2008 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren
May 25th, 2008
The maximum speed of the new high-performance sports car, which is powered by an AMG V8 compressor engine delivering 460 kW/626 hp, is 332 km/h, therefore at the same high level as the coupe. The SLR McLaren completes the sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in a breathtaking 3.6 seconds, with the speedometer needle passing the 200 km/h mark in a mere 10.2 seconds and 300 km/h in just 28.0 seconds. Although, thanks to its fully retractable top, which blends harmoniously into the flowing lines of the SLR McLaren, the Roadster offers undiluted open-air driving pleasure in the highest performance class, its occupants in no way lose out in terms of comfort or the vehicle's suitability for everyday use. The roof opens and closes semi-automatically in less than ten seconds, thereby combining the desire for convenience with the puristic character of the roadster. To open, the roof merely needs to be unlocked from the windscreen frame and be briefly raised, after which it folds away electrically. Since an aluminium cover is integrated into its front section, the roof elegantly closes off the top when re-tracted. Consequently, the new Roadster opens up a new dimension in refinement for open-top super sports cars.
The new SLR McLaren super sports car has been developed in response to the desire expressed by the brand's most discerning customers for even greater sportiness without losing any of the car's impressive everyday practicality. Like the coupe version, the new Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster once again unites the legend of the successful SLR racing models from the 1950s with the innovative technology of modern Formula 1 vehicles from the Vodafone-McLaren-Mercedes team. Typical stylistic elements, such as the arrow-shaped tip of the Formula 1 Silver Arrow, establish a visual link with the racing cars. The SLR leg-end of the 50s lives on stylistically in the distinctive lateral louvers, side pipes behind the front wheels and the wide-opening gullwing doors. The new Roadster benefits technically from the many years of experience of Mercedes-Benz and its Formula 1 partner McLaren. Apart from two aluminium engine frames, its body is made entirely of carbon-fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) materials, making the vehicle an exception among high-performance sports cars. Especially for the Roadster, complex carbon-fibre technology has been intelligently further developed for the monocoque chassis. The result is low weight, exemplary energy absorption and, therefore, extremely high occupant safety as well as a degree of torsional stiffness hitherto unattained in open-top vehicles. This leads to outstanding ride characteristics of the kind otherwise found only in closed-top super sports cars.
A high degree of safety is guaranteed and ensured by unique carbon-fibre crash elements, steel-reinforced A-pillars and two fixed roll-over bars. The comprehensive specification also features adaptive airbags, knee and side airbags as well as seat belt tensioners and a tyre-pressure monitoring system. The exclusive standard equipment includes semi-aniline-leather-upholstered carbon-fibre bucket seats which can be individually adapted to the driver and front passenger by means of differently sized seat pads; dual-zone automatic air-conditioning; a high-quality BOSE premium sound system; a multifunction sport steering wheel with gear-change paddles, and a navigation system with integral radio and CD player.
The new outstanding Mercedes-Benz SLR Roadster, like the coupe version, is manufactured at McLaren's Formula 1 factory in Woking, England, in accordance with extremely strict Mercedes-Benz quality standards and is available to buy from September 2007.
