Monday, July 29, 2013

SPY: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG (C/R 197) receives a minor facelift for 2015 model year

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Posted by nguyen van tuan at 11:16 AM

In late 2014, the new SLS AMG will be already 5 years old, so the engineers from Affalterbach thought it would be great to apply some subtle revisions to the Gullwing-ed supercar.

The general styling of the C/R 197 series will hardly be transformed. Expect to see a new front bumper with larger air intakes in the shape of the A-wing that launched on the new E 63 AMG this year. It is also possible the head- and tail lights receive new LED inner graphics and new lighting technology for sharper performance.

Likely, the most important changes will be inside, where the SLS AMG is set to receive the latest tech stuff from its Mercedes-Benz brother. We are talking about the new generation of the internet COMAND Online NTG 5 infotainment system. Expect some new controls and buttons for the operative interface of the HVAC unit and the audio device.

From the 2015 model year, the SLS AMG could also receive the high-end surround system provided by Burmester (that debuted on the new S-Class) on the option list, alongside the existing choice from Bang & Olufsen.

There is still no hint on this issue, but the 2015 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG could receive a new beast under the bonnet - the 5.5-litre V8 BITURBO instead of the current 6.2-litre aspirated V8. Confirmation is on the way to us, but the larger inlets that can be seen under the camouflage tape at front indicate the C/R 197 could stick to the old engine till the end of its lifespan sometime towards 2017/2018.

If the latter is the real scenario in the end, Mercedes-AMG will continue to offer the supercar in the already known variants: basis model with 571 hp and GT with 591 hp. The Black Series (limited to less than 500 units and cranking out a massive 631 hp) and the Electric Drive (with 552 kW) are to remain as they are now and not receive any make-up.

The SLS AMG will remain committed to the rear traction, so if you were excited about a 4x4 supercar wearing the Star, forget it. However, there is still some hope the Performance AMG 4MATIC gets implemented on some variants of the future SLC AMG (C 190) mid-range supercar (also known as the Mercedes-Benz GT), that we will report about in our forthcoming articles (read more HERE).