black series

Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG Black Series by Renntech

Enticed by the Brabus Vanish, but disappointed to find out it's one-of-a-kind? Renntech is glad to help out. The Florida-based Mercedes tuner par excellence has taken on the SL65 AMG Black Series, and the results are even more impressive than those garnered by rival tuning house Brabus. Five horses more, but more nonetheless.

With a simple tweak to the engine's computer, intercooler and exhaust system, Renntech has squeezed out an extra 135 horsepower and 263 lb-ft of torque from the twin-turbo V12 for a grand total of 865 hp and 1,000 pounds of twist. The upgrade costs $16,390, which may seem like a big chunk of change, but it's a drop in the bucket against the car's quarter-million-dollar stock list price. The highly recommended upgrades to the transmission and differential will set you back a little extra, though.

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Tags: amg, black series, mercedes, mercedes-benz, mercedes-benz SL65 AMG Black Series, renn tech, SL65 AMG Black Series

Mercedes Reportedly Preparing Even More Exclusive SLS AMG Black Series

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

With 617 horsepower and a 208mph top speed, topping the Mercedes SLR McLaren was no mean feat. Mercedes nearly managed to pull it off with the new SLS AMG. The gull-winged supercar was unveiled at the recent international auto show in Frankfurt to rave reviews. But it still falls a shade short of its predecessor's bragging rights, so the German automaker is reportedly working on an even more exclusive, more powerful and more capable SLS AMG Black Series.

Following in the Black Series that has given us the SLK55, CLK63 and SL65, the SLS Black is expected to gain some extra power and lose some weight to optimize that vital power to weight ratio. Sources expect the 563hp and 479lb-ft of torque from the existing 6.2-liter V8 to get a boost past the 600hp/500lb-ft mark, coupled with a 50kg weight-shaving scheme to drop the "stock" SLS' 0-62 mph time down from 3.8 seconds – already faster than 99% of the cars out on the road – to below 3.5 seconds, and the top speed up from 195 mph to 208.

Of course the added exclusivity won't come cheap: insiders expect the price to jump by half to over $250,000 when the SLS AMG Black Series hits the market in 2013.

Gallery: Frankfurt 2009: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG