, it is good to see how the cars have progressed on an even footing.
The gap would be huge.
Ive run 12.18 in a stock 04 on a drag strip so I don't think there'd be much difference. As for these two, I think these two on a prepped drag strip, launched properly, would be damn close. The old SL needs traction off of the line and would benefit a lot more by being on a prepped strip than the new SL.
The difference is the gearbox and the software programs throughout the cars. The computer hardware powering the gearbox, traction control, even the engine and fly by wire system is primitive compared to today’s tech and this is the major issue. Add in four extra gears and the generation gap becomes a chasm. One should not underestimate the power of a dual clutch gearbox to improve a vehicle’s overall efficiency.
The new one runs a high 11, so the old one stock would be destroyed
The supercharged 5.5 sounds so good!
I am still holding tight to my AMG SL55 build in 2007. Wonderful car!!!
So am I :-)
as you should for it's a beautiful convertible gt car that does everything so well and makes you feel like a superstar everytime you drive it!
I once drove an Amg SL65 from 2006 (i think that was the year), and it was tuned to 800hp and 1200nm. Absolutely insane car.
Epic, I wish there was more vids like this
Zayne Goodwin, add also GT40 on it.
I like them both, but the old one is a masterpiece. ❤
Old SL looks absolutely amazing..... Honestly all the 55 AMG segments were super unique and good looking
Please drag race a X100 Jag XKR With the supercharged 4.2 V8. I'd love to see how it holds up.
I am waiting for Gt 63 s E performance vs M5cs
I think the GT63 S E Performance would win.
@@ellobopoderososdl4596 Yeah, it produced better results on the Auto top nl channel.
@@Amarjit_Singh is that the channel where the GT63 S E got a 2.76 sec 0-60?
@@ellobopoderososdl4596 Yes
@@ellobopoderososdl4596 Of course but i want to see the Race from Carwoow
This video shows exactly that car development isn't only about top speed and acceleration!
You should make a drag race between W220 S55 kompressor and S600 bi-turbo both are with the same HP
Very classy car, I absolutely love it
Old is timeless, still fast and a glorious sound.
I feel like these Drag Races between Matt and Yanni are the closest we will ever come to OG Top Gear.
Throttle House too
Car trek
The gearbox is really the biggest let down in the old one. The 722.6 5 speed in stock form is a bit disappointing given the older Mercedes automatics shifter much much quicker, pretty much instantaneously when the downshift button was depressed. The 722.6 can be made to shift like that with some modifications or an aftermarket controller (I have one with an OF Gear controller in a W124).
Always so happy watching the roof drag race lol
Have to say, Matt and carwow really do pump out quality car videos. The car selection for the drag race format has been unbelievably on point in recent months, clearly some thought gone into it. I also adored the Dyno video the other day. Thanks for everything!
The 2004 AMG SL 55 is legendary car with a unique sporty design!
The r230’s of 2004-2007 are still some of my favorite SL designs. Not so much the newer ones however the brand new one is sweet as well.
The new one has a pretty modern design that will not look good in a few years. Meanwhile the old one looks timeless even 20 years later
I had a SL 500 for 12 years!!! The car was amazing!!! It was mars red!!! You did'nt see many that color around!!! It always got looks!!!
6:17 Mat - CC: "I got drugs" 😂
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Pre gen SL probably could do with a gearbox remap for better response. The older SL is better designed and probably build quality. And definitely sounds the nuts Thanks to the viewer loaning his SL.👍
with all these soft limiters going around EVs might have a chance in the sound checks
I previously owned an sl 55 AMG silver arrow. The car was absolutely bananas, with Good power, a gun ride, and a classic look, special the silver-on-red combo. On the downside, the repairs were nonstop, even with an MB certified independent shop. The supercharger overheated, so the "Bosh 110" pump was a must. The dreadfully "Air matic" suspension is always a time ticking bomb waiting for a "Particular" line of seal to brake. The Rodeo suspension checkup was hilarious tho. The convertible top needed an adjustment and a motor replacement also changed the seals of the convertible top to stop Miami's nonstop rain coming in. Will I ever own a 2001-2007 SL 55 AMG again - probably not, but I always thought the s65 AMG twin-turbo power plant was the sweet spot.
what upgrades does the old car have to gain all that power? cheers
Love the older SL55, Want to see the SL65 🍻
Those older sl's were built like tanks. No cost cutting compared to newer models. A beautiful sport coupe/gt car.
That black classic AMG just looks so #Badass....even seems more versatile than new one..👌
Both fabulous cars.
Had the 06 E klasse AMG and it was a rocket. A lil tune, smaller pulley and it would really go.
☝️Yoo Let's talk🌈.........👈👈
I’d be looking my money back from that tuning upgrade
I had one of these for 8 weeks back in 2006 as an insurance loaner. Torque was immense. Fantastic car all round. The only thing I didn't like was the steering wheel!
Do a all 6.3 litter AMG race!!!
The main difference between them was the gearbox. The new SL55 won but the old one was really quick. I think I want to buy it. Thanks for reviewing. 💙💙❤❤
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Maintenance is when headache comes
The most expensive cheap Mercedes you'll ever own :) Just be prepared for it to be broken a lot.
Old is gold ❤️🔥
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I love all Mercedes’ cars but I have to admit the old SL55 AMG is one of the most iconic and legendary Mercedes Benz cars ever made
I can barely find videos of the R231 from 2013-2017. Not many shows had them included. And minimal reviews