Modern Era Supercars

[martinbo]

Look, I said it. There's a common consensus of opinion that the SLR could well be safer than the 599. I know why there aren't ENCAP results for either. But for now we do not have any idea of how much safer the SLR is compared with the 599. Point is, when you crash a supercar, invariably because of the exceedingly high limits, it will be at very high speeds. With no run-off areas, no gravel traps, no tyre walls. I'm of the firm and informed opinion that the human body is simply too fragile to survive such impacts in any car.

In the supercar coffee table books in 2079, many cars like the Zonda, CGT, 599, Enzo etc will be celebrated for how well they drove. The SLR will be remembered instead for being a disappointment. Well, at least a very safe one at that...

 

[martinbo]

But hey moving along now...


How about that other, assumed strength of the SLR: long distance comfort...

Time to press on. Still not something I’m entirely happy doing in the Roadster. It’s got nothing to do with the cost of the car, but the uneasy, unsettled way the chassis goes about its business. Aside from a brief two-lane stretch along Upper Loch Torridon, the A896 is one-car wide and, as with almost all roads south of Ullapool, tracks the valley floor, following rivers and skirting ancient glacial moraine. These roads, which undulate and meander gently through awe-inspiring backdrops, aren’t the best surfaced and so prove a stern test of the SLR’s body control. The carbonfibre tub is massively stiff, so there’s no hint of scuttle shake, but the suspension is less settled. In fact the SLR is decidedly busy, an odd juxtaposition when the lochs we pass are so still.

The non-adjustable suspension is by wishbones front and back, but while the front is stiff, precise and pointy (the weighty steering is hyper-direct and blade-sharp), the relatively softly sprung rear has less poise and control. Doubtless this has been done to keep things predictable, maximising traction and minimising oversteer, but the effects are exacerbated by the front-mid-engined layout. This may be great for balance, especially on track, but it means the driver sits a long way back, almost on top of the rear suspension, the movement of which is consequently magnified. On the A896, I’m not enjoying it much. The SLR is trying hard to act and behave like a Caterham, but that’s hard when you weigh 1825kg. The fact is it feels and drives much more like a TVR and is similarly hard to trust, particularly as the traction control cuts in appallingly late…

...

It needs a lot of road to do this, as the car’s nose has a propensity to wander slightly, but it’s under braking where you really need to take care. I have plenty of opportunity to discover this while Gus has me driving up and down for various photographic angles. The key problem is the floor-hinged brake pedal. As you press it, the arc it describes naturally lifts your heel off the floor, making it hard to modulate pressure. Combine that with dead travel and a tendency for the front end to snuffle across the tarmac as the tyres seek out a line of least resistance, and the brakes aren’t filling me with confidence. Not once on day one do I hit them hard enough for the airbrake rear spoiler to pop up.

...

And now, finally, I’m bonding with the SLR, trusting those carbon-ceramic brakes, getting the airbrake to flap up, at ease with the ultra-direct steering, ‘poppy’ rebound damping and the thunderous punch of third gear. Boy can it consume these roads quickly. And yet it still sends out confusing messages. Grand tourer? Emphatically not. Hardcore supercar? The soft-top says not, plus it’s happiest lolloping along at seven-tenths.

All of this starkly contradicts my northern African neighbours assertions as to the purported character and capability of the SLR...

Ollie Marriage is fairly new to EVO since the departure of Meaden and Bovingdon. The interesting thing is that he says nothing different to the scores of journalists from all manner of publications before him.

The SLR is the classic example of compromise - entered into with the best intentions - resulting in contradiction. It's not a GT and it's not a supercar...

But hey now...

At least it's safe. Supposedly.

 

[coolraoul]

^I agree with everything u said except for the choice between the two

No okay, I still like you... Don't throw your knives at me please...

 

[coolraoul]

I agree with you, Martin. I don't like the SLR, because it doesn't know what it want to be.

It disappointed me from day one, never could attain the supercar status. Besides the obvious falws that its motor and gearbox are, the unsettled suspensions settings (despite the mods after a year, and even the 722 version), the hard-to-dosate brakes, the over-sensitive steering...

It can't be a cruiser, it can't be a real GT. But it can't be a track tool. It doesn't have the passion of an Italian car, doesn't have the heart for that.

It looks very good, goes very fast. It's too expensive, thus compete against cars that are far more than just"powerful". It's more like a muscle-car, a kind of Giant 'Cuda, but without the cheapness.

