Inside the SLR

Many supercars skimp on creature comforts, and some of them don't even have interior carpeting. But Mercedes wanted the SLR to be something of a hybrid -- a powerful, fast car that's also comfortable for driving around town. So power seats, power windows, and power locks are included. Air-conditioning and a top-shelf seven-speaker Bose sound system add to the luxury, and there's also a navigation system.


Photo courtesy Daimler Chrysler

The carbon fiber bucket seats are covered in "Silver Arrow" red leather. Six air bags protect driver and passenger alike from impacts in eight directions. Switches controlling the air brake and transmission are mounted on a console in the middle of the dashboard, while shifting thumb switches are located on the steering wheel. The car is started with a flip-top covered button on the shift lever.


Photo courtesy Daimler Chrysler
The SLR sports a multifunction steering wheel with F1-style manual gearshift buttons.
Jay Leno (car collector and proud owner of an SLR) summed up the combination of performance and comfort features in a recent 4Car column: "One minute you can be tearing through the hills, hooligan stuff. The next minute you can take the wife in it, you can park it. I think the Mercedes-McLaren is the perfect compromise between road car and racer" [ref].

On the other hand, car purists might feel that the SLR's comfort diminishes speed and handling. After all, why build a 600-horsepower car and then weigh it down with power seats? Or, as Leno put it, "I have yet to play a CD in it; the SLR's entertaining enough without distractions" [ref].

Mercedes has set a retail price of $452,750 for the SLR, not including taxes. But even if you have the money, rarity could be an obstacle -- only 3,500 SLRs will be produced over the next seven years.

For more information on the Mercedes SLR and related topics, check out the links on the next page.

How Does it Stack Up?
Not many cars are in the same league with the SLR. It's cheaper than an Enzo Ferrari by about $200,000, but costs about $10K more than a Porsche Carerra GT. It only costs half as much as a McLaren F1 did in 1997. The SLR can't touch the top speeds of the Enzo or the McLaren F1 (217 and 240 mph, respectively), but it beats the Carerra GT by two mph.

The Enzo and F1 also dwarf the SLR's horsepower, but the Carerra GT is more comparable, with only 604 hp to the SLR's 617. Perhaps the most telling difference is weight. The McLaren F1 is a slender 2,513 lbs., the Enzo weighs 3,020 lbs., and the Carerra GT weighs in at 3,043 lbs. The SLR, with its luxury interior, is a scale-busting 3,858 lbs.