Just watched this review of the 2023 AMG SL63 by Doug Demuro and while I’m somewhat biased I have to say I’m not impressed. He ended up giving the AMG SL63 a “Doug Score” of 68 to the LC500’s 66 but it came down to the extra 2 points he gave the AMG for acceleration (9 v. 7), otherwise it would have been a tie. The LC has more hp than the AMG SL43 and AMG SL55 (although the SL55 has more torque) but the AMG SL63 has way more hp and torque and also had a sticker over $200K as tested! I just think the LC’s exterior and interior design blows away the AMG and while it’s slower I think the Lexus 5.0 engine sings a much sweeter song as well. The giant iPad screen in the SL looks redonkulous and the method of putting the top up and down is a joke IMO. Interesting how the SL now has a soft top, tiny rear seats, and 21” wheels like the Lexus, hmmm…



Edit: I’m adding Doug’s review below of the AMG SL55 which has a less powerful version of the same bi-turbo 4.0L V8 as the AMG SL63. Also, I noticed on MB’s website that they are now offering a turbo 2.0L 4banger version called the AMG SL43

 

Lexus did a better job with the new wheels. MB going back to the soft top @3:30 "performancey, roadster like" seems like a downgrade. All wheel drive and steering standard would be nice on the LC.
If the LC had a hardtop convertible I would have seriously considered one.


Score at the end of the video,

 

screw this guy and his jag off reviews. Doug score... give me a friggin break. He's not even a real automotive journalist nor does he have any driving credentials to backup his so called opinions. Does he go tracking every weekend? is he SCCA certified? nope he's just some schmuck.

There are so many better reviews online like Chris Harris or Harry's Garage. Or if you want an American, Jason Cammisa, Randy Pobst, and Matt Fariah are all way better

This guy just rubs me the wrong way. Im not sure why there's even an internet following for this nutbag. I even like Alex on Autos more as at least he's very detailed and insightful instead of pointing out useless quirks and features.

 

LoL…you sure are a fan of random polls @GatorGreg .

 

LMAO BadHobz! My apologies - I didn’t mean to annoy anyone by posting Doug Demuro reviews - I just used them because I was aware of them off the top of my head and the cars are nearly the same color so I thought they would be good to get the initial discussion rolling by seeing the same reviewer review the two different cars. I agree Doug can be annoying but he is very prolific and I generally enjoy his reviews. Apparently he is a very rich schmuck now from his Cars & Bids website and I’m happy to see him achieve success.

Just for poops and giggles I looked up Doug’s bio to see what his qualifications are:

Early Life and Education

Doug DeMuro was born on May 22, 1988 in Denver, Colorado. As a teen, he went to George Washington High School. For his higher education, DeMuro attended Emory University, from which he graduated with a BA in economics.

Career Beginnings

In 2012, DeMuro landed his first job in Atlanta, Georgia at the North American headquarters of Porsche, where he served as a vehicle allocation manager. He also penned articles for the online automobile marketplace Autotrader.com. After a year at Porsche, DeMuro quit his job in order to devote his time to writing about cars. He went on to write for three automobile blogs: The Truth About Cars, Jalopnik, and his own blog, PlaysWithCars. In 2014, DeMuro moved from Atlanta to Philadelphia. He continued to write columns online, and also had some of his writing published by the Philadelphia Media Network and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

YouTube

DeMuro launched his self-titled YouTube channel in 2013. On the channel, he reviews a wide range of automobiles from the 70s to the present day, and evaluates each car by assigning it a score between 10 and 100. DeMuro has reviewed such notable classic cars as the Ford GT, Ferrari F40, and Bugatti Chiron. He has also reviewed such newer automobiles as the Maserati Ghibli and the Tesla Model 3. The cars reviewed by DeMuro are typically owned by other individuals or by dealerships. Popular with audiences, DeMuro's channel has racked up over four million subscribers and more than 1.5 billion views since its inception.

In 2018, DeMuro began a second YouTube channel called More Doug DeMuro, which includes vlog-style content and question-and-answer videos. Not all of the content on this channel is related to cars.

Most of the videos on Doug's primary YouTube channel have well-over 1 million views and a large portion are above 5 million.

Cars & Bids

After leaving Autotrader.com, DeMuro launched an automobile auction website called Cars & Bids in 2020. The site only takes cars built in 1980 or later; its first listing was DeMuro's own Mercedes-Benz E 63 AMG Wagon from 2012. Through the site, he has sold his Kia Stinger GT2 AWD. In 2021, Cars & Bids had 4,000 listed automobiles, with $75 million spent by customers.

