The Mercedes SLR Is the Forgotten $500,000 Supercar

this is the Mercedes McLaren SLR it's an exotic car came out around the same time as the ferrari enzo and the porsche carrera GT in the mid-2000s back then the enzo started 650 thousand dollars the Carrera GT was around $400,000 and these started at $450,000 and by the time production ended in 2009 they were selling for $500,000 but while the Enzo was now worth millions and the Carrera GT them basically doubled in value these things never really shot up in fact of a search of auto trader shows mean that the average asking price for an SLR right now is from between 300 and 400 thousand dollars so today I've borrowed this SLR from a viewer here in Nashville Tennessee to show you why I think this car is rather underappreciated [Music] before I get started a brief overview the SLR was made from 2003 to 2010 as a joint venture between Mercedes and McLaren and little known fact despite the Mercedes badge it wasn't made in Germany but rather in MacLaren's factory in the UK it uses a supercharged v8 that makes 617 horsepower and 580 pound-feet of torque mated to a 5-speed automatic transmission it will be 0 to 60 and three and a half seconds and it tops out at an amazing 207 miles per hour so the SLR seems pretty cool on paper and of course it's also filled with a lot of interesting quirks and cool features today I'm going to show them to you and then I'm going to take this SLR out on the road and find out how a half million dollar supercar drives and of course for more of my thoughts on the SLR experience click the link below to check out my column on autotrader.com slash oversteer now we'll start with one of the SLR signature features it's doors there's no immediately visible door handle here but if you want to open it just walk up push this and then door just opens right up for you now once you're inside you may be wondering exactly how you close the door well there's no button that automatically lowers the door and said you just pull the handle which is actually not that hard to reach and then the doors closed maybe even more interesting is what happens when you're inside the car and you're trying to get out now you'll notice if you look all up and down the door panel there's no door handle anywhere it's not anywhere on the door panel so where is it it's actually on the floor next to your legs when you're sitting down next to the seat looks just like a normal door handle pull it and the door opens right up you can get out now speaking of things opening let's talk about one of my favorite features of the SLR the hood I've always loved this hood it is massive it is flat it is giant you can land a helicopter on this thing but how do you open it well that's a quirk in and of itself to start the process you pull a little red lever underneath the steering column like in most cars but the second step is a little unusual there are two tabs one here one here you pull on them and then now the hood is in this position which is a little bit unusual and you're kind of wondering what's next well you don't pull it up like this instead a hood in this car does one of these and when it's raised the front bit is so cool because the cutouts for the headlights it kind of looks like the Batman logo now once you have the hood open you can kind of see exactly why this whole front area is so long it's because the vast bulk of the engine is behind the front axle here in effect this is really a mid-engine car one of the other interesting things I like under the hood are these giant warning labels that say battery in trunk so you don't forget you want to shut the hood it's actually pretty simple you just put it down back into this position and then you remember from here boom I sense we're opening stuff let's open up the fuel door it opens up just like a normal fuel door nothing weird there but the interesting thing is that inside there's a little notice that reminds you to check your engine oil at every single fuel refill you won't find that in a normal car now keeping with the exterior the SLR one of the coolest design details about this car I think is the turn signal without cool these things look but the style of the turn signals isn't the most interesting part the most interesting part comes when you change your angle a little bit you'll notice that for over here you can't see them at all they're designed to only be visible when you're looking at the car from a certain angle now one of the most significant features of this car is the exhaust it doesn't come on the back like every other car instead it comes out right behind the front wheel right here and right under the driver's window not sure if that's such a good idea other interesting thing about the exhaust is the burn hazard decal because the exhaust is located right here everything in this part of the car is hot and so there's a little decal right here I lie the driver's door warning you exactly what not to touch so you don't get burned now in the back of this car this isn't a spoiler instead mercedes calls it an air brake and the way it works is rather interesting when you slam on the brakes in this car the air brake goes almost straight up to kind of screw with the aerodynamics and helping you slow down a little faster now maybe the most interesting thing about the air brake is that you can adjust it using a set of controls directly above the stereo controls right with an easy reach of the driver on the center console now you can raise it and have it an up mode like it is right now or you can move the lever a little bit then it goes into this mode where it's flush with the trunk your third option is perhaps the most interesting you can do test mode you move the lever to test in the new your brakes shoots up like it would under hard braking but only for a second then it goes right back down just so you know that it's working now when you're going 60 miles