Category: Convertibles 
Price Range: £59,975 to £153,050
Style, quality, convenience of roof, engineering, performance, handling, refinement
Not much. Smallish boot roof-down, less dramatic than some rivals
Everything you'd expect a flagship Benz to be - and it's fun to drive provided it has the adaptive suspension
This is not a small car and in tight spaces it can be intimidating, making the radar parking sensors, which also protect its flanks, all the more useful. But the amazing range of seat and steering-wheel adjustments - electric, of course - allow a commanding driving position, and the effortless controls soon put you at ease. That said, there are simply dozens of buttons and controls aboard this car. The familiar ones are obvious, but you could own it for years and not know what they all do. The automatic transmission's lever moves side-to-side in manual mode, instead of the usual back-and-forward, which takes some getting used to. The SL350's Sequentronic transmission, although based on a manual gearbox, has steering-wheel buttons and no clutch pedal. For all their engineering integrity, Mercedes aren't always the most entertaining drives. But the new SL can certainly engage a keen driver on a twisting road. That's in large part down to the magic of the Active Body Control suspension, which uses hydraulic assistance to counter the effects of cornering, braking and accelerating on the car's stability. The result is supremely fluent and stable progress through corners both bumpy and smooth, a sensation heightened by the responsive accelerator pedal and direct and wieldy steering. Gearshifts are cushion-soft, and you can select ratios via the steering wheel, and the SL stops well, too. The upshot is a car that's an entertainer when you want it to be, a refined and potent companion when you don't. Some of this magic is lost in the SL350, whose gearchanging isn't as slick as in the higher-powered models.
Surprisingly, the SL500 is less powerful than the outgoing model (306bhp versus 326bhp) but its lower weight enables it to clip 0.2 seconds off the 0-62mph time, which stands at 6.2 seconds. It's not as quick as its Maserati, Jag XKR or Porsche 911 rivals, but sensible gearing and the sweet, urgent delivery of the V8 mean that you seldom wish for more. Use the gears, and the SL can be made to motor with scorching vigour, while you sit in comfort. And on the autobahn? It will hit 155mph, to which it is electronically limited. The SL350 is slower, obviously, but with 245bhp it still reaches 62mph in 7.2 seconds provided it has the manual-based Sequentronic transmission. The optional five-speed auto takes the edge off the pace, so you have to work the engine a little harder. The extra gearchanges that result can be jerky, so for the most satisfyingly brisk progress it's best to use the auto 'box in its Tiptronic-like manual mode.
