Edmunds CarPool

Opening Statements

James Riswick for England and the Aston Martin DBS
This Face-Off battle is indicative of the imaginary quandary I face every imaginary day in my imaginary garage. Do I take the DBS to the golf course or the Gullwing? Seriously, this is worse than picking my favorite child, since I'm pretty sure I like Roger better. Both are amongst my Top 5 favorite cars and as such, I certainly can't think of anything bad to say about the Benz. Yet, I suppose there were reasons I picked the DBS for this tournament beyond having a passport emblazoned with a message from Her Majesty the Queen (in English and French!).

The first is styling. The DBS is quite simply prettier than the SLS. Love the Gullwings, love the tail end, love the cab way-rearward proportions. Yet, just look at the DBS. I mean, there's a puddle of drool forming on my desk as I write this.

Second, as Magrath said, I have a "fascination with British men in tuxedos." The DBS is James Bond's car and unless Batman starts driving an SLS, you can't beat that.

Beyond that, I suppose 12 cylinders is better than 8. Let's see, the DBS has more cabin space. Oh, the Aston is offered with a manual transmission.  Um, the DBS is less prone to smacking its doors on low-hanging garage pipes? I really don't have much to help the good voters, but I do know which car I'll be taking home in my imagination.

Karl Brauer for Germany and the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG
For a decision like this you almost have to run multiple imaginary scenarios through your head to pick a winner among two undeniable winners. James talked about going to the golf course. I might ask myself, "Which would I rather take to my high-school reunion" or "Which would I rather use for pavement pounding across the vast reaches of the great Southwest?" I present these questions because, like James, I can't just say, "Oh the SLS is clearly superior to the DBS" because it isn't, just as the DBS isn't clearly superior to the Benz. My dream garage would have both.

Ironically, one angle that helps the SLS eek out a win is the antithesis of a dream garage. If I think it terms of which one I'd plunk money down on first I gotta go SLS. The price is an unavoidable issue here. SLS=$183,000. DBS=$267,000. I love the styling and the door design of the SLS but I'll grant that in the majority of people's eyes the DBS has a styling advantage. But an $84,000 advantage? Styling is a highly personal issue, but I'd put the Aston at about $40,000 better looking than the SLS, tops. Many will argue people who buy these cars don't care about price, but I've always felt what makes rich people rich is their ability to wisely invest money (this doesn't necessarily apply to the children of rich people, BTW).

Regardless, I also prefer the SLS' unique door design, and while V12s are cool in theory I've consistently found V8s to be more appealing in reality. Exhaust note and torque band are where V8s rock. I've actually decided, after over 125 years of internal combustion machinations, that the V8 is the single best engine layout for a performance vehicle (appropriately, it was driving the SLS AMG recently that clinched it for me). 

So both cars are awesome. But the price, design and engine layout in the Mercedes-Benz SLS makes it...well, more awesome.

Rebuttals:

Riswick:
I disagree Karl, everyone should know the single best engine layout is a small inline-4 placed at a 75-degree angle underneath the driver seat of a Toyota Previa. I mean, duh.

Anyway, I was just waiting for someone to walk into the "DBS is too expensive" trap and you just did. For that, I can offer this: the Aston Martin DB9. Sure, the DBS is just a bit better in many different ways, but the DB9 is still gorgeous, still has a V12, still brilliant to drive and still has virtually the same interior, while costing only $2,000 more than the SLS. Perhaps having a 1-B choice on hand is cheating, but this is a World Cup we're talking about here and this is the equivalent of getting tapped on the shoulder and falling to the grass holding your groin. While I'm at it, did I mention the DBS also comes in a convertible and that it's called the Volante? That means "flying" in Italian. I wonder what "gullwing" is in Italian, though I doubt it sounds as cool.

Brauer:
Nice try James, but (as always) I was prepared for your groin holding. See, my first thought in this Face-Off was, "Isn't the DBS awfully expensive when the DB9 is at least 85 percent of the car for 70 percent of the money?" As for the Volante, that's going to be a short-lived advantage. I've seen the spy shots of the SLS convertible and it looks fab (though one could argue it removes the most interesting part of the vehicle - as it certainly won't have gullwing doors). But ultimately this is DBS versus SLS, so no substituting better value models from the same maker. Otherwise I'm going to suggest the SL65 as an alternative. Wait - that costs more than the SLS ... Further proof of the value equation offered by the M-B over the Aston here.

So which country and car wins the World Cup?