Friday, September 21, 2012

Welcome Back: 2005 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren

A wondrous Anglo-German partnership since the...whatever that means




The SLR McLaren is the fruit of a wonderful collaboration between Mercedes-Benz and McLaren. It may be badged as a Mercedes-Benz but the SLR was produced in Woking Town in Surrey, where the McLaren headquarters is located at.

It comes with a 5.4L supercharged V8 engine specially developed for the SLR, generates 626 PS (460 kW; 617 hp) of power and 780 N·m (580 lb·ft) of torque, mated with a 5-speed automatic transmission. Mercedes-Benz said that this car has a 0-60mph time of 3.8 seconds and a top speed at around 208-209mph.

Production of the SLR ended in 2010 and the partnership between Mercedes-Benz and McLaren is finished and gone through separate ways.

Richard Hammond drove the SLR McLaren in South Africa in Season 3 Episode 7 of Top Gear and afterward, Jeremy Clarkson drove the SLR in Season 4 Episode 2 of Top Gear, whereas The Stig set a lap time of 1:20.9 at the Top Gear Test Track.

In Top Gear Season 6 Episode 6, Jeremy Clarkson drives the SLR McLaren against Richard Hammond and James May on different forms of transportation (by plane, boat and bus) heading to Oslo, Norway and in the end, Jeremy and the SLR won while Richard and James got lost and not sure how to get through Oslo.

The SLR was featured in Jeremy Clarkson's 2004 DVD titled Clarkson: HOT METAL, where it raced against the Porsche Carrera GT.

It also appeared in XTM Top Gear Korea whereas The Stig set a lap time at the TGK Test Track in 1:31.23, quicker than the BMW M3 and the 1M Coupe.

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