As we enter another year of F1 we can say hello to a brand new official safety car in the form of the 2009 Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG, which replaces last year’s CLK63 Black Series car. Another AMG model, the C63 Estate, was also picked to be this year’s official Medical Car. The two specially prepared AMG models will used for all 18 races this year and will debut at next week’s Australian GP in Melbourne.

The SL63 features the same 525hp 6.3L V8 engine as the production model and accelerates from 0-62mph in the same 4.6 seconds. A newly developed AMG sport exhaust system with larger pipe diameter and new rear silencers allows the high-revving AMG naturally aspirated engine to breathe even more freely.
Other modifications to the car include an uprated cooling system and new heavy-duty composite brakes. The vehicles feature larger coolers for the engine oil, transmission oil, cooling water and power steering. The SL63 safety car is also 220kg lighter than the production model thanks to a number of weight saving measures. These include carbon-fiber panels used for the bonnet, front and rear aprons, front wings and luggage compartment lid. The car’s roof is also fixed, meaning engineers could remove the complex convertible mechanism. The result is a weight reduction of 220 kg, with the Safety Car weighing in at just 1750 kg (with a full tank and without occupants).

http://www.motorauthority.com/images/Mercedes/SL/Safety/01/54833-b-mer.jpg
http://www.motorauthority.com/images/Mercedes/SL/Safety/01/54833-c-mer.jpg
http://www.motorauthority.com/images/Mercedes/SL/Safety/01/54833-e-mer.jpg

Nice one.

I think they're trying to advertise the new face lift.

I liked the CLK safety cars better.

I'm actually starting to like the look of the facelift SL (which is good because i'll have to work on them and PDI them once released) and I've always loved the new C-Class, and the Body on the SL looks very aggressive, the one thing that annoys me most though is they called the "2009" SL where its not! its 2008

It looks so agressive. I think it looks great. I have no problem with the new safety car.

Looks awesome. The CLK was an awesome safety car but once in a while the FIA likes to mix things up a little. The SL looks pretty cool and I like both the front and the rear of it. Let's hope it has enough acceleration to get away from a spinning STR once again! ;)

(For those of you not in the know, last year at a soaking wet European GP at the Nurburgring, an STR (think it was Vettel) spun near the safety car, if the driver didn't accelerate quick enough, it was going to be a Merc/STR F1 sandwich.)

Good for them :p. And actually the SL's face lift is also growing on me. Those pictures of the SL look nice.

im with some of u guys abt the looks of the SL growing on us. i think its something to do with that really really aggressive looking AMG bodykit on it :D

Wow, the SL is VERY sexy with that styling. Damn, that's alot better than the stock SL500. the AMG is quite rather okish but the Safety Car version is just ZOMG.

That SL63 has a deeper front front air intakes than a normal 63 ?:-k

lmao that's gotta be one fast medical car:D Wooot more ugly safety cars...I guess the uglier they get the safer they are...?

I think they're just showcasing the C 63 AMG Estate. Plus it can hold burnt bodies in the back at 0-60 in 4.4.:p

^^ It might even go faster, it's not a stock C63 you know...

It wasn´t picked because there was no choise. Mercedes is just the suplier of the safety and medical cars.

Of all cars in the championship, why is it ALWAYS Mercedes' that are used as the safety cars?

Surely a Ferrari would suit better?

^^^ You make it sound like a bad thing, the main reason they supply them is they are the most reliable top end sports car available in the section of F1 manufacturers and the last thing they want is a safety car to break down in the middle of a race. Plus a Mercedes is Safer than a Ferrari :p

Of all cars in the championship, why is it ALWAYS Mercedes' that are used as the safety cars?

Surely a Ferrari would suit better?
Or an Aston Martin!!!! :p

Wow, that looks amazing! The SL deffinately needs an AMG kit to pull off this new facelift though.

