In order to spark interest in the slow selling SLR McLaren, Mercedes-Benz has announced that they are going to offer a roadster version of the SLR McLaren supercar. The car is powered by supercharged 5.5L 615 horsepower AMG V8. The roadster can achieve a top speed of 207 miles per hour and 0-62 mph in 3.8 seconds.
Most of the body panels are made of light weight carbon fiber.
Buyers of the roadster will be able to choose between three different top colors. Mercedes also claims that two passengers can have an adequate conversation with the top down at speeds up to 125 mph.
Unfortunately only 1,000 of the SLR McLaren Roadsters will be built.
PRESS RELEASE
Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster: An open-air adventure for all the senses
Stuttgart, May 04, 2007
Mercedes-Benz will in future also market its SLR McLaren super sports car in the form of a roadster with a top. In common with Formula 1 vehicles of today, it, too, will be made of carbon fibre, a material that will endow the vehicle with a very high degree of safety as well as extreme torsional stiffness at the same high level as the coupé version. This gives rise, in combination with the racing-type chassis, to outstanding ride characteristics.
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 coupé. Although, thanks to its fully retractable top, 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. Consequently, the new Roadster opens up a new dimension in refinement for open-top super sports cars.
Like the coupé 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.
The puristic top is suitable for high speeds
The exceptional qualities of the Roadster are attributable also to the fully retractable top, which blends harmoniously into the flowing lines of the SLR McLaren. Its newly developed roof material, which is available in three different colours, not only guarantees complete suitability for everyday use in all weathers, but also endows the high-performance sports car with characteristics that are exception-ally unusual in a roadster. For example, at 332 km/h, the maximum speed is at the high level of the coupé version. Conversation is still possible at well over 200 km/h on open-air journeys thanks to the favourable aeroacoustics.
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.
Sophisticated aerodynamics and racing-type chassis
In the wind tunnel, the Roadster has been optimised for high speeds with regard to handling, aeroacoustics and aerodynamics. It likewise employs the aerodynamic concept already known from the coupé version, featuring an airbrake integrated into the access lid and a diffusor in the rear bumper to provide increased downforce on the rear axle.
The open two-seater is equipped with a racing-type chassis featuring high-performance carbon-ceramic brake discs, thereby setting extremely high stan-dards. Its front-mid-engine provides for optimum weight distribution. With 460 kW/626 hp and a maximum torque of 780 Nm, the AMG V8 compressor engine, which is coupled to an AMG Speedshift R five-speed automatic transmission, accelerates the Roadster from zero to 100 km/h in 3.8 seconds.
Unique safety and exclusive fittings
A high degree of safety is 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 Mercedes-Benz SLR Roadster, like the coupé, is produced at McLaren's Formula 1 factory in Woking, England, in accordance with stringent Mercedes-Benz quality criteria and will be available as from September 2007.
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Comments (8)
I've always thought this car was ugly. I mean, not fugly like a Chevy Malibu, but compared to other cars in its price range...it's kind of a dog.
I think that's why it hasn't sold.
And I also hate how it uses a supercharger. It seems cheap to have a large displacement engine need forced induction, like the Ford GT.
Posted by Noya | May 5, 2007 11:04 PM
Posted on May 5, 2007 23:04
I think the reason it hasn't sold is that nobody has or wants to spend the $600,000 they're asking for one.
What market is this car attempting to appeal to? Is it meant to be a rich persons every-day car or a weekend toy? It doesn't seem to do either very well.
If its an every-day driver its way too exepensive, and the fact that it can go over 200mph is redundant.
As a toy, well its styling is too corporate (which might have sold cars in the yuppie era but it looks really dated now) and it weighs 2 tons so its handling and therefore driving experience are going to be really boring.
If I had that kind of money to spend on a toy I'd probably buy a ferrari or something much more individual, stylish and fun to drive. I mean jeez every corporate wannabe drives a BMW or a Mercedes thats why they're so boring.
Posted by Niz | May 6, 2007 3:45 PM
Posted on May 6, 2007 15:45
Nearly everyone who spends $100k+ for a two seat car is buying a "toy". And yes, its styling it too generic Mercedes to stand up against supercars like the Enzo (or even the 599 & 430), Lamborghini Murc/Gallardo, Carrera GT, Zonda and the handfull of other $200k+ cars.
Posted by Noya | May 7, 2007 2:37 AM
Posted on May 7, 2007 02:37
What boring??!! simply means you just cannot afford to have one, ANYWAY.
Posted by jeff | July 26, 2007 10:39 PM
Posted on July 26, 2007 22:39
I don't think this car is ugly. I think that for this category of a car it is too pricey though.
Posted by Wendy | October 5, 2007 4:16 PM
Posted on October 5, 2007 16:16
DAMN THIS CAR IS HOT!!!!!!!
My husband and I bought one of the Roadsters for our daughter on her 16th birthday. It was well worth the money that we spent on it. All of you middle class folk need to quite complaining, because you are just envious that you can't afford one yourself. I bet if someone offered you one for free, you would take it.
Well that's all I have to say. Toodles Everyone!!
P.S. And yes, I am a conceited, spoiled, hot, sexy woman that lives in Malibu!! Got a problem with that? I didn't think so!
Posted by Melissa | October 28, 2007 1:48 PM
Posted on October 28, 2007 13:48
Oh, yes I forgot to mention that I am RICH!!!!
Posted by Melissa | October 28, 2007 1:54 PM
Posted on October 28, 2007 13:54
1st of all. Anyone who spends 600,000 dollars on there childs first car is an idiot. I doubt she can even drive the thing. Mclarens drive much like a race car. They understeer.. They oversteer... They are very difficult cars to drive, especially for a 16 yr old. Trust me I own an 05 SLR and have test driven the roadster. Secondly. Melissa your a bitch. Why pick on the "middle classs?" Without them are society would crumble. Obviously, anyone in the right mind would take that car for free. However I doubt anyone will ever have that option. Anyways, to sum that all up, Your a bitch. Now for why this car isnt selling. Well 600g's is a lot of money and quite frankly this car isnt worth it. Maybe in 2 or 3 years we will see more of these on the roads because the price will have dropped by then. To sum it all up this car isnt worth the dough and melissa is a bitch. Toodles!
Posted by John | March 30, 2008 3:26 AM
Posted on March 30, 2008 03:26