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NEWS
SPY PICS: Mercedes-Benz SLC
Replacement for SLS will be more compact, agile and cleaner-running than the gullwinged supercarMercedes-Benz’s upcoming SLC coupe – which will replace the SLS when it launches in 2015 – has again been captured by the Automedia lenses.
The accompanying pics provide the best look yet at the next-gen flagship coupe, which clearly retains the long snout-short tail proportions of the SLS.
As previously reported, the SLC – codenamed C190 – ditches the look-at-me gullwing doors of the SLS, but the car will otherwise carry over the visual essence of the current Merc range-topper.
What will change is the car’s dimensions – it will be lighter and smaller than the SLS, enabling it to target Porsche’s 911, which generates far greater sales volumes than the existing Merc super-coupe.
Given its re-orientation, the SLC will be offered with an entry-level V6 turbo engine that will reportedly push out around 250kW, putting it in the same ballpark as the 911 Carrera.
The flagship will ditch the high-revving 6.2-litre atmo V8 that powers the SLS in favour of a new twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 that is tipped to kick out just over 360kW and 680Nm.
Although the V8-powered SLC is likely to come in around 150kg heavier than the 911 Carrera S, its extra 60-65kW should ensure it at least matches the Porsche in terms of straight-line acceleration.
More hardcore drivers will be catered to by an ‘S’ version with race-style seats, carbon-ceramic brakes and a go-faster body kit. It will also gain an uprated V8 with improved breathing, more aggressive camshafts and a free-flow exhaust with quad tips, making for outputs of around 435kW and 750Nm.
All variants of the SLC are expected to feature a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, a shorter final drive ratio and a limited-slip differential.
Underpinning the whole lot is an evolution of the SLS’s aluminium spaceframe architecture that’s been shortened and re-engineered for conventional side-hinged doors, allegedly boosting torsional rigidity.
Although the camouflage worn by this prototype conceals much of the car’s detailing, at least the cab-back proportions and the conventional doors of the car are evident, embodying the same basic theme as the SLS and McLaren-Merc SLR that preceded it.
– with Automedia
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Written byGautam Sharma
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