^^^ You make it sound like a bad thing, the main reason they supply them is they are the most reliable top end sports car available in the section of F1 manufacturers and the last thing they want is a safety car to break down in the middle of a race. Plus a Mercedes is Safer than a Ferrari :p

Maybe so, but even a Ferrari F430 could whizz around the track FAR faster than ANY Mercedes could (SLR not included, that's totally inpracticable)...

Why does the car need to be overly safe and weigh 2100kg? :-k

Or an Aston Martin!!!!

Yeah, that'd be a good - a DBS safety car! lol

But it's a shame that Aston Martin doesn't compete in F1, so using one as a pace car doesn't make sense...

You know what... I think Mercedes-Benz is almost teasing us with another vehicle from the "Black Series". Those additons look almost identical to the same add-ons for the CLK version. The fist picture looks sexy to me. The C63 wagon isn't a bad looker either. I wonder if I'm right about the SL Black Series thing... I heard the SLK was just awful. Nice safetycar nonetheless.

I never understood why they persist on having Mercedes-Benz's as safety and medical cars, but it's also something I don't really care about. I mean, the safety car as an MB does exactly what it is supposed to do just fine, so it really doesn't matter if changed to a Ferrari, or a neutral third-party company.

Maybe so, but even a Ferrari F430 could whizz around the track FAR faster than ANY Mercedes could (SLR not included, that's totally inpracticable)...

Why does the car need to be overly safe and weigh 2100kg? :-k

there is no doubt about that but Mercedes just has that image of what is looked at for a safety car (and the car actually weighs 1750kg but thats still dead heavy)

I too would like to see an Aston Martin DBS safety car

there is no doubt about that but Mercedes just has that image of what is looked at for a safety car (and the car actually weighs 1750kg but thats still dead heavy)

I too would like to see an Aston Martin DBS safety car

Oh, sorry, it's the SL65 AMG that weighs 2100kg. I know for a fact, though, that the SL63 weighs FAR more than 1750kg; the SL55 weighs 1980kg, and nothing but the engine and a minor facelift has changed between the SL55 and SL63; I doubt that's gonna knock off 230kg, now, is it? If anything, it'd be heavier - the SL63 has 700cc up on the SL55, meaning a bigger block (and the rest; overall more material under the bonnet), and therefore even more weight...

^^^ The Standard AMG SL63 weighs 1970kg but the F1 Safety car version is lighter, read the bottom half of the 1st post by Turbinas and it will tell you the truth :)

^ Oh lol, I see. Still, man, 1750kg for a car that's gotta chase F1 cars... lol! That's stupid :-k.

^^^ Again, i agree, but that Massive V8 was absolutely crazy in the C-class and the SL is the right kinda weight and size to obtain such a amount of power, but they still need to put a supercharger on it to actually make it less stupid for chasing F1 cars.

They don't chase F1 cars though. It's a SAFETY CAR. F1 cars follow them at a certain speed.

Hmm. this foretells new SL63 Black Series with weight reduction

^ Oh lol, I see. Still, man, 1750kg for a car that's gotta chase F1 cars... lol! That's stupid :-k.

They don't chase F1 cars though. It's a SAFETY CAR. F1 cars follow them at a certain speed.

And it still does the job perfectly fine!

Look, if the safety car was too slow, you'd hear about it. You would have the drivers saying "The safety car is so slow, my tyre pressures have gone lower than expected. I can't keep as much heat in these tyres, the start sis going to be pretty dangerous, I'll have to look out for people around me, and watch my braking point and entry into the corner" or something to that effect.

But, hey, you don't. There has never been, as far as I know, a complaint by the drivers or team members about the speed of the safety car. The FIA aren't stupid, and they realise the dangers of having the cars too slow, so they pick their car accordingly. Whether or not they have something for MB cars is not our concern, but it does, and will do, its job perfectly fine.

Hmm. this foretells new SL63 Black Series with weight reduction
AND the SEXY bodykit. :D:D

They don't chase F1 cars though. It's a SAFETY CAR. F1 cars follow them at a certain speed.

It's called an exaggeration, my friend :|...

