Two significantly similar cars, no doubt about that. Still, each one has something different to offer. Having both cars powered by petrol engines and utilizing the 2-door coupe body style within the same 'Sports car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (rear for the Mercedes Benz and 4 x 4 in the case of the Porsche). The first one has a Mercedes Benz-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 8-cylinder, 32-valves 591hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 560hp engine designed by Porsche.

Unfortunatelly, neither of the two vehicles was submitted to the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) testing. This makes it virtually impossible for me to pick one over the other and I'm generally against buying such cars as the safety should really always come first. That aside, let's consider some other aspects which affect safety. Both vehicles belong to the sports car segment, which is generally classifying them somewhere in the middle safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? On the other hand, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, 911 offers a marginal difference of 1% more metal.

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Mercedes Benz does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Mercedes Benz with an average rating of 4.3, and models under the Porsche badge with 3.9 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed SLS as average reliability-wise, and 911 is more or less at the same level.We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as SLS rank it on average as 3.0 out of 5, exactly the same as the other one.

Porsche is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.6 seconds less than its competitor. Still, it lacks the power to win the top speed competition, topping at 318 kilometers per hour, 2km/h less than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy an obvious choice would be 911, averaging around 9.7 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (29 mpg), in combined cycle. That's 36% difference compared to SLS!

Mercedes Benz appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, 911 offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. When it comes to performance, both vehicles provide similar experience, so I wouldn't point any of them out. 911 is in a different dimension economy-wise, and many people will find that crucial. All together, there's not much more to say, in this case I wouldn't even consider anything but Porsche. Nevertheless, let's not forget that people have different preferences and needs, so what really counts is your personal feel. I'm only here to help. Also, you could use the oportunity to find out which car, everything taken into account, would be the perfect choice for you in the eyes of the virtual adviser™, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.