Ultimate Coupe: SLR
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Thai
Elite Member
Part I
Follow-Up Test: 2005 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren
McLaren's Latest Street Car
By Karl Brauer
There is something truly surreal about listening to The Beach Boys sing "Little Deuce Coupe" while driving the all-new Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren around Cape Town, South Africa. First, from a geographic standpoint, you couldn't be much farther from Southern California without leaving the planet, so despite the warm temperatures and crystal blue ocean, this wasn't Beach Boys territory. Second, while it's easy enough to insert the word "Cape" in the line, "Well, I'm not braggin' babe so don't put me down, but I've got the fastest set of wheels in Cape Town," the truth is that this Benz stands out far more in Cape Town than it would roaming the streets of West Los Angeles, where almost no four-wheeled conveyance can stand out.
Heck, they don't even drive on the right (or correct, for that matter) side of the road in South Africa, so much of our initial focus was centered around keeping the SLR in the proper lane while navigating the drive route (particularly challenging when making right-hand turns). But focused we were, because the thought of bending this particular $441,000 "deuce coupe" was enough to scatter any residual mental cobwebs left over from the 24 hours of air travel required to get from Los Angeles to Cape Town.
This raises yet another notable aspect of the SLR's design: its platform, outer shell and flat underbody tray are constructed of nearly 100-percent carbon fiber, so "bending" the vehicle really isn't an option. The Mercedes folks showed us some post-crash test carbon-fiber cones that mount just aft of the SLR's front bumper (also made of carbon fiber) and ahead of its aluminum engine cradle. Upon examining said cones, we saw that this ultralightweight, ultrastrong material tends to crumble and shred during severe impacts, but it doesn't bend. Regardless of terminology, we weren't interested in testing out the SLR's high-tech crash protection system, though we were assured by company representatives that the car provides a level of passive safety (airbags, cabin integrity, energy absorption, etc.) equal to or greater than that of an S-Class. Not a surprising result when you consider that, while carbon fiber is 30-percent lighter than aluminum, it offers four to five times as much energy absorption capability as steel or aluminum during a collision.
Much of the SLR's design philosophy, including those carbon-fiber impact-absorbing cones, comes courtesy of McLaren Cars, Ltd., a specialty car builder out of Woking, England. McLaren is better known for producing Mercedes-Benz's F1 race cars than ultraexotic street cars (though it did produce the extremely limited BMW-powered McLaren F1 back in the mid-1990s, a vehicle many still consider the ultimate street car). Because Mercedes has contracted McLaren to build the SLR, and because the company was after world-class performance, the heavy use of carbon-fiber materials, along with ceramic brake components and active aerodynamics, seems appropriate. Certainly, with the SLR capable of 200-plus mph, it's nice to know that the movable rear spoiler can rotate up to a 65-degree angle to work as an airbrake when jumping on those ceramic binders. This same spoiler tilts 10 to 30 degrees at 60 mph and above to aid high-speed stability.
What we discovered after two days of driving the SLR on the public roads surrounding Cape Town was that, just as hearing the Beach Boys on the other side of the planet felt a bit contradictory, the SLR is itself a collection of contradictions. On the one hand, you've got a car capable of supercar performance on the same level as Porsche's new Carrera GT and Ferrari's new Enzo. It's certainly as advanced as either of those vehicles in terms of design and construction. On the other hand, you've got features like a seven-speaker Bose audio system with CD changer (the changer is in the trunk, of course); an "Unlimited Dimensions" personalization program that offers a Personal Liaison Manager, or PLM, (much like Mercedes' own Maybach program); and a five-speed automatic transmission (no manual transmission is available). These features, along with a wealth of safety and driver aid systems
Follow-Up Test: 2005 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren
McLaren's Latest Street Car
By Karl Brauer
There is something truly surreal about listening to The Beach Boys sing "Little Deuce Coupe" while driving the all-new Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren around Cape Town, South Africa. First, from a geographic standpoint, you couldn't be much farther from Southern California without leaving the planet, so despite the warm temperatures and crystal blue ocean, this wasn't Beach Boys territory. Second, while it's easy enough to insert the word "Cape" in the line, "Well, I'm not braggin' babe so don't put me down, but I've got the fastest set of wheels in Cape Town," the truth is that this Benz stands out far more in Cape Town than it would roaming the streets of West Los Angeles, where almost no four-wheeled conveyance can stand out.
Heck, they don't even drive on the right (or correct, for that matter) side of the road in South Africa, so much of our initial focus was centered around keeping the SLR in the proper lane while navigating the drive route (particularly challenging when making right-hand turns). But focused we were, because the thought of bending this particular $441,000 "deuce coupe" was enough to scatter any residual mental cobwebs left over from the 24 hours of air travel required to get from Los Angeles to Cape Town.
