Full 2013 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT Review
What's New for 2013
Though it's largely the same as last year, the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG has been renamed as the SLS AMG GT for 2013. Upgrades this year include a modest bump in horsepower, a more firmly tuned suspension, more standard equipment and revised styling cues.
Introduction
It would take a discerning eye to spot the differences between previous years' SLS AMG coupes and roadsters and the 2013 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT models. With so few ever seen in the wild and nearly each personalized to an owner's tastes, every public sighting becomes a finger-pointing, gob-smacking occasion in itself. "Gullwing!"
For 2013, only Mercedes-Benz historians would notice subtle changes to the grille, headlamps, taillights and alphabet-soup trunk badge. Even at the Edmunds test track, we weren't able to detect the 20-horsepower increase in engine output that comes this year as a result of more than 120 component changes within the engine. And it would certainly take a familiarity with the outgoing SLS and sensitive backside to detect this year's revised suspension tuning. Yes, these are all minute changes, and we're glad because the SLS is nearly a masterpiece as is.
The 2013 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT carries on the tradition of being the first-ever car entirely designed and built by the company's high-performance division. Each engine is painstakingly assembled by hand by one person, from crankshaft to autographed plaque atop. That 6.2-liter V8 carries over, but now cranks out 583 hp. Torque remains consistent at 479 pound-feet. Through a carbon-fiber driveshaft, power is directed to the seven-speed automated manual transmission that AMG has tuned to deliver shorter, smoother shifts.
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