admit that I did not appreciate it. Oh, another super-fast toy for millionaires - I thought. SLR quickly led me to error. It turned out that hidden under a layer of luxury Manie ry lumberjack. I remember my amazement at the news about the Polish reply to supercars. Established in spring 2003, even before he went any SLR on the street. With only a model 1:18 scale and prototype images called Vision SLR, Mr. Robert Furtak - Mercedes enthusiast from Krakow - did a ride-SLR-a. I was amazed not so much the end result, if it desired that someone paid over two years to construct a copy of something that is not de facto. also pleasantly surprised by the journalists 'Auto Bild', who came to the place, just watched the car and described in the article "SLR-Furtak - BLASZAK wonderful." In the end they were amazed, and indeed representatives of the group troubled DaimlerC hrysler, suspecting one of their dealers by providing access to not yet secret technical documentation. No less surprising was the sight of my SLR-a final shape. 99 out of 100 production car is only a shadow of a prototype.
And here the opposite. Ready-McLaren SLR beats and Vision SLR. He still has a long hood, shark gills, side exhaust, more menacing look and a more pronounced rear. What I saw in Frankfurt, it looked as like it was from the spacecraft to another civilization. Three years passed. Count as time ny further testing supercars are not blurred impression of what had SLR. I felt that is different from everything that we have ridden before. I actually. I like fast cars, but I do not like to rush. I do not have to. - You have a SLR-a full two days - tells the voice of Santa Claus representative of DaimlerChrysler, leading me to the company garage. It is. On the jack stands two meters above the ground. From a distance I can see the first of its peculiarity - completely smooth landing gear, which makes the SLR looks from below like a monstrous Matchbox. Fortunately, there is the inscription "Made by the People's Republic of China." Mercedes was the fastest ... not in Germany. This is the first car brand in the UK fold, and more - in the glass and surrounded by art measurements to historical data lakes headquarters McLaren Technology Centre in Woking. The local 400-tonne wind tunnel has left its mark not only the chassis ZiU and body, but the rims. 19-inch Turbine for asymet cal blade-like arms of turbojet engine not only look great but also extremely effective in cooling the brakes. Not just that, because the ceramic. I have
m from the eyes of a shield costing ... 40 thousand. zł. Fortunately, they are calculated at 300 000 km. On the front supported by eight pistons, the back four. Sizes? I did not record. It turns out that 37-inch diameter is sufficient to - as someone counted - lock the wheels rotate with the power of 2000 hp. quiet hiss of the lift and SLR softly sits on wheels. I still can not believe how his monstrous mask. Was probably just a long 6.5-meter 41 Bugatti Royale. Here, at 466 cm in length, the front bumper a good share from the restraints of 3 meters. There is no doubt opportunities, where the hidden engine. It begins with the bumper feet, and its center of gravity falls of 50 cm behind the axle. This location is known as a front-mid, but little was missing, that mighty V8 landed right in front of the rear axle. Opted for the latter Gordon Murray of McLaren, arguing that without which ntralna location engine, model F1 being a showcase of his company would not lead to so well. But the decisive word belonged to Michael Scheer from DaimlerChrysler, which held that since the new car is to exemplify the idea of \u200b\u200bGran Turismo, it has to have the engine in front. And well, because even if the McLaren F1 powalał performance, it certainly does not look. Anyway, he calmed Murray (not a secret that the two men do not like him) when he realized how long the mask is to have a camera. Enough to ensure equal nomierny resolution weight on the axles. By the way, be a symbol of the car and fall further its distinguishing features - a shark gills and side exhausts. Press the handle and watch how long the door to float majestically.
