Bilal

Power to weight of course. people seem very easily to underestimate the power of this 55 AMG Kompressor engine. Transplanted into anything and it will make that car fast. SO if you transport it into a car weighing as much as a CLK, and up the power, you have a Supercar. Mercedes have always been very conservative about their performance figures, I know for a fact that it is quite a bit faster than the Zonda, and will keep up with Carrera's and Enzo's. Mercedes cars have always mostly had autos. So what if its not an auto? At least it will keep up with the best of them, and its a Mercedes, thats all that matters.

I am sick and tired of defending this car, I personally think its the best car ever made. Period.

Lov2xlr8

the SLR does have some changes now then before, but in general i think the SLR is going to look better in real life then in those pics.

benznut

Frankly, I do not think that how this car looks is in question here. Just because it does not look like an Enzo, or is not mid-rear-engined like it or the Porsche GT, does not mean that it is any less of a supercar. And, gentlemen, make no mistake: this is a supercar. Period. THe fact that MB still refers to this as a GT is because they initially made a mistake by refering to the SLR Vision in this way. They underestimated what they eventually achieved with the SLR. They do not want to back out of the markeing strategy for this car that was laid out years before its introduction. THey would rather maintain a claim that has been obviously overachieved (always good!), than completely switch the product image just before introduction - which would cause confusion (not always good!).

MB initiated the SLR as a pinnacle and the symbol of their brand and their cars. Since no car in their curent line-up is rear-mid-engined, it did not make sense for the epitomy of their cars to be thus. THis car is still mid-engined, in the technical meaning of the term.

Bilal

Damn straight!

reminder99

Wow.

I haven't checked this thread in a while...was surprised to see how it went the way of performance and such.

I started the post with just some anguish about it's styling. Performance and powerwise we'll have to wait and see what this thing can do.

However on another note, calling this a supercar in leagues of Enzo, Carrera GT, Ford GT40, and the likes is a bit odd to me. Those cars are mid engined and look as if they are ready anytime for track use. The SLR on the otherhand looks more like a 550 Maranello in my opinion, and I for one don't think the 550 can run a track in the same leagues as those aforementioned creations.
Putting a high output engine in a lightweight car does not mean it's in the league of Enzos and such. At least not in my opinion. If that was the case, then Acura can stick a higher output Supercharger unit in the NSX and label it in the same league. Would everyone else here all of a sudden conclude that this Honda creation could then be in the same league as the Enzo. And also all the AMG 65 models with 600+HP would then supercars as well no? In the same accompaniment of Enzo, GT...?

Better yet...here's a question. What makes a car a "supercar"? What qualities define it? What are the criterias? The Carrera GT, Bugatti, Enzo, Ford GT, etc....do they all have these things in common and as such can be labeled a "supercar"?

I'll say this though...if I was walking down Rodea Drive and an SLR pulled to a curb and the door opened towards the sky...I would still be

bimmerlover

u obviously never heard of the mclaren f1......

i'd definately take a zonda over an slr....but i do think its a special car i just thought more could be done while having the opportunity to team up with mclaren. well see how it performs on the track

Lov2xlr8

lets just wait until the tests come out and see how the SLR performs. and think about it, mclaren and mercedes to make a supercar. you get mclaren which made in my opinion the best supercar of all time and you get mercedes which makes the finest luxury cars made today. look at the CL and SL...

J Lucas

Let me help you defend it because I too feel like you, REPOST
Its funny how so many people who can not even PRETEND to afford the car can be so critical of it..... Lets ease off criticizing a car that so many hard working people spent countless hours CREATING from scratch, especially when you are not even potential buyers.. I can understand if you plan on buying it, but cmon dont HATE on the price because you can't afford it. How are you going to tell the manufactuers what to charge for their OWN products??Sorry just ranting again.....

Why defend a car against someone who cant even afford to buy it even if they did like it? THEY ARE OPINIONATED LAMES.......
It is one thing to compare and contrast but to trash a car of this magnitude is disrespectful to car enthusiast worldwide.......

FInality

Ahh but your thinking from a purist perspective. Lets face it purists rarely have the money to back up their own talk.

Why is it that M3s come ordered 80% of the time in SMG mode same with Ferraris? People couldn't be bothered shifting gears anymore.

I think the SLR is great probably matching the Carrera GT in sales.

