Auto News 5

My evening with the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG began when Mike, the car geek who mans the tollbooth in our parking structure, gave the SLS the once-over. Here's where the gullwing doors actually came in handy: the departure lane is of course relatively narrow, so anytime I'm in a car that interests him, Mike's usual view is solely through the open driver's window. But with the SLS, I just cracked the driver's door, he confirmed that there was plenty of clearance, and I thrust it upward, giving him a panoramic view of the SLS AMG's striking interior: red leather with carbon fiber trim over black carpets, in the case of our test example. I put the transmission in Park and gave the 563-hp, 6.2-liter V-8 a good blip: the resulting gnarly growl and the snap-crackle-pop of the exhaust absolutely made Mike's day - and probably his week.