My GT7 Log: Head Honchos

Whenever I see the SLR McLaren and the SLS AMG, they remind me of those head honchos from certain racing video games. Before you take on the final boss, you'll gonna have to take the Number 2 first, some say.

Head honchos. Before taking on the final boss, you must get past its head honcho. These two Mercedes supercars played head honchos, and here in GT7, I got the chance to get to know...the semi-final bosses, if you catch my drift.

Let's begin with the SLR McLaren, a supercar you wish you would definitely want to invest yourself in the bull market. Get it? Bull.

Created from the partnership between Mercedes-Benz and McLaren, the SLR McLaren 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 of around 209mph. Production ended in early 2010, and it was succeeded by the SLS AMG.

Lastly, the Mercedes-AMG SLS, the supercar that made AMG a force to be reckoned with. The car that separates the men from the boys.

The SLS is an AMG original masterpiece that serves as the spiritual successor of the legendary 300SL because of the gullwing doors it possesses. While the gullwing doors hark back from the said classic, the SLS AMG is powered by a 6.2L V8 engine that produces 571 PS (420 kW; 563 hp) of power and 650 N·m (480 lb·ft) of torque. It was the most powerful naturally aspirated V8 engine in the world when it was unveiled and when mated to the AMG SPEEDSHIFT DCT seven-speed sports transmission, it does 0-100kph in less than four seconds and has a top speed of 317kph.

Having been satisfied with these head honchos, I went to Watkins Glen to find out which Number 2 is...well, Number 2. It's either Bull or Garrett, you know what I mean.

Have you guys done with your number 2? Because these head honchos are primed and ready to rattle the Big Apple, just like the good old days. Let's roll the tape.

Here are the results...

SLR McLaren - 2m08.366s

SLS - 2m07.507s

Looks like Garrett beats Bull by a margin. The SLS AMG trumped the SLR McLaren even in the Big Apple.

Before heading to the finals, you must get through these head honchos. Yeah yeah, I know how it ends, but hey, the SLR McLaren and the SLS AMG proved their point, with the latter the best right-hander for its commander.

So, up for The Finals? Oh wait...it's too early to say that but oh well...

Forza Motorsport 6: AMG GT meets the halo cars

The Mercedes-AMG GT is one of the most dramatic sports cars the high-performance division has ever made and with all that motorsport knowhow derived from its F1 team after one consecutive win after another in two Formula One seasons, it seems that Mercedes really made a well-balanced sportscar that ticks all the right boxes, apart from some people who believed that the AMG GT is not worthy of being a bonafide halo car Mercedes made.

As a matter of fact, let's look back at some of the best halo cars Mercedes ever made while driving around the GP Circuit part of the Nurburgring because the stuff I do on track takes less than five minutes while the stuff I do in the Nurburgring Nordschleife took about either seven, eight, nine, maybe ten, perhaps unless some actions need to be taken to capture such moments.

Let's start with the Mercedes CLK-GTR, basically a road-legal version of the CLK-GTR whose original track version became a threat in the ill-forgotten FIA GT1 and Le Mans races. The original version has a 6.0L V12 engine but the road-legal version has its engine size increased to 6.9L but produces less power than the race version while mated with a 6-speed gearbox. 0-100kph takes about 3.8 seconds and onwards to 344kph, which is way fast even at modern standards.

Although it looks exactly like a CLK-Class, the GTR shares no common traits with the normal CLK. Turning in one of these at a certain mall's parking space and a certain CLK owner might believe that that the CLK-GTR parked next to it would be extremely jealous of why it looks rakishly awesome than his. Anyway, because it draws inspiration from the race version it was based on, the CLK-GTR really feels at home on the track, although drivers may need some decent driving skills to master such a monstrous machine which is as monstrous as the monster from Frankenstein. As time passes by, the CLK-GTR remains one of the best timeless supercars Europe has ever made and so far, no other Benz does it better than this.

The SLR is the result of the Anglo-German collaboration between the two companies; Mercedes-Benz and McLaren. Despite being a Benz, it was made by McLaren. The 5.4 V8 that powers it was built by Mercedes, producing 626HP of power and 208mph of top speed, while its dynamics were the work of McLaren themselves, trying to employ its know-how from the McLaren F1 team.

Driving a car with Anglo-German ties sounds fabulous but it can result to a heated debate and as I drive this car, I can really feel the so-called tensions between UK and Germany. For Germans, the SLR should have been made to be a grand tourer while for the Brits, it should be a decent track weapon. Whatever that is, handling this car is like rehearing the topic about what would Brits do in its role to Europe, whatever that is.

The SLS AMG, meanwhile, combines tradition with performance in one memorable package. Although the design was heavily inspired by the 300SL, apart from its signature gullwing doors that make this car look flashy for no reason, it comes with a 6.2L V8 engine that produces 571 PS (420 kW; 563 hp) of power and 650 N·m (480 lb·ft) of torque. With so much torque, the SLS AMG behaves like an American muscle car with all that brute noise from its exhaust as well as its dynamic character that novices will find it very tricky to get through corners. With tire-shredding is what the SLS does best, some cynics would think that the SLS is considered to be an exotic but this is not an exotic car compared to Lamborghinis and Ferraris. This is just a grand tourer that just wants to let it roar on the road and track and cannibalize its own tires seriously.

Now, I'm heading back to the AMG GT and although it doesn't have the surprising traits of the past halo cars Mercedes made such as the road-legal CLK-GTR, the SLR (in collaboration with McLaren), and the SLS AMG by the way it performs, the AMG GT is simply one of the best ways how Mercedes-AMG defined the sportscar in its own terms.

Sure, the 4.0L V8 BiTurbo is less powerful than the old SLS AMG's V8 but with all the right dynamics heavily inspired by Mercedes' F1 team knowhow since their two-time win, it shouldn't be much of a problem to learn about how the AMG GT behaves. Believe it or not, I even manage to lap this car around the Nurburgring GP Circuit faster than the old SLS AMG...but only just.

In conclusion, the AMG GT is just one of the main reasons why Mercedes made a potent sportscar that does its job very seriously while retaining the AMG lunacy it deserves. In short, it's still a great car even if it doesn't have the mojo that past Mercedes halo cars made.

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.