AS NICE as the McLaren was it was never a cornering machine the car sat a bit too high up and was optimized to provide a comfortable ride. Take a look at the skidpad rating and braking distance both are pathetic compared to cars out there today. Even the 350Z outperforms the car in pure skidpad and braking distances. The McLaren has a wonderful name it has a beatiful racing history and was the personal obsession of a great engineer. It was a street supercar which raised the bar for everyone else, it is not however an all seeing all dancing wondercar.

It lacks many of the safety features common today. There are no electronic linkages between the driver and the pedals/brakes/steering etc all mechanical all 'pure' no LSD no TC either. Basically you need tremendous amounts of skill to drive that car which is probably why it scared real buyers away it was too pure. Reviewers and car nuts love it but when it came down to it, it was perhaps too pure for most sane people to own.

Lov2xlr8

all the mclaren is, is a race car legal for the streets. The SLR is a luxury supercar with the power of a race car, and designed from MB and mclaren. The SLR has every technology any car has plus some new MB stuff. and until the final SLR id seen in real life you cant talk about the look of it b/c there were many cars that people disliked just from seeing the pictures and loved it once seen in real life. I dont know about you people, but ive never read about anyone that has seen the SLR and writen bad about it. not in its looks, comfort, technology or anything else bad about it.

Bilal

Now here are some guys who talks some sense, J Lucas, FInality, and Lov2xlr8.

Im back to defend this car once again, just throw whatever you can at me

Let me help you,

Many magazines complain lack of cabin space:

Defence,

Hey, I ain't 6'1, so no problem for me.

bimmerlover

for all the poeple who beat up on my posts about the slr not being a supercar, even the guys at mclaren call it a gt not supercar.

sure its performance is probably astounding, but as i said and as some of the designers have stated it is not intended to be a supercar.

check out the new evo...still aint no zonda in my opinion...but hey to each his own just give me an enzo instead

J Lucas

An SlR is a supercar compared to my clk430 . thats one thing I definitely know....
If an SLR isnt a supercar then a CL65 AMG is DEFINITELY not one either.

bimmerlover

hey im not denying its capabiliites or that it wont drive like a dream, but both cl65and soon to be sl65 and slr are more for luxury GT's. they lack the crazy unreserved no compromise designs of the supercars and is quite overwieght as well. but when i think of super car i think of it in the sense of mclaren, enzo, zonda etc. but hey i never said i wouldnt take one....

but my question for you all is with the 65's coming out what truly is the difference between the slr and these upcoming amg monsters to account for the price diffeernce? i would surmize that the performance will be quite similar.

jco-amg

that's easy...two things are obvoius...weight and stiffness

I you don't think the slr will will drive circles around an sl65...you know very little about cars.

As a side note...any of you see the Maybach 62 passing a Bentley GT through the Flugpaltz on the Nurburgring!!!...in this months EVO...great read...what a car

Lov2xlr8

in my opinion the SLR is a better a car then those other supercars you guys mention. The SLR is a supercar+ b/c the design and performance is like all those other supercars, plus its luxury is like a benz!!!

kostas

the side exhausts are what the original SLR had.. so in no way is it unfitting



more pictures of the car here: http://www.highresautoimages.com/mer...lrmclaren.html

this is my favorite mercedes by far.. it used to be the CL.. but this.. is just a whole other level of car

C280Sportster

The SLR is one of the most beautiful cars I’ve ever seen.

pocholin

So much hate for the SLR, I love the idea, the car, the power and all, it dares to be different.

I also think that the fact that it is a Mercedes is going to make it more refined and comfortable than a Ferrari or a Porsche. So may be it is heavy and it won't handle as good as a Porsche GT or an Enzo, but it is still s supercar.

morebhp

Stunning shots - could not decide which to make my background - maybe change each day

I think this car looks superb.

Can't help but feel it will be a big gamble financially with Merc beating it up with so many cheaper big BHP models and I suspect other more sports oriented models (ferrari, lambo, etc) beating it in the pure sports car 'on track' mode.

Hope I am right - I'll be able to have one second hand

Shame the drop top was shelved (for the moment ) Is this still the case?

J Lucas

0-60 in 3.4 seconds......... Thats mclaren f1 times.......

morebhp

IMHO the times do not tell the whole story. I swapped my 360 for a SL55.

On times and stats there was not a lot in it, but on the road very different animals.

I guess I preferred the animal rawness of the 360, but can very much see the appeal of a every day drivable performance car like the SL55 (and thoroughly enjoyed it).