Hermosa

I have to admit I am tempted by the new 2002 Mercedes SL 55 AMG. This car has 476 HP and 516 ft lbs of torque. The question is whether to pay for a factory engineered car like that or try and get a SC430 to that level. Pricewise the SL55 I estimate might be going for around $140,000 which would make the SC430 more attractive, although with real rims, and other adjustments I calculate my SC430 would cost me around $80,000. Now there IS a huge discrepency in price but if you eliminate that aspect it seems so tempting. I guess what I am getting at is...do you SC430 owners think that if I take a SC430 and crank it up to 475Hp with a Stage 2 SC from Swift Racing do you think the car would seem sloppy if cranked up that high? I know some cars do not handle power well but I feel the SC430 might. I have yet to have time to test drive the SC430 offers form the dealers since I am very busy so I have no point of reference.

TOPLEXS

AMG is a professionally prepared car with upgraded brakes, transmission, seats, wheels and tires. Over a Million$ spent in engineering.

Things to consider when bolting additional HP to a car.
Will trans take it?
Is that a smart idea in a convertable for safety?
Will engine overpower suspension? Frame?
Is traction control up to the task?
Are you willing to forgo any warranty coverage?

While it is fun to bolt on additional HP and Torque, the entire car must be considered as a package.

I fully expect Lexus to release a high performance package for many of their cars. Believe they have the engineering expertise to do a great job. Should make things interesting.

These two cars are very different.
Consider what would happen if you bolted a supercharger to a taurus!

Easier way would be to just bolt on a NOS kit.

Kaban

Those two cars are totally different beasts. SC 430 is more of a quiet luxury cruizer with top notch reliability. SL 55 is more of a twisties handler with some major power.

If I have the dough I would go for the AMG SL, it's price should be in the $110K range.

Hermosa

The Horsepower and Torque stats are directly off the Mercedes World-wide site since they very recently built a site for the new SL AMG.

The pricing estimate that Kaban gave might be a bit off. The SL600 whill be:
Base Retail (MSRP) $128,950
Base Invoice $119,924

If you try and extrapolate what the AMG version costs I still think it will be around $140k or even more(especially when you think of demand and the markup). It might take me an extra year to buy it but then I am now leaning over to getting the SC430 since it is half as much.

The Ikon

Errrrrr, can you say XK8 wanna be!!! It is targeted at the Jag. Just look at the styling. The last "good looking" Maserati was the "Shamal" in the early 90's... I hope the quality is up over the last Masi's...

JBrady

The power numbers are correct per Mercedes info in Autoweek. The price should be around $110K as the V-12 cars are a LOT more expensive than the AMG cars. Check out pricing on the CL55 at about $100K vs the CL600 at over $120K. I think the SL will be comparably priced with the added cost going for the supercharger. If I remember the new SL will share the CL's active suspension that AMG does NOT change on the CL.

Any way you look at it... factory assembly, factory warranty, should be a fairly hassle free 476hp

JBrady

Here is the Autoweek link

http://www.autoweek.com/cat_content...._code=05099463

JBrady

Here is the thread about it from the SC400 forum

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...threadid=20975