The SLS will kick aside its reputation as a genteel boulevardier next year. Mercedes plans to take the GT of the supercar pack and send the gullwing on a work out to create a more focused version aimed squarely at Porsche’s 911 GT3.
Don’t forget, the SLS is already an AMG product. Sources at Affalterbach told car magazine that in a early 2013 the SLS black series will arrive as the third model in the range after the coupe and roadster. Think of road going version modeled upon the SLS AMG GT3 races (pictures above) and you won’t be too wide of the mark.
Lighter, wider, and aerodynamically more efficient, the high-end SLS Black series should feature a tweeked 600 BHP version of the 6208cc V8 engine, up around 40 BHP. The standard car itself is no slouch, dispatching 0-62mph in 3.8 sec and topping out nearly a double-tonne.
Buyers at this end of the market are a funny bunch. Just as most of the world laps up the downsizing trend, happily trading down to smaller, cleaner engines with no trade-off in performance, Mercedes finds that it simply has to offer more of everything in some territories. Hence the survival of the V12s, popular in the Middle East and Asia.
This explains why there will also be an even more extreme SLS Performance series aimed at the 911 GT2. With an expected 625 BHP and roof, doors and lids made of carbonfiber, this promises to be a raw and stripped street-legal race car.