Smaller Mercedes SLS confirmed, and with front-mounted V8 too

Baby Mercedes SLS AMG - or at least how it could have looked if mid-engined

We’ve believed for some time that Mercedes were planning a smaller version of the SLS, but so far there’s been no official word.

But that’s now changed, with AMG’s Christoph Jung telling AutoExpress that Mercedes and AMG are currently working on a smaller SLS, to go head-to-head with cars like the Porsche 911 and Audi R8.

Interestingly, we’d thought that Mercedes would go the route of a mid-engined two-seater for the baby SLS, and that it would probably get a turbo V6. But it would appear not.

In fact it appears that Mercedes plan on making the baby SLS what the SLK is to the SL – more of the same in a smaller package – and are planning on fitting a V8 up front.

That’s an interesting plan, and we wonder if it’s the right route to go? Surely any baby SLS will then get tarred as a car for those who can’t afford the real thing, instead of being a  mid-engined, light and turbo V6 where the new baby SLS could be perceived as a real choice, not second best.

But you can ‘t blame Mercedes for wanting a baby SLS in every way but size and cost. After all, for a car that costs pushing on £200k, sales of around 5,000 cars since launch is pretty spectacular, and having a baby SLS at the sub-£100k mark would lead to far more sales.

Whatever the bay SLS turns out to be, it should be very appealing.

By Cars UK