A POWER hike is on the way at Mercedes with the arrival of a new engine in the SL roadster.

The new SL 400 Sport will replace the SL 350 as the entry level model in the range which remains priced from £72,500.

Fitted with a three-litre twin turbo V6 engine developing 333bhp the new model has more power and performance than the previous 3.5-litre.

Top speed remains restricted to 155mph but 0 to 60 acceleration is reduced to 5.2 seconds - more than half a second quicker than before.

Fuel economy however increases to 36.7mpg with emissions of 178g/km compared to the 37.7mpg of the SL 350.

The SL 400 Sport is due to arrive in July and will be fitted with 19-inch AMG five-spoke alloy wheels as well as AMG front and rear aprons and side skirts.

Mercedes is also uprating all versions of the high performance SL 63 AMG increasing the power from its 5.5-litre V8 by almost 50bhp to 585bhp taking its 0 to 60 acceleration down to 4.2 seconds.

The new SL 63 is also fitted with an AMG limited-slip differential on the rear axle and is priced from £112,510.

Despite the added power emissions and fuel consumption are unchanged at 28.5mpg and 231g/km.