For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Mercedes AMG SL have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Aston Martin DB11 doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
The AMG SL’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The DB11 doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
The AMG SL’s standard pretensioning seatbelts also sense rear collisions and remove slack from the seatbelts to help protect the occupants from whiplash and other injuries. The DB11 doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
The AMG SL has standard Active Brake Assist, which use forward mounted sensors to warn the driver of a possible collision ahead. If the driver doesn’t react and the system determines a collision is imminent, it automatically applies the brakes at full-force in order to reduce the force of the crash or avoid it altogether. The DB11 doesn't offer collision warning or crash mitigation brakes.
The AMG SL offers an optional Post Collision Brake, which automatically applies the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The DB11 doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The AMG SL has a standard Maneuvering Brake that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The DB11 doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The AMG SL has all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The DB11 doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.
The AMG SL’s optional lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. The DB11 doesn’t offer a lane departure warning system.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the AMG SL’s standard Rear Cross-Traffic Alert uses sensors in the rear to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side and Rear Cross Traffic Brake automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. The DB11 doesn’t offer a rear cross-path warning system.
The AMG SL’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The DB11 doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
The AMG SL has standard Mercedes-Benz Emergency Call, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to remotely unlock your doors if you lock your keys in, help track down your vehicle if it’s stolen or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The DB11 doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.
Both the AMG SL and the DB11 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, blind spot warning systems and around view monitors.