Lambo-doors? No. It refers to the original half a century - Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Coupé Uhlenhaut. By tradition, became to be done by lifting up, perform a half turn, so do not stick out as high as (exposed e by a fault) Lamborghini wings. Tackle a wide threshold. Overcomes overwhelming desire to immediately move it and watch the cabin. It is more comfortable than I thought. The phone and discover the armrest storage compartment disputes. An even greater find behind his back. Under the flap there quite a Becker radio (BC ygłaśnia when you open the windows), on top of the blend with illuminated mirrors. There is also a dual-zone air conditioning, no and a lot of skin. In addition to the doors and seats it obszyto wide center tunnel and board distribution. He sits exactly as it should in a sports car: the low, with an almost straight legs and strong arms bent, in front of a nearly vertical steering wheel. A lot of headroom, no arm pushes the door or the passenger jabs. Made from carbon fiber seats can Duchess like T-shirts ordered in one of four sizes: S, M, L, XL (M is a standard for the driver and passenger L). I shut the door. Too weak. Again. Well. Not a single zk ilku passengers, which then I happen to carry, not close the door the first time. You have the strength and determination. You will soon find that one and the other is useful here c a moment. And earlier that one of the founders of SLR and had to be impressed by the movie "Top Gun". Although I do not have a helmet, or suit or the oxygen line, pressing the thumb hidden red button Start to larger economies of the openwork capsule, I feel like I've really participated in the intergalactic mission. 626 horses. Even if truchtają, then in a glass house call. The whole body of CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced plastic) pierce nervous chills. Idle is 55 dB. As I prepared for the lesson, I know that at full draw SLR of 85 dB, so much as a poorly lubricated saws. push the gas and after a while accelerating przyszpila me to a chair. And again. Unbelievable. On motorcycles, one hundred in 3.8 sec does this impression. And here - lightning recognized. Apart from this, that suddenly watching reality in Fast Forward, taking in a lot of other sensations. None Jednoslad no 780 Nm. None weighs 1768 kg. And no so easy to break traction. Even with control traction rear tires to each other przekrzykują when starting. Gavin had a similar experience with Channel4 testing Conway SLR-a month earlier - have disabled accounts role traction. Colin added gas and auto instant began to slide down st her back from the roadway. We incorporated traction control ... Musings not noticed how fast I go. I want to release before the roundabout i. .. momentarily bathed in sweat. Who put the pedal in this place? Caught it literally edge of the shoe. It's too close to the gas and the low! Hardly encounter it conquest of the foot. The experience did not descend the exit. I know, the issue was that both operate the pedals. But 'heel - his fingers' is a good one for Mazda MX5 soft and Toyota MR2, not a monster with such an engine! It is unfortunate that the designers SLR and did not go further and adapted it to the left foot braking. Especially since every step of the stress of his relationship with F1. Another issue is the work of ceramic brakes. After all plejadzie car in which the pedal is enough to shake it harder to virtually fly through the front glass, SLR turns out to be remarkably insensitive. But only the beginning. In practice looks like this: you press the pedal - nothing, you press deeper - almost nothing. Car still runs. And when I saw growing in the eyes of an obstacle, you press the brake to the end, followed by "freeze." Auto stand up and your body has to cope with delays doc hodzącym to 1.3 grams, so that as you jump from the first floor on the grass (by the way does not hurt the engine, it has a dry sump lubrication .) Such non-linear operation of brakes criticized the star of "Top Gear" Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond. In my opinion - lightly. But the SLR is basically a luxury car d railroad. Its brakes have to be ready for anything. And they are. Even when burning (without harm endure the temperature 1800 ° C), do not lose their effectiveness. And that they work differently? You can get used to. The more that take the heat faster. 100 km still do not have any problem with them. Much more challenging are the rut. SLR follows them like a dog's website. One senses, even those invisible. It should be really hard hold the steering wheel. This does not seem to me to be too large, the more it turns very hard. Rack and pinion steering and a direct effect (2.2 rotation between the extremes) ensure the return of unprecedented precision in the other cars from Stuttgart. That, plus the rocket acceleration should be done in advance Anne plaything. Not doing so. On the route Grójec - The horse appears to participate in any sample before dożynkami - just encounter a moment when all the farmers leave the pens to show off their tractors. Overtaking, because I have to. Car roars around the waist, so that barely keep up with spinning wheel. What the heck, ruts? Too, but where these nerves jumpy back? After a while, I know. Too much gas. Despite the slip system and Mon width of nearly 30 inches rear wheels break traction easily, even at 100 km / h. So I take the gas gently. It helps, auto calms down. Me too.
