2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

The 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG is a serious super sports car,” says AMG chief of development Tobias Moers before taking a shot at the SLR, a carbon-fiber-bodied car that still managed to weigh in at 3858 pounds. “Our SLS weighs only 3572 pounds,” he says, nearly 300 pounds lighter than the McMerc. Keeping the 182.6-inch-long, two-seat SLS’s mass in check is its entirely aluminum construction (save for that driveshaft and steel A-pillars), a first for Mercedes-Benz. The aluminum structure weighs just 531 pounds, Mercedes says.

The most distinctive aspect of the 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG appearance is, of course, its roof-hinged gullwing doors, an homage to the iconic 300SL Gullwing. But AMG personnel took pains to point out that the doors are the only thing the SLS has in common with the 300SL. “We do not build a retro car at all!” AMG boss Volker Mornhinweg explains sharply. “In fact, we think it is the most advanced super sports car you can buy today.”