Am I getting out of touch, or is the new 2017 SL 63 getting uglier?

Submariner1

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Having had 5 new SL500s I feel qualified to say I always loved the shape of the SLs.
But this latest 2017 one looks very Japanese or USA styling taste. Very mundane if not actually ugly.
2017/18 looks just as bad in the flesh. Those gaping holed air ducts ....:(:(
1st SL in 40 years I didn't go ohhh lovely. Looks like one of those Chavvy cheapo body kits.
IMG_4337.JPG
2015 probably the meanest. Yes I would buy one.
IMG_4334.JPG
2013 very elegant
IMG_4327.JPG

Well what do you think?
 

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Wow . Brutal looking car , I want one now I've only got to find the money ....or wait 15 years for the price to drop
 

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A.J.

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turbopete

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most MBs seem to have those huge 'side vent' type things on the outside of the main cooling grille in the bumper. personally, I think that they look ok but they look like a basic spec car waiting to have the blanking grilles removed and some modified ones with front foglights or similar slotted in. it just looks like something is missing. I mean its not like theres actually a duct behind there that directs air to the brakes for cooling, they just look like big pointless gaps, being filled by some tacky bits of plastic. why not make use of them???
 

LostKiwi

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Not my favourite SL but then I've never been a fan of frowny grilles (wider at bottom than top).
 

peterws1957

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To be fair I don't think the piccies do them justice. Saw a black one at Inchcape last weekend and it looked amazing.
 

tode

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White or pale grey certainly makes the holes look bigger . .
 

John Laidlaw

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I think it looks awesome personally and as Peter says looks the business in black !
 

turbopete

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White or pale grey certainly makes the holes look bigger . .
I could forgive the holes, if they actually had any purpose, like feeding air to an oil cooler or brake cooling, but really theyre screaming out for a front fog or driving lamp conversion, IMO. I'm not saying they look BAD, just that they look like something is missing, that you would get on a higher spec model!!
 
OP
Submariner1

Submariner1

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Interesting .. majority consensus seems to prefer the newest design.
Immust be gettiing too old lol
 

Ductman

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Those large side 'vents' in the front seem to feature on a lot of cars at the moment, especially performance cars, so I'm guessing they are quite probably a fashion design feature on many. Some cars, my Lotus for example, do make use of them for engine and transmission coolers but in others they are for the fashion look.
They, in my view anyway, make a car look a bit more aggressive and I must admit to liking the way the current SL looks.
 

Hi RX7

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I had a 2007 facelift SL63 which I preferred to the earlier 'bug eye' model but a lot more people preferred the looks of the earlier models. The fact that the Black Series SL had this model as a base always boosted my choice/decision for that particular model. The other important factor is the cars handling and performance improved significantly with each model change.
Myself I always thought black suited them best
 

Craiglxviii

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This is MB’s common front end styling policy nicely demonstrated. Me personally, I think they look awesome.

Pete, I’ve just finished doing a whole study project on those vents. They started off of course as front foglamp inserts. Then manufacturers (well MB, who with Audi really are at the styling forefront IMNAAHO) realised:

No one really uses them as fog lamps but as chav aids;
Fog lamps aren’t really effective anyway;
Lamp technology with the addition of DRLs and other smart features render the foglamp function redundant;
Fog lamps aren’t required by regulation.

So the foglamp function gets bumped into the headlamp to be taken over by the likes of bendy- beam for cornering, DRL for heavy fog, auto high beam etc and the fog lamps themselves get deleted. Lighting performance actually increases as a result too. That leaves two big holes in the bumper to fill (actually, the DRL initially replaced the foglamp in this position and was then moved inside the headlamp)... with what?

So, styling direction was “aggressive/ authoritative stance and posture”. High gloss black painted vents with no performance benefit were developed to fit those holes and this policy was adopted across the whole range at each model’s upcoming model year refresh.
 

Ductman

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This is MB’s common front end styling policy nicely demonstrated. Me personally, I think they look awesome.

Pete, I’ve just finished doing a whole study project on those vents. They started off of course as front foglamp inserts. Then manufacturers (well MB, who with Audi really are at the styling forefront IMNAAHO) realised:

No one really uses them as fog lamps but as chav aids;
Fog lamps aren’t really effective anyway;
Lamp technology with the addition of DRLs and other smart features render the foglamp function redundant;
Fog lamps aren’t required by regulation.

So the foglamp function gets bumped into the headlamp to be taken over by the likes of bendy- beam for cornering, DRL for heavy fog, auto high beam etc and the fog lamps themselves get deleted. Lighting performance actually increases as a result too. That leaves two big holes in the bumper to fill (actually, the DRL initially replaced the foglamp in this position and was then moved inside the headlamp)... with what?

So, styling direction was “aggressive/ authoritative stance and posture”. High gloss black painted vents with no performance benefit were developed to fit those holes and this policy was adopted across the whole range at each model’s upcoming model year refresh.

As I suspected then.............fashion!;)

BMW also use this same styling cue on many of their models and they certainly do, in my opinion, make the front of the car look more aggressive. As I said earlier they do perform a useful function on many performance cars, being used to either duct air to the front brakes or to pass air through oil coolers. Not saying the SL63 isn't a performance car, obviously, but maybe it just doesn't need the extra cooling such ducts could provide.
 

peterws1957

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Interesting .. majority consensus seems to prefer the newest design.
Immust be gettiing too old lol

I'm getting too old too and I still like it, although I agree the model is getting more shoutier :). In black, in the showroom, it did look the business though.
 

Flyinspanner

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So....if these fashion ducts don't lead anywhere aren't they just adding to form drag? (And they're ugly) Wouldn't they be better of being deleted/ having a cover. Discuss.
 

Yugguy

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So....if these fashion ducts don't lead anywhere aren't they just adding to form drag? (And they're ugly) Wouldn't they be better of being deleted/ having a cover. Discuss.

I'd wondered this, cos a lot of new cars have these massive acres of black plastic which IMO are staggeringly ugly.

Out of the two pictured cars I'd have the 2015 one anytime.
 


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