Vision SLR

News Flash: Mercedes-Benz has given the go signal to McLaren Cars Ltd., to produce the Vision SLR as a $170,000 supercar for 2003. This is in line with Mercedes’ purchase of 40% of the TAG McLaren Group of companies.
On the Formula One circuit, Ferrari and Mercedes dished out the best they could muster in the 1998 season. In the end, due partly (maybe a small part) to Schumacher’s tire puncture, Mercedes came out on top and won both the driver’s and constructor’s championship.

To commemorate this crowning achievement, Mercedes launched a new concept car at the North American International Motor Show in Detroit on December 20. This was the Mercedes-Benz Vision SLR.

At the moment, the Vision SLR remains merely as a concept car. However, Mercedes is seriously considering to build this wonderful piece of machinery with the help of their Formula One constructor, McLaren Cars Ltd. If this is true, this could also serve as McLaren’s so-called ‘F2’ project, which is slated to follow the McLaren F1 supercar.

The Vision SLR carries with itself both a spirit of nostalgia and techno-funk feel. For instance, the Vision SLR borrows its name from the Mercedes sports-car racers during the 1950s. The SLR’s past is already a burden enough to start with in regard to what people expect from this new concept car. Just think about it: the 1955 Mercedes SLR was powered by a 3-liter V8 engine, which had a maximum power of 302 horsepower at 7,500 rpm (powerful for its time). More than its engine and displacement, the original SLR had the privilege to be remembered as the car that the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss piloted to numerous victories.

Aside from the name, Mercedes designers borrowed the long chiseled hood, dynamic fenders and ‘gull-wing’ doors from the 1950 Mercedes 300SL coupe (one of the best classics ever). The Vision SLR design concept incorporates a double spoiler across the face of the car and the new Mercedes-Benz ‘face’ with the four oval headlamp clusters. In addition the new face, the Vision SLR’s evocative arrow-shaped front end is based on the McLaren-Mercedes which Mika Hakkinen drove to win both the driver’s and constructor’s championship in the 1998 Formula One season.

True to its legendary nameplate, the Vision SLR design concept is anything but ordinary. The body-shell for instance is not made from unit steel but rather is made from carbon fiber with reinforced aluminum. Combining the Vision SLR’s lightweight body with a next-generation Supercharged SOHC 18V V8 and a 5-speed tipshift automatic transmission, the Vision SLR can accelerate from zero to 60 in 4.2 seconds, 733 Nm of torque at 4000 rpm and a top speed of 199 mph.
I remember a few months back, some spy photographers snapped up a picture where Mercedes designers and engineers were seen testing Ferrari road cars. Could this be the fruit of that testing? Maybe, the Vision SLR’s is designed to be a direct competitor to the Ferrari 550 Maranello, which complete with a 6-speed manual transmission, could do a zero to 60 second-run in 4.7 seconds. The Ferrari’s torque is only 578 Nm at 5000 rpm and top speed is equal at 320 km/h.

The Vision SLR is slated not to replace the company’s already fast SL and CL coupes, but rather it is aimed at a higher, sportier audience (though the platform and the running gear is heavily based on the next-generation SL). The interior is also a break for standard Mercedes fare.

The main speedometer and tachometer gets nostalgic treatment that echo the original SL, but at the same time, if looked at closely it integrates all other warning lights, fuel gauge and anything else of importance. The leather-wrapped steering wheel echoes the same lines as that of the modern Formula One car, which is not round, but rather, squarish in design (they should have included LED shift indicators too!).

The whole interior is wrapped in a generous amount of aluminum and leather. Striking details such as the drilled aluminum pedals are additional touches to a great looking car. The center console is decked in aluminum as well, with simple looking four main rotating dials. This is of course, a break from the cluttered dash displays in current Mercedes road cars.
The new Mercedes COMAND system, which is first seen in the new S-Class, also makes an appearance on the Vision SLR where it pops out, flush from the center console when needed. Even the tipshift automatic transmission has been given a sportier feel by giving it a ‘short-throw’ lever.

It is still fuzzy to see what standard features Mercedes and McLaren would put inside the Vision SLR, but if it were a standard Merc, don’t be surprised to see dual, side and window airbags; 10-speaker sound system; arc-discharge Xenon headlamps; ESP (electronic stability program); ABC (active body control); ABS (anti-lock braking system) and Brake Assist.

Now, the important question, can this Merc take on the Ferrari 550 Maranello? If the price tag is within the US$200,000 then why not? On paper, the Merc looks faster and more powerful than the Ferrari. But in the end, we will never know which would win until Mercedes brings their Formula One feud down to the autobahn. Then we shall see who the real champion is.

By Tamago | Photos courtesy of Mercedes-Benz