Spyshots: 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

The long-awaited 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG has been spied once again, showing exactly the car we were expecting for following Mercedes' official announcement on March 12. As you can see for yourselves, the car is still heavily covered despite the fact that the German manufacturer revealed quite a lot of details about the upcoming model.

The SLS AMG will be powered by an AMG 6.2-liter V8 powerplant that generates 571 horsepower (420 kW) at 6800 rpm and a maximum torque of 650 Nm at 4750 rpm. The car jumps from 0 to 100 km/h in no less than 3.8 seconds, with maximum speed going as high as 315 km/h (195 mph). The engine perfectly complies with EU 5, LEV 2 and ULEV regulations.

As for the appearance, the car boasts an aluminum spaceframe body with gullwing doors, hence the "Gullwing" codename it got before the official unveiling. It will be equipped with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission and will offer sports suspensions with aluminum double wishbones as standard. There are several features offered as standard, including a 3-mode ESP that provides three different options, ON, Sport and OFF, depending on driver's choice.

In order to handle such a high power, the engineers installed AMG high-performance composite brakes all-round and AMG light-alloy wheels, 9.5 x 19 inch (front) and 11.0 x 20 inch (rear), shoed with 265/35 R 19 (front) and 295/30 R 20 (rear) tires.

Mercedes says the new SLS AMG is scheduled to be launched in spring 2010, with the first public unveiling likely to take place at the 2010 Geneva Auto Show.