This raises yet another notable aspect of the SLR's design: its platform, outer shell and flat underbody tray are constructed of nearly 100-percent carbon fiber, so "bending" the vehicle really isn't an option. The Mercedes folks showed us some post-crash test carbon-fiber cones that mount just aft of the SLR's front bumper (also made of carbon fiber) and ahead of its aluminum engine cradle. Upon examining said cones, we saw that this ultralightweight, ultrastrong material tends to crumble and shred during severe impacts, but it doesn't bend. Regardless of terminology, we weren't interested in testing out the SLR's high-tech crash protection system, though we were assured by company representatives that the car provides a level of passive safety (airbags, cabin integrity, energy absorption, etc.) equal to or greater than that of an S-Class. Not a surprising result when you consider that, while carbon fiber is 30-percent lighter than aluminum, it offers four to five times as much energy absorption capability as steel or aluminum during a collision.
Much of the SLR's design philosophy, including those carbon-fiber impact-absorbing cones, comes courtesy of McLaren Cars, Ltd., a specialty car builder out of Woking, England. McLaren is better known for producing Mercedes-Benz's F1 race cars than ultraexotic street cars (though it did produce the extremely limited BMW-powered McLaren F1 back in the mid-1990s, a vehicle many still consider the ultimate street car). Because Mercedes has contracted McLaren to build the SLR, and because the company was after world-class performance, the heavy use of carbon-fiber materials, along with ceramic brake components and active aerodynamics, seems appropriate. Certainly, with the SLR capable of 200-plus mph, it's nice to know that the movable rear spoiler can rotate up to a 65-degree angle to work as an airbrake when jumping on those ceramic binders. This same spoiler tilts 10 to 30 degrees at 60 mph and above to aid high-speed stability.
What we discovered after two days of driving the SLR on the public roads surrounding Cape Town was that, just as hearing the Beach Boys on the other side of the planet felt a bit contradictory, the SLR is itself a collection of contradictions. On the one hand, you've got a car capable of supercar performance on the same level as Porsche's new Carrera GT and Ferrari's new Enzo. It's certainly as advanced as either of those vehicles in terms of design and construction. On the other hand, you've got features like a seven-speaker Bose audio system with CD changer (the changer is in the trunk, of course); an "Unlimited Dimensions" personalization program that offers a Personal Liaison Manager, or PLM, (much like Mercedes' own Maybach program); and a five-speed automatic transmission (no manual transmission is available). These features, along with a wealth of safety and driver aid systems
Thai
Elite Member
Part II
What can't be had for one-fifth the price is the SLR's driving characteristics. Fire the AMG-massaged 5.5-liter engine by hitting the start button on top of the shifter and revel in a deep rumble that only a V8 can conjure. All the latest tricks can be found under the SLR's long hood, including a Lysholm-type supercharger, twin intercoolers, twin spark plugs, NiCaSil cylinder walls, forged connecting rods and pistons and a cast-aluminum engine block. Pulling a page from the "Mad Max" school of engineering, the SLR's supercharger does not spin when the vehicle is coasting, and under light throttle, the pressurized air is rerouted to reduce the load on the supercharger and improve fuel efficiency. Anyone who remembers the old 540K's "power-on-demand" supercharger knows that Mercedes was utilizing this thought process long before Mad Max.
To keep the engine, and the SLR's hood, as low as possible, AMG outfitted the V8 with a dry-sump oil system. It's unique in that it uses twin oil pumps: one to keep the bottom of the engine block dry and another to inject oil into the engine bearings. By using this system, the block could be mounted low to reduce the SLR's center of gravity. The engine is also mounted well behind the front axle, giving the SLR a front-mid engine layout and perfect 50/50-weight balance between the front and rear axles.
You might expect all this technical wizardry to result in some fairly spectacular numbers, and with a peak output of 617 horsepower and 575 pound-feet of torque, we hope your expectations are met. As impressive as those numbers are in terms of spec sheets, what really matters is how the power is delivered over a wide rpm range. At 1,500 rpm, the engine is already making 440 lb-ft of torque. This number jumps to over 500 lb-ft at 2,000 rpm and hits the 575 peak at just 3,250 rpm, remaining there up through 5,000 rpm. While maximum horsepower doesn't hit until 6,500 rpm, you'd never know it from the instantaneous forward thrust available from idle to redline. This car proves the popular saying, "Horsepower is what you read about, torque is what you feel."