I love the 'Cuda, but hey, against a Gullwing or 25OGTO...

 

[Zafiro]

SL65 Black Series can do everything the SLR can do, probably better in many ways
SLR has a nice exterior but thats the only intresting with the car. I pick other cars in this price range, including a SL65 BS.
SLR are for the rich Benz enthusiasts.

 

[Tarek]

No okay, I still like you... Don't throw your knives at me please...

Lol never! u are a bro

And Martin i can also highlight the probs too but hey lets not get carried away or better yet lets merge the evo test of the roadster here

Chill neighbor

 

[martinbo]

Lol never! u are a bro

And Martin i can also highlight the probs too but hey lets not get carried away or better yet lets merge the evo test of the roadster here

Chill neighbor

Chill...? Chill? The SLR is rubbish and right now it's South Africa: 1 - Egypt: 0.

LOL!

Just kidding brother... it's all in good fun.

 

[Tarek]

Just kidding brother... it's all in good fun.

I know u were

It;s just sometimes u deliberately put the car down no matter what and totally ignore all it's merits for being what exactly it's meant to be and how MB wanted the car to be,u are putting the car down for reasons it's not even meant to be.Honestly i would diss the car with u if MB said that is a hardcore track car but they never did.

All i'm saying is MB did a hyper GT exactly like they wanted and boy did they nailed it? super fast,MB traditional comfort and safety and stunning looks,That is what the SLR meant to be.

Hardcore drivers opt for CGT or Enzo,simple as that.

 

[martinbo]

C'mon, you know me... I've got a balanced view on most cars and I'll dish out the MB love for cars that warrant it.

Notice that I've got nothing but good things to say about Merc's range of semi-offroaders. The GL, ML and GLK are to my mind fantastic Mercedes products that combine the heritage of Merc's offroad pedigree in modern, useful SUV products. I love em! So too some performance Mercedes models; SL series? A peerless Mercedes Benz product range that is so emphatically Mercedes Benz that competitors need to look at all sorts of other criteria to even get a sniff in to compete. As for Merc's recent E and E Coupe offerings... nothing but good things to say - especially around the area of interior quality and form which is so much the imperious Mercedes Benz I remember as a child and young adult. So this is not an anti-Merc thing by any stretch of the imagination.

I'm getting to that age now where I can afford to be judgemental and picky.

And this brings me back to the SLR and I will continue to harp on about it. I have given very specific reasons in this thread and others as to why - even for us poor folk who will never own an SLR - the SLR is a failure as either a GT or a supercar. It's a dramatic looking car - no doubt - but then so are most supercars.

For what it is, for what you pay and for how it's badged - the Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren is a failure when viewed against the cars it supposedly competes against. And, I'm being very deliberate about saying this.

I'm not ignoring the merit. I'm trying, somehow, to find merit amongst these facts:

- Excessive weight, despite the most high-tech of carbon-fibre construction techniques.
- 3 valve per cylinder, SOHC cam V8, Supercharger, 5 speed torque convertor auto. That's low tech by anyone's standards. Even the McLaren F1's engine of a decade earlier was more advanced.
- Not favourably reported on by the vast majority of influential and experienced motoring scribes (and this is true, it's not conjecture) the SLR is unloved by most writers.

I respect the Merc fan club's opinion on this car but it will take a proper effort to convince me otherwise. That's about all I have to say on the matter further.

 

[Tarek]

^Well it's nice to see u appreciate some of MB cars as they are made according to MB long standing traditions but that should also include the SLR as everyone knows that car was engineered from the ground up according to MB's way,that's why as we all know Gordon Murray was so pissed

-Heavy weight is due to extensive safety systems,no other GT,supercar or hyper car or whatever has front,full side and knee bags.
-No other car in that category has that lemo comfort trademark of MB.
-The SLR was desigend almost a decade ago,so no wonder it uses that old school V8 Kompressor engine.
-Of course as we all know that MB cares only about earth moving mega torque engines,that's why we see a super charged V8 not a screamer powering the SLR,torque is the most responsible for total effortless performance and MB delivers that like no other.
-The five auto box,is old but nothing can handle the mega torque but it so it is used,according to all reviews it's fast enough,smooth and sturdy rock solid so if it ain't broke....
-There's no other get-in-and-disappear kinda car in the world like this one,definitely one of the reasons why i love it so much

At the end of the u prefer the much newer car 599 GTB and i prefer the more exotic SLR,to each his own