Between 2020 and 2023, $230 million worth of cars were sold on the site.

In late 2022 Cars & Bids received a $37 million investment round from Peter Chernin's The Chernin Group. The first thing Doug did after the round closed, was buy a Porsche Carrera GT. His dream car.

Doug DeMuro Car Collection

Over the years, DeMuro has owned more than 25 different automobiles, many of which have been showcased on his YouTube channel. When he was 16, he acquired his first car as a gift from his parents: a 1996 Volvo 850 sedan. Among his other notable vehicles, DeMuro bought a used 2006 Land Rover Range Rover from CarMax in late 2012 that came with a six-year, 66,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty. DeMuro made many repairs to the car, updating viewers on his YouTube channel along the way. He ended up keeping the car until close to the end of the warranty period, at which time he gave it to a friend in Nantucket, Massachusetts. During his work on the Range Rover, DeMuro purchased a 2004 Ferrari 360 Modena with a loan.

From his former Autotrader.com boss Karl Brauer, DeMuro bought a 2005 Ford GT. He also owns a 1999 Mercedes-Benz G 500 Cabriolet; a 1994 Audi RS2 Avant; a 2020 Land Rover Defender 110; and a 2013 Toyota Land Cruiser, among other cars.

Doug's dream car since childhood is the Porsche Carrera GT. Seeing this car in person in his hometown of Denver when he was 17, while he was on his first date, changed his life. None of his friends believed that he had seen the car, so from that point on Doug started to carry a digital camera everywhere he went. Several months later he spotted a yellow Carrera GT and snapped a photo. This was the birth of a passion that would eventually turn into an empire.

In late 2022 Doug finally pulled the trigger and purchased his very own Porsche Carrera GT. A Silver one, from 2005. As you would expect, Doug made a video with the car, which he describes as his "favorite car of all time… my dream car."

Books

While he was writing online columns in 2013, DeMuro also penned two books: "Play With Cars" and the e-book "From My Perspective." The former features personal car anecdotes while the latter contains non-car-related writing. DeMuro published his third book, "Bumper to Bumper," in 2016.

Jay Leno

Beyond his appearances on his own YouTube channels, DeMuro appeared on the CNBC television series "Jay Leno's Garage" in 2017. On the show, he played a game with Leno wherein he attempted to identify different automobiles while blindfolded. DeMuro worked with Leno again in 2019 reviewing a McLaren F1 owned by Leno. Writing for Autotrader.com, DeMuro declared the vehicle the "greatest car ever made."

Personal Life and Real Estate

With his wife Joanna, DeMuro primarily resides in San Diego, California where in late 2019 they paid $1.7 million for an historic property that dates back to 1913. In June 2022 Doug and Joanna paid $3.5 million for a 3,000 square-foot vacation home on the other side of the country in Nantucket, Massachusetts. This property dates back to the 1870s.

The couple adopted a bearded Collie called Noodle, and later had a son in 2021.

 

LOL - yes I think I missed my calling as a statistician Seriously though I enjoy trying to get good discussions going on this LC sub-forum which is rather quiet. I came from the Corvette forum where there was a constant stream of activity, so much so it was hard to keep up with all the posts there. The LC is so damn near perfect there’s not really a whole lot to post about, LOL

 

Damn, even the 2.0 4banger AMG SL43 has a higher MSRP of $109,900 compared to the LC500 Vert’s starting MSRP of $106,550, that’s crazy IMO

 

Stopped by my local MB dealer and took a few AMG SL pics. The red one is the SL43 4banger with a $116K MSRP - I’m pretty sure these are the most expensive 4 bangers EVER made in the history of the automobile Nice cars but they lack the presence of the LC500 IMO and are way overpriced.

 

Thank you for your posts. They make for enjoyable interchange.

I, too, have been on the Corvette Forum for over 23 years. With 70 years of Corvette production spanning 8 chapters of vehicle engineering development to produce America’s sports car, there is lots to talk about; from the mediocre (and sometimes bad) to class leading engineering (for it’s time).

I agree, the LC for a first chapter/iteration vehicle is “damn near perfect”. I suggest it pretty much hits the bullseye for it’s corporate development goals providing a very special car for a fortunate few owners.

Agree further, the LC is a more visually attractive vehicle…my white LC Vert to compare with your white SL pics.