Thursday 3rd April 2008

Return Of The Mac (Engine)

SLR will be gone by 2009 but will engine live on in a Zonda?

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End of SLR - Beverley Hills weeps

Mercedes-Benz is understood to be ending SLR production at the end of next year, leaving many to question what will happen to the car’s fantastic 5.5 litre supercharged V8.

Well thanks to a YouTube video and a few turns of the rumour mill it could be heading for the new Pagani Zonda.

Pagani is said to have renewed its engine partnership with Mercedes AMG and in the spy video below you can see a mule driving around near the company’s offices with what sounds like an SLR engine.

Yes the video is a little old but it seems that after the end of the SLR was announced some people are putting two and two together.

The SLR coupe slipped away quietly at the end of last year but the last Roadster is now being slated to roll off the assembly line in 2009, ending the car’s five-year lifespan.

[cowellsj]

Doesn't sound very similar to me. Although the supercharge whine seems to be there. Well done to that chap for fighting off the swarm of bees tho.

Edited by cowellsj on Thursday 3rd April 13:03

[Baffled Spoon]

The SLR engine is quite possibly the best sounding V8 ever. Will probably sound just as good as in the SLR but probably louder when you give it some, which the driver in the vid clearly wasn't doing. Should give fantastic performance in the lighter Zonda body too.

[g4ry13]

So rather than possibly getting a 7.3 litre V12 you can get a 5.5 litre V8? Not that it matters much, but i'd rather take the V12

[jon-]

g4ry13 said:

So rather than possibly getting a 7.3 litre V12 you can get a 5.5 litre V8? Not that it matters much, but i'd rather take the V12

Much better power to weight from the v8, plus easier to package and lower CoG.

The NA v12 might sound a little better but the SC V8 is the smarter engine for a light weight hypercar.

[E4UAN]

I've always thought the Zonda V12 was the greatest sounding engine I've ever heard, it turned around my opinion on the car that I'd always thought was just a bit too ridiculous. I'll be sad if they bin it for good.

[ross_stig]

Baffled Spoon said:

The SLR engine is quite possibly the best sounding V8 ever. Will probably sound just as good as in the SLR but probably louder when you give it some, which the driver in the vid clearly wasn't doing. Should give fantastic performance in the lighter Zonda body too.

i might have ti disagree on that one, though it is a stunning sounding engine, have you heard the V8 in the corvette C6R Le Mans race car? that is nice!

[charlescrawley]

ross_stig said:

i might have ti disagree on that one, though it is a stunning sounding engine, have you heard the V8 in the corvette C6R Le Mans race car? that is nice!

I might have to disagree further... The V8 in the 1998 Panoz LM-GT1 was even better...

[VxDuncan]

Hmmmn... I'd have thought giving that engine to pagini would make it a rival to two other supercars that maybe in development? Sounds a bit fishy to me.

[MrKipling43]

I'm sorry, but that sounds absolutely nothing like the SLR V8!

[flattotheboards]

That sounds like the 7.3 V12 not the 5.4 V8.

[timewatch]

mickken said:

Can someone please just strap the supercharger on to the Benz 7.3......job done.

Now that would fly.

You'll need this then ? check it out !

http://the-gadgeteer.com/review/k40_calibre_blueto...

TW>>>

[pistolp]

how on earth is someone supposed to tell what engine it has from that? i'm as much of a petrolhead as anyone but honestly!!!

[deviant]

5 year life span....Where the heck did that just go?!?! Only seems like a few months..

[ZesPak]

"The SLR coupe slipped away quietly at the end of last year...."

Just wait and see what they will pay for one in about 50 years.
Gullwing anyone?

[JohnGoodridge]

jon- said:

g4ry13 said:

So rather than possibly getting a 7.3 litre V12 you can get a 5.5 litre V8? Not that it matters much, but i'd rather take the V12

Much better power to weight from the v8, plus easier to package and lower CoG.

The NA v12 might sound a little better but the SC V8 is the smarter engine for a light weight hypercar.

It's personal, but I prefer the V12. Isn't this a core part of the Pagani appeal? Light weight package, n/a V12 and exclusivity appear to be their core values. A s/c V8 (no matter how good) would put them in the same ballpark as Koenisegg, which would be sad IMHO.

Guess it would keep mk1 Zonda residuals high though.

Take the point about the engineering reasons to go that way...