paddle shifters are actually pretty good. BUT only needed for racing where that 1 second you take your hand of the wheel to shift can mean the difference between winning and crashing. The car i am thinking about for DSR will have paddle shifter. For road driving and especially on a ferrari true manual is the way to go.

Come on guys, that AMG Mercedes is supercharged, a twin-screw if you could imagine that!! :)

The MB will be a better daily driver. Very reliable, comfortable, etc. It takes weeks to get Ferrari parts and believe me you will need them. But hey, that's part of the mystique, right?

That said, I don't think these two cars are comparable. Cliche: apple vs. oranges. Compare the MB to the BMW Z8 roadster and the Ferrari to the Aston Martin Vanquish.

Well I was fortunate enough to have been invited earlier this week by Robb Report Magazine to help evaluate 8 cars for "2002 Car of the Year"

Ferrari 575
Mercedes E500
Mercedes SL55 AMG
BMW Mini
Hummer H2
Land Rover Range Rover
Jaguar convertible
Bentley twin turbo

I love Ferrari's and tried to keep an open mind knowing that in the end I would choose the Ferrari 575 with the V12. All of the cars were awesome in their own way, but the MB SL55 AMG was the most amazing car of the bunch because it did so many things well. It is supercharged with nearly 500HP. It is a hard top convertible - with the top up you can't tell it is a convertible. It handles like it’s on rails, the engine feels and sounds like a 1969 built muscle car, and it has tons of amenities. The quality of the car was typical of MB - top notch.

The Ferrari had tons of power and was very well balanced - handled very well - the paddle shift takes some getting used to. Also a beautiful car.

The Bentley was amazing with 500hp and 640 lbs of torque - like driving a cloud....

somebody said the SL55 wasn't as fast as you'd think? are you joking? are you sure they drove the AMG SL55 supercharged car and not the weenish SL500??? I've got a '99 SL500 and its only adequate in meanness (Mustang Cobra kind of fast, not quite Vette).

I've driven both the 2003 SL500 and the SL55. I don't think the '03 SL500 is any quicker than my '99 even though it is "supposed" to be much lighter.

The SL55 is a damn rocket. A smoooooth rocket, but a rocket. Granted, we're not talking Diablo level fast, but really strong and torquey with crisp shifts.

Recent article with Mario Andretti himself with 5 or 6 of the bigbuck hot topless luxo sports had him shaking his head in appreciation and picking the SL55 as an amazing piece.

Ferrari 550M, 360Modena, Enzo, F40 -- all the epitome of cool. Can't begin to imagine driving them on a daily basis. An SL is the opposite - cool, fast, and a rugged and comfortable daily driver.

Survey says: depends on how yo uplan to use it...

There really is no comparison... now how about a Bayliner vs. an Outerlimits? Now that's about as legit.

I have not seen any of the Mercedes 600 SL around only the 500 Do they import them in the States ?

We're talking about the SL55 AMG.......totally different car (performance wise) for either the SL600 or the SL500. I think whoever said something about the SL was probabaly referring to the SL500.

Nort, the SL is without doubt the "better" car, trust me on this!

Lee


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Re: Ferarri Maranello 575 vs. Mercedes Benz SL55 AMG
 

ok ill bite, what brought this back to the top since 2002?