But surely having an even faster car, e.g. a 599 GTB or 430 Scuderia can do nothing except bring advantages, i.e. faster moving 'traffic' when an accident has happened? And it's not like that extra £60k is going to stretch the FIA which spend millions and millions anyway...

previously said, it's safer than a Ferrari.

They look pretty good.

But edging towards the CLK's that they had.

But surely having an even faster car, e.g. a 599 GTB or 430 Scuderia can do nothing except bring advantages, i.e. faster moving 'traffic' when an accident has happened? And it's not like that extra £60k is going to stretch the FIA which spend millions and millions anyway...

But do they need for it to go faster? Even I don't know that, but the FIA, together with the teams, seem to not have any problem with the current safety car (or even this one, I'm betting), so it's not as if the current one needs changing.

i just think those safety lights make the cars look like toy cars

previously said, it's safer than a Ferrari.

You know, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Ferrari was safer... And anyway, why the hell does safety matter?!

You know, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Ferrari was safer... And anyway, why the hell does safety matter?!
1. It's a SAFETY car.

2. It's FIA being a total douche of themselves.

1. It's a SAFETY car.

2. It's FIA being a total douche of themselves.

So the safety car is designed to crash lol?

So the safety car is designed to crash lol?
No. Like I've said previously...


all FIA's crew has been brainwashed to only see the words SAFETY in their brains.


But I guess it's suppose to be safe just in case.

Ah, guys. I really doubt the choice of safety car was based on how fast it was or how safe it was. The simple fact of the matter is Mercedes make a shed load of money. So they can spend a shed load on advertising. And what better way to advertise than to have one of their sports cars for the roads leading F1 cars around the track. If Tata wanted to, they probably could top Mercedes bid and have a nano as the safety car.

^^^ lol the race would take ages to start with a Nano as a safety car :p

So why do you think they chose the SL63 instead of the SL65?

^^^ Probably because the new SL65 isn't a new development.

EDIT: or maybe because it uses a V8 just like the F1 cars.

If Tata wanted to, they probably could top Mercedes bid and have a nano as the safety car.

Well, the SC still has to be decently fast. If you let the cars slow down too much, the tyres loose too much heat, and the tyre pressures reduce so much that it would make the restart really hard to deal with.

And don't be thinking the SC is leisurely going round the track. The car is absolutely on it while at the front of the pack.

Well we might aswell give McLaren an headstart lol.


Seriously I wonder how much Mercedes had to pay the FIA chose their cars ?????

Personally if I was Max Moseley I would have choosen a Maserati Quatroporte (spelling !) and the 2008 Maserati Gran Turismo :D.

That way you are already playing into Fiats hands (Ferrari) even before a race weekend has started.

Playing into Ferrari's hands is much better than playing into McLaren's hands.

Well, the SC still has to be decently fast. If you let the cars slow down too much, the tyres loose too much heat, and the tyre pressures reduce so much that it would make the restart really hard to deal with.

And don't be thinking the SC is leisurely going round the track. The car is absolutely on it while at the front of the pack.
That was just to make my point. I know that nothing like a nano or any other car of that speed could play the role of safety car.

I know that nothing like a nano or any other car of that speed could play the role of safety car.

It could if you modify it a fair bit! lol

I don't think I want to see a modified nano, now that I think about it...

Do you guys even know what a Safety Car is?

And do you realize that this is a glimpse of the SL63 Black Series?

Do you guys even know what a Safety Car is?

And do you realize that this is a glimpse of the SL63 Black Series?
Yep, and I'm loving every bit of it. :D

^^^ There is rumours that there is going to be DTM and Black Series version of the new SL, so this could be the DTM, looking at the Bumper its very similar to the CLK DTM car but also very similar to the CLK Black Series.

That lightbar is friggin huge! The whole car will probably blow to pieces if the pilot accidentally pulls the electical roof down, and the car tries to stick that huge gumball machine inside of itself.... damn that sounded wrong. lol

^^^ The Hardtop Roof has been removed and a Fixed Roof was put in its place.