Mercedes SLS AMG Roadster: The Cure for Commuting Boredom

Wait a minute. Haven't you reviewed this before?
We have indeed. Jeremy drove it on the programme, and it has also appeared in a group test, where it performed extremely well against an Aston Martin Virage Volante and a Bentley Conti GTC. All without doors that open skywards. This time, though, I am getting at something different.

And that is?
It has dawned on me that I have approached commuting entirely the wrong way. For far too long, I have accepted the idea that the best way to survive the daily journey to and from work is in a car that insulates you from everything happening outside. Something quiet, supple and detached.

Rethinking the daily commute

Such as a Range Rover?
Precisely. Or, better yet, a chauffeur. The chauffeur example rather undermines my argument, admittedly, because sleeping all the way to work is just one stage short of never having to get out of bed at all. But I am wandering off topic. What I mean is that commuting is dull.

Most days, I make that journey in an Audi A6 Avant, and in many respects it is almost the ideal machine for the task. Radar cruise control keeps you from driving into the vehicle ahead, while active steering helps prevent you from straying out of your lane. It also has a superb stereo, massaging seats and plenty of other gadgets. Yet, even with all that, the commute remains something to get through. There is, however, an alternative.

Mercedes SLS AMG Roadster: the antidote to boredom

Go on, then.
Buy an SLS Roadster, and I guarantee that your everyday drive will never again be boring. It simply cannot be. It is arguably the most entertaining road car currently in existence. I am not claiming it is the best, merely that it is among the cheekiest. It looks mischievous, sounds mischievous, and hilariously rumbles and farts its way along, positively delighted to be alive. It has a GSOH.

A good sense of humour, presumably?
Exactly. It makes you laugh from the instant you open one of its little doors - or rather, even before that, when you first see its absurdly long nose. Every aspect of it gives you a thrill. The sound is what will stay with you, though: an enormous crackle and roar that feels closer to Greek mythology than internal combustion.

Surely that only applies with the roof lowered?
Not at all. The roof insulation does an excellent job of keeping lorry tyres from interfering with motorway harmonics, but the naturally aspirated V8 still has no difficulty making itself heard. It is even better with the roof down, naturally - in second gear, through a lengthy underpass, beside a dry-stone wall, or near anything else able to throw those sonic shockwaves back at you.

SLS AMG Roadster dynamics and character

Right, understood. Is there anything else I should know?
The practical news is that removing the roof has barely affected the dynamics. The familiar shortcomings are still there, however. The ride is firm, the front end turns in very sharply, and the rear can become fairly unruly in the wet. Fundamentally, though, that is all part of its appeal. Unlike a comparable Ferrari or Porsche, the SLS AMG never takes itself overly seriously; it simply wants to enjoy itself, all of the time. Even in traffic.