Memory of the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren

Gordon Murray, the father of the record breaking McLaren F1, served as the project’s lead engineer. According to Murray’s two-volume book, One Formula – 50 Years of Car Design, the poor guy had to fly to Stuttgart every week for almost six months to convince Mercedes that McLaren is capable of surpassing the German automaker’s original goals SLR camera.

Rather than rivaling the Ferrari 550 and other contemporary GTs, the sport of light racing moved to the supercar realm because of one man’s determination. The beepers in Woking and the boring guys in Stuttgart were always at odds during the development phase, but Gordon Murray’s team managed to create the SL 55. to reduce significantly in curb weight AMG Roadster to the carbon-clad SLR.

Also worth mentioning are carbon bucket seats and carbon-ceramic rotors with a brake-by-wire system as well as eight-piston brake calipers at the front, because the SLR is not a Lotus 7. A five-speed automatic is responsible for channeling the compressor. Resources of the V8 engine to the rear wheels.

The German-British collaboration manages to accelerate to 100 kilometers per hour in 3.8 seconds until the speedometer shows 334 kilometers per hour (208 miles per hour). That’s really fast by modern standards, let alone for the 2000s.

Based on the M113 engine that Mercedes introduced in 1998, the M155 is officially rated at 626 hp (617 hp) at 6,500 rpm and 780 Nm (575 pound-feet) of torque at 3,250 rpm. The supercharged 5.4-liter V8 was later upgraded to 650 horsepower (641 hp) and 820 Nm (605 pound-feet) for the 722 Edition and the Stirling Moss runabout.

Inspired by the Prancing Horse of the Maranello 550 and 575M Grand Tourers, the SLR has rear-facing weight distribution, despite being a front-engined car. The weight distribution of 49:51 supports the driving dynamics of Sport Light Racing and improves traction at the same time.

Obviously, Murray had to move the engine far behind the front axle to get this result. In addition, the force-fed V8 weighs significantly less than a double-charged V12 like the M275 in the mighty SL 65. Better still, it is only seven kilograms heavier than the free-breathing V12 engine in the limited-edition Ferrari Enzo super sports car.

In contrast to the Vision SLR, the exterior design of the production version had to be changed in the name of aerodynamics. To understand how many things had to change, remember that Murray opted for a sidepiped exhaust system to allow for a completely flat underbody. This engineering-driven change gave the SLR a pair of side vents. In addition to their cool design, the vents cool the catalytic converters and silencers.

Equipped with butterfly doors and a nose in Formula 1 style, which is reminiscent of the racing cars that helped Mika Häkkinen to two driver titles, the SLR was given a more powerful version in 2006. Named after the starting number of the 300 SLR from the Mille-Miglia-Straße from 1955 Race, the 722 also has lighter wheels and improved suspension bits for better handling.

The roadster came out in 2007 with a semi-automatic roof that has to be manually unlocked and pushed up briefly before the electric actuators fold it back. The last incarnation of the SLR is the Stirling Moss, named after the late British racing driver who drove the open 300 SLR to victory in the Mille Miglia. Only available to existing SLR owners, the Stirling Moss only counts 75 units, which makes it rarer than any other SLR variant on the market.

Overall, McLaren produced a total of 2,157 units from 2003 to 2009.