Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster

Mercedes-Benz will in future also market its SLR McLaren super sports car in the form of a roadster with a top. In common with Formula 1 vehicles of today, it, too, will be made of carbon-fiber, a material that will endow the vehicle with a very high degree of safety as well as extreme torsional stiffness at the same high level as the coupe version. This gives rise, in combination with the racing-type chassis, to outstanding ride characteristics. The top speed of the new Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster, which is powered by an AMG V8 compressor engine delivering 617 bhp, is 206 mph, therefore at the same high level as the coupe.Like the coupe version, the new Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster once again unites the legend of the successful SLR racing models from the 1950s with the innovative technology of modern Formula 1 vehicles from the Vodafone-McLaren-Mercedes team. Typical stylistic elements, such as the arrow-shaped tip of the Formula 1 Silver Arrow, establish a visual link with the racing cars. The SLR legend of the 50s lives on stylistically in the distinctive lateral louvers, side pipes behind the front wheels and the wide-opening gullwing doors.The new SLR McLaren Roadster benefits technically from the many years of experience of Mercedes-Benz and its Formula 1 partner McLaren. Apart from two aluminum engine frames, its body is made entirely of carbon-fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) materials, making the vehicle an exception among high-performance sports cars. Especially for the Roadster, complex carbon-fiber technology has been intelligently further developed for the monocoque chassis. The result is low weight, exemplary energy absorption and, therefore, extremely high occupant safety as well as a degree of torsional stiffness hitherto unattained in open-top vehicles. This leads to outstanding ride characteristics of the kind otherwise found only in closed-top super sports cars.