Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster 2008 Review

Road Test

There's little point in mulling over the ratings above... Or for that matter, the "Also considers". When you enter the rarified world inhabited by the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster concepts such as 'practicality' and 'reasoned thought' go out the window, to be replaced by 'instant gratification' and 'conspicuous consumption'...

Hand-built in small numbers in Benz's F1 partner McLaren's own McLaren Technology Centre (architectural marvel and home of the race team, located in Woking, south-west of London), the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster is a development of the original SLR Coupé first unveiled in September 2003.

An exercise in applied technology more than business planning, it's been suggested the partners lose money on every SLR built.

The SLR Roadster is fashioned around the same F1-inspired carbon-fibre chassis, that underpinned the Coupé. It remains steadfastly left-hand-drive-only. It's for this reason, more than its million-dollar plus pricetag or any red (or black) ink, that the SLR has never been officially imported Down Under -- in either Coupé or roadster form. (See more on the technical aspects of the SLR here)

The Carsales Network was one of just four Australian media outlets invited to drive the SLR and its stablemate, the CLK 63 AMG Black Series, in and around Los Angeles last month. It was far from a comprehensive road test, but in the hills to the north east of the famed celebrity hangout of Malibu we were able to find enough space and a few perfectly cambered canyon roads to get a hint of what the SLR holds in store for those with the readies.

Though labeled as a supercar from the outset, the front mid-engined supercharged V8 SLR is more two-seater, super GT in its open top form. We've listed the topless Lambo flagship as a competitor, but to put it in Ferrari terms think 599 GTB, rather than Enzo!

Indeed, not only does the SLR have a more forgiving ride than the traditional supercars, it also features, in true Mercedes-Benz style, an automatic transmission. This, coupled with the conventional though exaggerated Coupé/roadster dimensions make it, with one exception (more later), easy for tenderfoots to drive -- even in the congested traffic that is workaday LA.

Take the long nose and low valance into account and forget the panel costs (the bonnet's $US85K to replace and the splitter around $US8500 if you ground it in the supermarket carpark) and the SLR's almost no harder to drive or park than its lookalike little cousin, the SLK.

Sure, you sit low (and positioning the wheel and seat just-so made exiting the car a chore for yours truly) but with the top down (hey, this is SoCal) vision is excellent all round and there's mod-cons like Parking Assist to help. Indeed, no manual or automated clutch histrionics make low speed manoeuvring hatchback easy. Only the steering (power assisted but still surprisingly heavy) and the 'nothing-then-all' exotic carbon-ceramic brakes mark the SLR as anything out of the ordinary.

Until, that is, the traffic clears and you open the throttle… Capable of sprinting to 100km/h in less than 4sec and to 200km/h in less than 11sec, on the way to a top speed of 332km/h, the straightline performance potential of the SLR is staggering. Something worth considering before you light the blue touch paper.

To allow the car to feature an aerodynamically efficient flat undertray, the exhausts exit through the body side just ahead of the front doors -- problematic in terms of ADR compliance even if the car was built in right-hand drive. The rectangular big-bore pipes broadcast any throttle application via a hard-edged pulsing exhaust note that is unique to the SLR.

Do this on city streets and almost every head turns. And occasionally car alarms trigger… Oops!

The AMG-fettled supercharged and dry-sumped V8's power pulses are heavy on the bass and have metallic hard 'edges' that affect the ear drums in the same 'pressure wave' assault as a warbird or racing powerboat's engine. Keep the boot in and the individual pulses soften a touch but then build again to a combined timbre that's unlike almost any other car engine this tester's experience.

There's nothing musical or melodic about the way this engine climaxes, however. It's gruff, business-like and, well, very Germanic. In this respect, it's not completely removed from the E55 AMG V8 upon which the engine is (distantly) based.

As noted above, the car's quite un-supercar like around town. Save for some tramlining, the steering's heavy but uneventful and even the car's turning circle is, well, normal. Indeed, even the cabin should be relatively familiar to anybody who's driven a Mercedes-Benz sporty in recent years.

