The first video review of the all-new 2013 Mercedes SL comes from Autocar. They take the car to some mountain roads to see if the new SL really is as sporty as Mercedes says it is. The aluminum SL is lighter and more agile, and it certainly is better to drive than the old models, but it’s still a big, a bit clumsy boulevard cruiser. It’s got awesome new wipers though!

What Vicky Parrot has here is the SL500 model, powered by a 430bhp V8 engine. The car offers such a perfect package, and the performance is so satisfying, it renders the AMG models, well, pointless.

The V8 in the new SL500 has at its disposal 4663 cubic centimetres of displacement from which it achieves 320 kW (435 hp) – so in spite of having around 0.8 litres less displacement that’s some 12 percent more than its predecessor (285 kW/388 hp). The consumption, meanwhile, falls by up to 22 percent, with the torque increasing at the same time from 530 Nm to 700 Nm – an increase of 32 percent.