While still accelerates like mad. "Car and Driver in its history has not recorded better times acceleration from 6 0 to 80 (1.7 seconds) and from 80 to 120 km / h (2.4 seconds). The next day I get a SLR-like performance. And now a moment of breath. I stop at the first gas station. Instinctively I look at the indicators ... Only half Baku? The computer confirms: average fuel consumption 30.3 liters. Even more dries in my mouth. I console myself that at full speed SLR drained two fuel tanks with a total capacity of 91 liters in barely 19 minutes. Then overcomes 107 km, which gives ... 86 l/100 km! No, this car can be measured not rzyć simple measure. Price, performance and combustion are unearthly. Even Jeremy Clarkson, despite initial reservations ("It is scandalous that produced in the UK car had not had since exchange adapted to the left-hand traffic") decided that for this car is worth to establish a new class - the Super GT. SLR has many peculiarities. Apparently when braking additional dose of fuel is given to ... engine cooling system. Since the exhaust are in front of the door, going from the tilted window, the driver may deign the fragrance of unburned gasoline. In a rather unusual way it opens up here, even the mask - after unlocking from the inside of you pull (about 30 cm) for the two handles on the front edge and press. It is because the view is impressive. It is hard to believe that this black - red-black unit of power is the engine of the SL 55 AMG. Of course, modified and enhanced screw compressor. Sucks in air with a loud whistle, including by a large three-pointed star on the bow reminiscent of the famous F1 Mercedes MP4. I can not listen to this indifference. I'm leaving the mask, and I get going. Unlike most Mercedes ESP can be turned off by pressing one button near the gear shift. The latter is five. Them the One AMG Speedshift R transmission is automatic with three modes: Comfort, Sport and Manual. In the first two gears to change themselves (under Spor t at higher speeds). I choose the third. From now through the silver buttons hidden behind the steering arms I decide on what course we're going. And if so ... four move? SLR engine and only for a moment seems to be surprised. First, buzzing threateningly, and then ominously roared, kidnaps behind the car. Ot, simply. From the start I can beat standing kilometer in 20 seconds, with the "Output" 270 km / h. I? Not really. That's not Germany. To fight the temptation to speed, playing with knob work gear: Sport, Supersport and fastest - Race. While in the first mode, the changes run smoothly, it is quitting at the last jerk - it is that while reducing engine torque wheel locks. I'm guessing that this is not system life, so satisfied with sports. Then, reliability. Cars tend to have an extreme problem with that. That too. At Gumball 2006 SLR-a most unreliable car, will brand the famous trans-race, after three of the five starters units eliminated the alternator fault. A year earlier, had similar effects to support the brake failure. In turn, Clarkson, who also ran the half of Europe, held as SLR-a very solid car. Because in fact, doing such an impression. All perfectly folded, no glitches, even during maneuvers with elevated door (I checked). Klaus Ludwig - three-time Le Mans winner - ensures (because it proved) that the wipers to cope with goose this rain even at 315 km / h. What would it change? Not much. These wipers schowałbym under the hood, poor brake pedal moved to the left, snapping muted shifter buttons and can handle the stick turned ce (no raised door from the outside for what to grab, making it forever disfiguring fingerprints) . I doubt whether I ucieszyłyby changes that were introduced in the new variant of the 722nd Even more lowered and stiffened suspension is certainly not that of which I dream of going to Poland "normal" version. Because I was the lucky zestrojono wisely. And taking into account the profile tires - quite comfortably. It is true that a nice representative of Chrysler tried to convince me that this vehicle "for everyday use," but he says the same thing about his Hayabusie Lemski. What it is not. The fact that the SLR-long bill and not raise the sleeping policemen, and even borders on low curbs, but dimensions of the car in dense traffic problems arise. When you sit so low and you are in front of him so long bonnet, the departure of the subordinate becomes the challenge. Interestingly it has this car look like a horse in winter, when even on dry asphalt as pepper has problems with my grip. No, this car for special occasions. It provokes the offensive, driving fast, which is still Aga, absorb, happy i. .. tired. When the moment you change to Mercedes-Benz SLK Kompressor, I feel like I've changed the ski boots to sneakers. After a moment of relaxation ... Again I want to change. I'm hungry for a SLR. Its fragrant leather interior, adventure and adrenaline. Attacking side exhaust tips nostrils the smell of hot exhaust gases. Heaving, hot air rising over the hood through the bars of the engine. Wide threshold at which it is nice to sit down and relax ... Without a doubt, the SLR-makers proved to be a brilliant techniques, but also a great psychologist. It is a pity that they did so much to so few. Or maybe so to follow the footsteps of Mr. Furtak?