Not too recent, mind you, for despite the car's seven-figure pricetag, and lashings of hand-stitched leather and carbon highlights, the SLR is embarrassed by the overall excellence in, say, the new C-Class. The million dollar SLR also misses out on the latest Benz's integrated menu-driven satnav and iPod connectivity et al. In the case of the SLR you need to know where you're going or visit Mr Navman.

None of any of which will bother 99 out of 100 SLR owners. Remember what we said about practicality and reasoned thought...

And despite the car's performance credentials, nor are there likely to be more than a handful of owners that will push their SLR anywhere near its limits... When the road gets interesting and the pace is increased this is not a car that suffers fools. And the messages the car telegraphs are not likely to encourage amateur exploration either.

Start to exercise the SLR's 460kW force-fed 5.4-litre V8 and there's a sense that the sort of petulance that was once traditional of thoroughbreds is hidden not too far under the surface. There's good natural traction, to a point, but when the car breaks free the transition can be savage -- on bumpy or slick bitumen, the SLR would be a handful.

In a time when even performance cars can feel anodyne, it's a change to sense more than a hint of mongrel in the mix under the polished surface.

The gearbox is one thing that flies in the face of this impression, however. Offering three modes and a further choice of manual mode 'maps', the five-speeder is about as good as an auto can be in a performance application.

Changes aren't super fast, but in manual mode, using the wheel-mounted paddles in 'race' mode gives a fair approximation of a well-fettled DSG. Such is the spread of torque of the SLR's mega-V8 780Nm from 3250-5000rpm that any more than five ratios would be superfluous.

It's the high-tech brakes that take the most getting used to and pose a challenge to driving the McMerc fast and smooth from the off. Amazingly powerful, yet incredibly frustrating, the carbon-composite brakes have a split second of almost zero initial bite and then come on -- hard!

As noted above, this can be disconcerting in town -- even when parking. In traffic they make for the occasional heart flutter as you drift a touch closer to your target than intended. They get better (more predictable in initial application) as speeds rise, but they always require a disproportionate amount of your attention.

We're guessing that on a racetrack the whole plot will come together -- it needs to. For the record, we don't doubt the brakes' power, just their suitability to all but a very narrow part of the SLR's performance spectrum.

In dynamic terms, there's ne'er a hint of scuttleshake or shimmy from the open-top SLR -- thanks to its carbon-fibre tub, the roadster's almost as stiff as the Coupé. That said, nor does the super-rigid chassis give much seat-of-the-pants feedback until speeds are, err… elevated.

Steering is precise and turn-in is instant -- an impression that's masked just a touch because the driver sits so far rearwards. Like the back-end, feedback through the wheel is dull -- a tactile, talking 911 'tiller' it ain't.

And despite the generous weighting of the wheel, the speed of the steering means a driver has to concentrate not to add spurious input into the system. It's very easy to get this car dancing around via unwanted steering actions. This is especially the case of multiple, smaller, sharper bumps when the SLR can get a touch 'pattery'.

Brake with serious intent from three-figure (imperial) speeds and the SLR gets lively in a way drivers experienced of the current crop of super-stable performance cars might find un-nerving.

Unlike most Mercedes-Benz vehicles it's possible to deactivate the safety net of ESP on the SLR. Should you choose to do so, given the combination of the sharp, yet at times remote chassis, instant torque and the car's not inconsiderable 1825kg mass (not to mention pricetag), it's best you make sure you're really on your game!

In the end, perhaps that is one of the attractions of the SLR. And the factor that elevates it from the all-round competence and comparable straightline performance of the 'closest' Benz we can buy Down Under, the $457,000 SL65 AMG.

Priced at $US495,000 in USA, the SLR Roadster is almost four times the price of  the racetrack-tuned CLK hottie in the same marketplace. Applying the same relativities, the SLR would cost at least $1.2m Down Under.

Make no mistake, the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster isn't built to take on the rest of the auto world -- it's all about those funky burghers at Daimler corp living it large. It's about flag waving for a brand that is already at or close to the top of the tree.

It's almost beside the point that the car is claimed to be the fastest convertible in the world. Sheer statistics don't, in the end, matter.

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