It's this level of engine performance that allows the SLR to overcome what many will feel is an unacceptable drivetrain component in an otherwise highly capable car. The five-speed automatic is similar to the unit found behind other AMG products, but it has been upgraded with wider planetary gears, larger bearings and an improved cooling system. It also features a new Speedshift system that offers three levels of performance: "Comfort," "Sport" and "Manual." A dial in the center stack rotates between these settings, with Sport offering crisper shifts than Comfort, and Manual offering three additional settings made by yet another dial in the center stack (these settings are labeled "Sport," "SuperSport" and "Race").
It's an accepted fact within the automotive universe that AMG makes some of the finest slushboxes available. From the C32 to the CL65, this company knows how to make a car shift for itself. Not surprisingly, the same can be said of the SLR's five-speed automatic. From responsive downshifts to positive upshifts, the five-speed auto never missed a beat. Furthermore, the ability to shift it manually via steering wheel-mounted buttons gave it a level of precision close to that of BMW's sequential manual gearbox (SMG), especially when placed in its most aggressive "Race" mode.
However, the very fact that every other high-performance Mercedes comes with a slushbox further calls out the need for this Mercedes product
What can't be had for one-fifth the price is the SLR's driving characteristics. Fire the AMG-massaged 5.5-liter engine by hitting the start button on top of the shifter and revel in a deep rumble that only a V8 can conjure. All the latest tricks can be found under the SLR's long hood, including a Lysholm-type supercharger, twin intercoolers, twin spark plugs, NiCaSil cylinder walls, forged connecting rods and pistons and a cast-aluminum engine block. Pulling a page from the "Mad Max" school of engineering, the SLR's supercharger does not spin when the vehicle is coasting, and under light throttle, the pressurized air is rerouted to reduce the load on the supercharger and improve fuel efficiency. Anyone who remembers the old 540K's "power-on-demand" supercharger knows that Mercedes was utilizing this thought process long before Mad Max.
To keep the engine, and the SLR's hood, as low as possible, AMG outfitted the V8 with a dry-sump oil system. It's unique in that it uses twin oil pumps: one to keep the bottom of the engine block dry and another to inject oil into the engine bearings. By using this system, the block could be mounted low to reduce the SLR's center of gravity. The engine is also mounted well behind the front axle, giving the SLR a front-mid engine layout and perfect 50/50-weight balance between the front and rear axles.
You might expect all this technical wizardry to result in some fairly spectacular numbers, and with a peak output of 617 horsepower and 575 pound-feet of torque, we hope your expectations are met. As impressive as those numbers are in terms of spec sheets, what really matters is how the power is delivered over a wide rpm range. At 1,500 rpm, the engine is already making 440 lb-ft of torque. This number jumps to over 500 lb-ft at 2,000 rpm and hits the 575 peak at just 3,250 rpm, remaining there up through 5,000 rpm. While maximum horsepower doesn't hit until 6,500 rpm, you'd never know it from the instantaneous forward thrust available from idle to redline. This car proves the popular saying, "Horsepower is what you read about, torque is what you feel."
It's this level of engine performance that allows the SLR to overcome what many will feel is an unacceptable drivetrain component in an otherwise highly capable car. The five-speed automatic is similar to the unit found behind other AMG products, but it has been upgraded with wider planetary gears, larger bearings and an improved cooling system. It also features a new Speedshift system that offers three levels of performance: "Comfort," "Sport" and "Manual." A dial in the center stack rotates between these settings, with Sport offering crisper shifts than Comfort, and Manual offering three additional settings made by yet another dial in the center stack (these settings are labeled "Sport," "SuperSport" and "Race").
It's an accepted fact within the automotive universe that AMG makes some of the finest slushboxes available. From the C32 to the CL65, this company knows how to make a car shift for itself. Not surprisingly, the same can be said of the SLR's five-speed automatic. From responsive downshifts to positive upshifts, the five-speed auto never missed a beat. Furthermore, the ability to shift it manually via steering wheel-mounted buttons gave it a level of precision close to that of BMW's sequential manual gearbox (SMG), especially when placed in its most aggressive "Race" mode.
However, the very fact that every other high-performance Mercedes comes with a slushbox further calls out the need for this Mercedes product
03RoadRunner
New member
Why not just buy a Crossfire...same thing and you save $410,000 dollars, plus the savings cost of insurance would be great! 
Put a 4cyl hybrid electric/gas engine under the hood and keep the body...Mercedes would become the leader in car sales...but they insist on having their cake and eating it too.
Oh well!!
03RR
Put a 4cyl hybrid electric/gas engine under the hood and keep the body...Mercedes would become the leader in car sales...but they insist on having their cake and eating it too.
Oh well!!
03RR
Thai
Elite Member
Want the cheap version?? Check this thread out:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=485
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=485
