Mercedes-McLaren Take the Lid off the SLR

[fasteddy]

Performance is Equal to the Hardtop Model

Canadian Auto Press

Mercedes-Benz has an interesting philosophy on its fastest vehicles: it builds them in extremely limited quantities, and then at a later date, offers them once more, but without a roof. This practice has yielded a number of vehicles that expose occupants to open air at highly ludicrous speeds. First, there was the CLK-GTR, which was the homologation road going version of the competitive Le Mans car (sans roof). It was followed up by another variation of the CLK, the CLK DTM, a highly modified production CLK that mimicked the look and to a degree, the performance of the touring car. The latest Mercedes supercar to shed its roof is the modern-day incarnation of the "silver arrow" racer, the Mercedes-McLaren SLR.
Almost everything we've come to love about the SLR has remained present on the roadster. The slender and elegant F1-inspired bodywork with its copious vents is all intact, right down to the electronically operated air-brake and spoiler. While the gullwing doors of the CLK-GTR were lost in the convertible conversion, the SLR maintains its unusual doors that open upwards and outwards like an insect's wings. Mercedes-Benz says that the SLR's carbon fibre monocoque chassis has a rigidity that's "hitherto unattained in open-top vehicles." This means that as it stands, the SLR Roadster holds the title as the world's most rigid open-top vehicle, even though Mercedes didn?t reveal what the SLR Roadster?s chassis stiffness is in numerical values. Though the chassis didn't need to be any stronger, the SLR's A-pillars are made of steel to protect the occupants if the vehicle rolls over, and a rollover protection system was added.
Best of all is the SLR's engine. It's the big, burly supercharged V8 that spits out 626 horsepower through the rear wheels via an AMG Speedshift R automatic transmission. With not much weight to haul about, the SLR Roadster can sprint to 100 km/h in well under four seconds, which is quite a bit less time than it takes to lower the SLR's cloth roof; that process takes less than ten seconds. Unusual for a car of this price, the roof isn't completely automatic; the driver must still unlatch it by hand and push it upwards before the electric motors can take over, much like the Chrysler Crossfire. Still, that's not much to ask from a vehicle whose cloth roof can withstand speeds of over 322 km/h (200 mph). Hours upon hours of aerodynamic tuning ensured that the Roadster is just as fast as the Coupe, and that regular conversations can occur with the wind down at speeds of up to 200 km/h (125 mph).
Only a handful of customers will be able to purchase the McLaren SLR Roadster when it goes on sale in September, but if you?re truly interested in one, visit a Mercedes-Benz retailer for more details. Like the regular SLR, the Roadster won?t be built in Germany, but rather at McLaren?s F1 race car facility in Woking, England.

[fasteddy]

Official Statement.

Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster

Stuttgart, May 04, 2007
An open-air adventure for all the senses

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 coup? 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 coup?. 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 coup? 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 legend 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 exceptionally unusual in a roadster. For example, at 332 km/h, the maximum speed is at the high level of the coup? 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 retracted.

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 coup? 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 standards. 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 coup?, 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.

[fasteddy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zyq1mvU9IuU