Nothing sounds like an AMG-tuned V8. The company has been tweaking Mercedes-Benz engines since the 1970s, when it was ripping the German automaker’s engines apart, including replacing cylinder heads and building custom valvetrains. Mercedes eventually bought the tuner and established AMG as a performance-focused sub-brand. The division developed high-performance versions of everything from the C-Class to the S-Class to the ML and even the oddly shaped R-Class crossovers.
As for the latest assortment of AMG cars, there are more four-cylinder engines across its variants than in the past. The AMG SL 43 Roadster scrubs the traditional essence of the SL as an athletic cruiser for its new life as part of the AMG tribe. The pricing starts where another, more notable AMG bottoms out on the used market: the AMG GT R. The situation means there’s cause for another one of our famous “why buy this, when this exists?”
Pleased to Meet You, Hope You Guess My Name
2025 Mercedes-AMG G63 AMG hood badgeJared Rosenholtz/CarBuzz/Valnet
Model
Engine
Transmission
Power
Top Speed
2018 AMG GT R Coupe
4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8
7-speed automatic
577 hp,
516 lb-ft
198 MPH
2026 AMG SL 43
2.0-liter turbocharged inline-4 MHEV
9-speed automatic
416 hp,
369 lb-ft
170 MPH
If an AMG badge is glued to the body, the last thing that you expect to be under the hood is a 2.0-liter turbo 4-cylinder, but that is what the latest SL hides between the fenders. With the money that could buy this brand-new SL, it could also secure a used AMG GT R coupe that is capable of setting a record at the Green Hell with a flame-spitting 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8. Sure, the two have vastly different missions, but their family ties warrant some cross-examination because only one is worth its salt to enthusiasts.
All the SL and GT models roll out of the plant, while other models are yanked off the assembly line and given some final touches. When thinking about what an AMG is supposed to be, brash V8 powerhouses come to mind faster than buzzy four-cylinder mills. So, for the same price, which makes for a better AMG?
SL 43 vs. GT R: Money For Nothing
2017 Mercedes-AMG GT R Green Front Track DrivingMercedes-AMG
Owners of the 2017-2021 GT R have taken a small depreciation hit on their cars, but that’s great news for shoppers, especially those who are in the market for any AMG car. Anywhere between $120,000-$160,000 gets you a great example, but if you look hard enough, a few might pop up for the SL 43’s ticket price of $112,550. The money gets you two different experiences in two vastly different AMG cars.
One was built for the Nürburgring, the other for Naples – Florida, that is. The new era of Mercedes-Benz SL models crafted by the performance wizards at AMG kicks up the heat. The powerful V8 that used to sit up front in previous SL models was scrubbed for smaller, more efficient powertrains. So, what does a company do to distract from the lack of theatrics that come from a V8? You make up for it in dynamics and other interior features.
2025 Mercedes-AMG SL43 RoadsterMercedes-AMG
Even though not all SL buyers are performance enthusiasts, the SL model lineup still falls under the AMG banner. If you want a comfortable cruiser, the four-cylinder is where it’s at for offering everything the other SL models can, but without a crushing price tag. However, an AMG badge generally suggests more capability than the SL 43 offers, which could be a problem for some brand fanatics.
Probably the best example of what AMG can do when it’s left to its own devices is to cook up a twin-turbo V8 with 577 horsepower and set a lap record on the Nordschleife. The AMG GT R accomplished that feat with a time of 7:10.9 minutes.
The AMG GT R wasn’t the peak form for the AMG GT coupe, but it was the best thing on offer for the price and put Mercedes directly against the top variants of the Porsche 911. It’s uncomfortable like a track car should be, and you’d never feel like you truly tame the beast, no matter how much time you spend behind the wheel. But we don’t care one bit.
AMG generally defines the peak of performance that a Mercedes-Benz car can achieve. The AMG badge on the SL is just letters, but when the same three letters are on the GT R, they mean something powerful is under the hood. Both are fine cars, but the SL 43 is milquetoast and less befitting of the badge than the GT R, which, in our eyes, is the AMG car worthy of the price.
One is Clearly More AMG than the Other
2017 Mercedes-AMG GT RMercedes-AMG
These two cars are distinctly different from each other and from the same family. It’s not just a case of siblings with vastly different tastes in music. The goals set for each are predetermined, and thus they’re engineered to achieve them. There’s a use case for either car.
The SL has one key target group, and the GT had another. For 20 years, the SL was a hardtop convertible roadster, killing two birds with one stone. The GT could be had as either a fixed-roof coupe or a soft-top convertible for the first generation. Now, the two are birds of the same feather. In place of the convertible GT is the SL, which is strictly a soft-top, and both are 2+2s to further compete with Porsche.
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Style, luxury, and sometimes brutally fast.
A case can be made for getting into the new AMG GT, with a base MSRP of $106,500. That’s understandable. But for a little more money on the used market, we know that gets you one of the best performance cars Mercedes has turned out in recent history. The GT R is a rip-roaring, slick Benz blending classic styling with modern engineering. You can even have one painted in a Slimer-shade of green! Looks are subjective, and you won’t see the Alien-style headlights until someone points them out, but if you were 10 again, you can’t tell me you wouldn’t have this poster on your bedroom wall.
Sympathy for the Devil
2020 Mercedes-AMG GT RMercedes
Some people would rather buy a new car when shown the receipts of used ones. The value of a new car transaction is appealing to anyone who values the latest safety features, free maintenance for a couple of years, and a generous trade-in allowance. When you buy used, the value of the transaction is primarily the product itself. Comparing two cars is easy to do, especially when it’s clear-cut like this one, but the perceived value of each is massively different to consumers.
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It’s hard to see cars as just products when you’re an enthusiast, but use that lens for this example. The GT R is in one category of car, just as the SL is in another. The market has priced them close enough to warrant this comparison, not to mention that they both bear AMG badges. One has race-car aspirations; the other, a comfortable cruiser. The answer to which we’d take for the money is clear, but on the line is more than just money: it’s the value of AMG cars altogether, no matter the purpose they serve.
The monster of the Green Hell—painted to match its mission—might be peak AMG from the 2010s. When amongst the brute limousines that are packed to the gills with horsepower and emblaze tire marks on the pavement, it blends right in, even in that shade of neon nose booger. The SL? Well, as we’ve proven, it is AMG in name only.
Source: Mercedes-Benz
