Discussion
I saw a midnight blue droptop SLR, with tan leather roll past me in London yesterday. I remember them coming out and seeing it on TG and thinking it looks like a rocket ship. Seeing this one yesterday with THOSE wheels and the side exit exhausts, I may have fallen in love.
So when they initially came out they were slightly before my time on PH etc, so I was just wondering, when they came out what were they actually like, how good were they compared to their contemporaries etc. Does anyone have any experience of ownership of one etc etc.
Please share any thoughts you all have, because I still think it is one of the best looking cars I have ever seen in real life, especially with the turbine wheels, which in my eyes are up there with the dished Pagani wheels as some of the nicest of all time.
So when they initially came out they were slightly before my time on PH etc, so I was just wondering, when they came out what were they actually like, how good were they compared to their contemporaries etc. Does anyone have any experience of ownership of one etc etc.
Please share any thoughts you all have, because I still think it is one of the best looking cars I have ever seen in real life, especially with the turbine wheels, which in my eyes are up there with the dished Pagani wheels as some of the nicest of all time.
HA, I have never seen one before, this was on Marylebone High St, I stopped in the middle of the zebra crossings just gawping at it. I usually make a point of not looking at the people driving their 458's and Aventador's slowly down Brompton Rd etc as that is what they crave but this SLR had me I must admit.
MRPULLHARD said:
yes but they don't offer anything that a SL65 doesn't ?
Completely different cars! Have driven both a number of times (as well as several standard and tweaked 55AMG's) and the SLR copes with the power as it was designed from day one around that engine. The SL65 is "just" a hotted up SL originally designed for the 350 / 500 engines. It kicks and squirms all over the place with the traction control light flickering and cutting the power if you go anywhere near a decent throttle input. Don't get me wrong, it's very fast in a straight line in the right conditions, and sounds lovely with a decent exhaust upgrade, but if its cold or wet or you have any steering input then the traction control absolutely kills it unfortunately.Admittedly the interior of the SLR is a bit of a let down and junction / roundabout sightlines can be a but worrying with such a long bonnet and LHD only. But in every other way it is in a different league to the SL family and an incredible machine when used / driven correctly. Scuderia competitor it was not, 599 long distance type car is what it's all about.
Oh, and the SLR has THOSE doors. You just have to remember to go to the correct side after filling up as no one misses them being opened up, and you would look a right twunt getting in the wrong side to then get straight out and in the other side.... I have never done that....
More hotrod than McLaren supercar. Dominated by Mercedes and AMG more than subtle F1 engineering and a heavy beast. Many have gone back to McLaren Special Engineering for modification. The brakes are not the best, too high a braking point and the interior isn't unto much when you consider the price new. Too SL and acres of nasty plastic not carbon or aluminium. However the noise, pace and styling still shock and prices are not as silly as one may think.
Ashley1111 said:
Completely different cars! Have driven both a number of times (as well as several standard and tweaked 55AMG's) and the SLR copes with the power as it was designed from day one around that engine. The SL65 is "just" a hotted up SL originally designed for the 350 / 500 engines. It kicks and squirms all over the place with the traction control light flickering and cutting the power if you go anywhere near a decent throttle input. Don't get me wrong, it's very fast in a straight line in the right conditions, and sounds lovely with a decent exhaust upgrade, but if its cold or wet or you have any steering input then the traction control absolutely kills it unfortunately.
Have to totally agree with this - had an SL65AMG blessed with a monster engine producing 600+bhp and more impressively a mountain of torque. Sadly the package was a major let down as this jewel of an engine was plonked in a shopping trolley!.. Was still great fun trying to tame and it still remains the only car I have driven that more than troubled and literally overwhelmed the traction control system..
Have to totally agree with this - had an SL65AMG blessed with a monster engine producing 600+bhp and more impressively a mountain of torque. Sadly the package was a major let down as this jewel of an engine was plonked in a shopping trolley!.. Was still great fun trying to tame and it still remains the only car I have driven that more than troubled and literally overwhelmed the traction control system..
Jonty355 said:
I drove a roadster a while back, didn't do it for me either. Big wallowy sort of thing with a horrid semi-automatic gearbox that was slow... the gearbox that is. The car went like stink, but just felt like a big cruiser rather than a well sorted supercar.
yeah, but you drive like a girl and, frankly, ain't got a clueGassing Station | Supercar General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff