I drove the new £100,000 Mercedes-AMG SL 43 – it’s packed with F1 tech

THE Mercedes-AMG SL 43 seems to have one obvious problem.

It costs north of one hundred grand but has to get by on a four-cylinder two-litre engine.

Actually, that turns out not to be much of an issue.

It has a second problem.

Much worse.

And it’s shaped like a Porsche 911 Cabrio. A car so relentlessly excellent and so much fun, it kinda leaves the Mercedes with nowhere to hide.

But hey, at this price cars are about instinct not rationale.

You might think the 911 is a bit obvious. The SL is lavish and rare.

Now, that four-cylinder engine. Its basics might be borrowed from a hot hatch. But it also uses a special electrically-assisted turbo. It’s exactly the same principle as the MGU-H in Lewis Hamilton’s Formula 1 car.

Which is a world first for a road car. It almost entirely kills turbo lag. In any case the nine-speed transmission has something for every need.

The result is a sports car that has all the performance you’d expect.

As opposed to the even more expensive V8 versions of the SL, which have more performance than you can use.

Thing is, the SL 43 is much lighter than those V8s.

Also, they have four-wheel drive and a bunch of complicated suspension and steering tech.

Yet the simpler, rear-wheel-drive SL 43 is actually better.

The steering is more pure and the ride more consistent. The whole car feels lighter, more agile and more natural.

More sporty on the road, even if it’s slower than the V8s around a racetrack.

But can you imagine hooning around a track in something this grand?

Cheaper is better, then.

Also, the SL 43 looks identical to the SL 55 and SL 63, so if you get the badge removed no one will know.

You also get pretty much all of the lux equipment.

The SL is designed as a roadster from scratch, so the whole car is shaped to minimise cockpit turbulence.

The centre screen automatically tilts to make it easier to read in the sun. The seats have built-in heating and cooling. But also little fans that waft warm air around your neck.

You could drive it roof-down right through winter wearing nothing but a smile.