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Mercedes SL500 V-8 Engine
© 2006 KenRockwell.com
Olivenhain, California, July, 2004
The engine bay with standard dual ram cold-air induction system. The black circles on the ends of the intake cams are the electromagnetic clutches for the variable valve timing. (click to enlarge)
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V-8, 5.0L, 304 CID, DOHC, 32 valves, four cams, Variable Valve Timing (VVT). M119
Acceleration: The SL500 weighs over two tons and accelerates to over 100 MPH in under 15 seconds.
Horsepower: 315 HP @ 5,600 RPM: more than a huge SUV, Escalade or Hummer. That's right, the SL500 has over twice the horsepower of a full military HMMWV Hummer H1.
Torque: 347 ft-lbs torque @ 3,900 RPM. Torque is what shoots the SL500 forward as smoothly as if moved by the very Hand of God or a hydraulic carrier jet launcher. Many people exclaim "Jesus Christ!" the first few times they undergo this acceleration, which confirm's the involvement of the Hand of the Almighty.
This dwarfs BMW's 12 cylinder 5.0l engine (1989 - 1994) which only has 296 HP and 332 ft-lbs of torque.
The SL500 accelerates smoothly and brutally at any speed. Acceleration comes from torque, not horsepower. The horsepower advertised by sub-six-figure vehicles has much less to do with acceleration than torque. A normal car has only about 150 ft-lbs of torque, peak. The SL500 not only has 347 ft-lbs, it does this over most RPMs.
This is more torque than tomorrow's new not-yet-available 2005 Ferrari F430, which only has 343 ft-lbs. Today's state-of-the-art 2004 Ferrari 360 Modena, for which many people are still on waiting lists, only has 275 ft-lbs. Chevrolet took out a three-page ad in Autoweek's January 24th, 2005 issue (pages 5 - 7) to brag about the power of their Vortec engine in their huge Silverado Z71 truck. It can't even make 300 HP. You could win more mud bog races with the SL500 powerplant than one from an exotic or an American truck, and the SL500 plant did this even 15 years ago.
The SL500 is more potent than almost anything. The 2005 Maserati GranSport ($98,172) has only 332 ft-lbs. The 2006 Aston Martin V8 Vantage ($110,000) has only 302 ft-lbs. The 2005 Porsche 911 Carrera S ($79,100) has only 295 foot-pounds. The 2007 Porsche 911 GT2 ($106,000, base) only makes 299 ft-lbs.
Torque is what accelerates a car, not horsepower. Horsepower only relates to top speed, and cars today are electronically limited for top speed so horsepower is irrelevant, even if you could drive anywhere near top speed.
Variable Valve Timing. This give the engine the unGodly power above when you need it, and lets it idle almost silently and give fantastic gas mileage for normal use. Yes, the biggest problem with this usually silent engine is that you now are aware of everyone else's car maintenance problems since you can hear them so clearly with the top down. This advanced feature is what makes this engine have such extraordinary power and fuel efficiency and silence, all in the same engine.
96.5 mm bore, 85 mm stroke. The diameters are matched to 5 microns. Mercedes calls this the M119 engine. Aluminum alloy block and head. This 4-valve, quad cam high-performance engine is similar from 1990 - 1998, although the torque rating of the 1997 is a little more than any other year. In 1999 - 2006 Mercedes now used a less powerful, less torquey 3-valve-only engine in all their 500 models. For 2007 the four valve engine returns as the SL550 and S550.
Sequential Multiport Fuel Injection
Hemi? Yes it's got a hemi and more. "Hemi" is a trademark used by Chrysler and Dodge for their 1960's engine which first used hemispherical combustion chambers to get more power. The Mercedes SL500 engine also uses hemispherical combustion chambers, although they don't use the "Hemi" trademark. (source: page 22, Mercedes 1992 Sports Models brochure). The old Chrysler Hemi only had two valves per cylinder, pushrods, carburetors and only one cam. The 1990 - 1998 SL500 has twice as many valves, no pushrods or rocker arms, fuel injection and four cams.
Dual Ram-Air Cold Air Intakes, located to the sides of the radiator just hidden inside the front grille
Stainless steel exhaust. Oddly, this car makes all this power without headers!
Hydraulic engine mounts eliminate noise and vibration.