McLaren Mercedes SLS
 

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These pictures prove that early development work is well under way on the 'baby' McLaren, with plans to sell as many as 2000 cars a year to rival the likes of the Ferrari 360 Modena, Lamborghini Gallardo and all-new Audi R8. Although McLaren engineers are remaining tight-lipped about the project, we have learnt that feasibility studies are currently being carried out on the car at one of Mercedes’ secret test-centres in Germany.

McLaren is hoping to use carbonfibre construction for the new car, although there are doubts about the economic viability of using the material for a car with a projected price tag of about 150,000 Euros.

Sources couldn't be budged on whether the new car, thought to be code-named P8, will have a three-seat arrangement similar to that of the F1, but equally our source doggedly refused to confirm the new car as a conventional two-seater. One possibility is that the third seat would be mounted centrally towards the rear, the reverse of the F1's layout. It will be mid-engined though, partly to make it distinct from the front-engined Mercedes SLR McLaren.

And it’s already certain that the car will have to be built by Mercedes, as McLaren's new Woking factory is tied up producing the SLR and doesn't have the spare capacity. It seems that the SLR, the brainchild of Ron Dennis, was originally designed to be the definitive GT car. Ferrari's 550 Maranello was the original target car for the project but it became clear that the SLR would be in a different league when the first projected performance figures were calculated using the higher-than-expected output from the supercharged Mercedes V8. This would in fact leave space for a smaller car, probably called the Mercedes SLS McLaren.

Cool thanks for the pics bmagni!!!! Interesting with no body work on it

That is really cool seeing it with no body work. It is a really good way to keep the bodywork a secret though

Interesting, but I really hope this time they make it right and make the car more McLaren than Mercedes....

I wouldn't consider the SLR crap, it just doesn't really fit in with the supercar crowd very well. It's fast none the less.

Now I'm rather hopping this will be a good car. It's a pretty high goal to shoot for a 430, and I hope Mercedes won't stick its hand in the project too much and steer this into some stupid luxury thing.

Interesting chassis design. Glad to see the engine is in the right place this time.

I thought they stopped building the SLR.. which should make room for McLaren to build this car..

hmmmm looks a little lacking........ hahaha looks weird without a body

who said they stopped building the SLR, particularly with the "722" now available ;) they just never hit their projected sales figures.

as to "crap just like the SLR"
this may be true, or may not.... i dont know... but the SLR has a weak point that many don't know.... the car will jump, and follow every rut, crevasse, and nook on the road... it is a 100% 2 hands on the wheel @ all times kind of car.... not a luxo tourer that happens to have 620ish -650ish hp

its funny it says the SLR was intended to compete with the 550 Maranello which was like at least 5 or 6 years old when the SLR came out. Then they say after testing they found out it was a league ahead. Now not to long after the SLR comes out, Ferrari unveil their 550/575 replacement and from everything I read and heard it seems that itll smoke the SLR, except in top speed, but doesnt mean shit. Ferrari, just too crazy for the rest.

I have some doubts about the 3rd seat behind the other two, and a mid engine .... where's the space for all this :hmm:

nice find, the pics are cool

Thx for the photos....i hope to see the body soon.... :wink:

interesting ... i like it just the way it looks right now :D ... a super buggy :mrgreen:

Looks weird without a body :P

Wonder how the finshing project will look like?

Way to go making assumptions on stuff which hasn't even come out yet :roll:

Actually, as it turns out, the SLR really isn't as fast as it was projected to be. Autocar magazine took a fleet of high-performance vehicles to the Ehra Lessien test track. The Veyron, SLR, Ford GT, LP640, Ferrari 599GTB, Corvette C6 Z06, Viper SRT-10, Aston Martin Vanquish S, and Porsche 997 Turbo were all part of the test to which various other publications were also invited. The Veyron was of course the fastest topping out at 402kph, but the 599GTB did a surprising 208mph while the McMerc did a lowly 201.

Here's a short overview of the article: http://www.speedtv.com/articles/life...omotive/34032/