Pinnacle Foods? Armour® Brand to Sponsor Richard Childress Racing Teams

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Official: Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL

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Between our official sneak peek and the endless leaks, the 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL is officially out of the bag before its debut at next month's Detroit Auto Show. And like its predecessors over the last five decades, the new SL continues to offer S-Class luxury and innovations in a svelte, drop-top package.

While the styling might not be a radical departure from the R230 chassis that's been around since 2003, the new front fascia takes the SLS' upright nose - an element that's infecting the rest of the Mercedes line-up - and joins it with a more raked hood and bi-xenon headlamps with fiber optic accents and daytime running LEDs mounted low in the bumper. When we got a preview of the SL last month, we were smitten by the aggressive new front end, but the profile and rear view left us comfortably numb.

The interior, on the other hand, is a masterwork, with more SLS-inspired elements carrying over inside, including the crosshair vents, a beautiful combination of leather, wood and carbon fiber, and a center console that blends simplicity and elegance, topping it off with a squat transmission stalk. The "Mercedes-Benz" text engraved in aluminum on the bottom of the flat-bottom steering wheel is a particularly nice touch, but the silver gauges come across as more Dodge circa 2005 than 21st-century Benz.

The roof can be had with either standard glass or the Magic Sky Control available on the SLK. Mercedes claims it stows away in 20 seconds and is more cleanly integrated than the R230, along with weighing 13 pound less thanks to its partial magnesium construction.

As we detailed before, the new SL will be around 300 pounds lighter than the outgoing version, living up to its Sports Light moniker by coming in under 4,000 pounds. That might not be a huge reduction, but it's the first of many steps Mercedes plans to implement in the coming years.

At launch, the SL550 will come equipped with the twin-turbocharged and direct-injected 4.6-liter V8, outputting 429 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque - a significant boost over the old model's 384 hp and 391 lb-ft. The dash to 60 is claimed to come in around 4.5 seconds, with fuel economy improved by up to 10 percent thanks to a modified seven-speed automatic gearbox and start/stop tech.

Speed-sensitive, electromechanical steering joins two suspension options: the standard Agility Control Suspension or the Active Body Control setup that debuted on the outgoing model.

Finally, two new technologies come standard on the SL, the previously featured Magic Vision Control which integrates the spray nozzles into the wipers, and the new FrontBass system that mounts two subwoofers in the driver and passenger footwells. And naturally, all the safety gadgetry is included, ranging from Pre-Safe to Adaptive Brakes. Get the full details in the press release below the fold and look for the all-new SL to hit dealers this spring.

Continue reading Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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