an hour on the highway the air brake automatically pops up 10 degrees just so that it's ready in case you want to brake really fast now speaking of interesting interior controls you'll notice that the window switches aren't in the center here and they're not on the center console either they're also not located on the door panel so where exactly are they well they're actually located down by the door handle on the floor next to your seats push them and they roll up and down the windows just like normal window switches now the other interesting control located down here by your legs is the seat control number cities makes a wide variety of power seat controls and they all look about the same with various different buttons for different parts of the seat but in the SLR these seats are one-piece carbon-fiber racing seats and so the seat control is actually just one button you push it and pull and move the seat forward and you can tilt it back or forward but the seat moves as one whole unit it's kind of a weird experience compared to a regular Mercedes now since we're on the subject of interesting controls move to the center of the SLR where there aren't quite a few of them for example look at the center control stack you'll notice that you don't see the stereo controls where are they well actually they're hidden under the giant SLR logo push it it opens right up and then you can control the stereo now speaking of the cool buttons in the centre of this car let's talk about the coolest one that would be the engine start button it's located on the top of the transmission lever which is an unusual place now a lotta Mercedes models at the time had the button there but none of them had it quite as cool as this because it's located under this cool gated aluminum knob you lift it up then you push the engine start button like you're fired a missile on a fighter jet unfortunately there is one little drawback to the engine start button and that would be the fact that you can't just get in and push it instead you have to get in turn the key like you would on a normal car then you can push the engine start button little strange another interesting interior feature this car has no glovebox but it has ample other places to store items inside some of which are hidden for example there's this tiny little storage pocket in the passenger footwell and in the middle there's this little compartment large enough for a decorative USB stick or maybe two somewhere in that compartment is the world's smallest ashtray with room for approximately one total ash but the biggest storage space is also the most hidden to access it press this little button located between the seats and then this whole panel lifts up nobody knows this is back here I guarantee their SLR owners watching this video right now going really it can do this but the most interesting storage space in this car is not the rear shelf but actually a piece between the seats to access it you push this little button it fold down why is it the most interesting because it contains the original flip phone a Motorola and Verizon car phone it came with every SLR hello yeah then my SLR I am going 200 no big deal another interesting Center control in this car you get the air conditioning you got the stereo you got your vents and also you have these things now I already covered this one that would be the spoiler but these two rotary dials on either side require some explanation but on the left here that's for the transmission you can go to sport manual or comfort now if you put it in manual that's when the one on the right comes into play you have three settings one two and three one is for sporty driving two is for very sporty driving and three is for racing like driving I haven't made these up that's what it says in the owners manual take a look another amazing quirk is the climate controls right now it's set to automatic but what if you want to control where the air comes out push it and the button completely changes its appearance now letting you select the location of the air flow but so you want it back in automatic mode just push it again now it's in Auto pretty cool and now it's time to take this car out on the road but before I do I want to share a little anecdote about the SLR that I find kind of interesting a couple of months ago I was invited out to Jay Leno's Garage in Burbank to appear in an episode of his TV show for CNBC Jay one who has one of these music parked right next to his McLaren f1 and his McLaren p1 so I asked him you know Jay what do you think about this car he told me that he likes it and he thinks it's actually kind of missed on are stood now while it's SLR came out at the same time as the career GT and the Enzo J told me that he thinks that those cars were more for high speed track use whereas this thing is rock solid above 200 miles an hour Jay told me that the mistake people make is they think this car is going to be an Enzo or a Carrera GT when actually it has a completely different purpose so now I'm going to get behind the wheel and find out if he's right all right we're going the SLR this feeling interests incredibly heavy very surprising because a lot of our cities in this era the steering is very light and airy must be exchanged this almost feels like University the other thing you notice right away is that al won't but in this game there's a lot in front if we're coming x-series a car you're basically sitting over the rear wheels seeing like 70% of those parties ahead of you if you drive down the street that's like weird to get used to when is the first person it has some rumbles doing some sound I was nothing to speak sort of a comfortable exotic look but just instantly you can kind of tell it I'm really defined by how far the brake pedal sounded to me because the brakes are carbon ceramic and part of it completely different interesting security so dry subscribe normal speeds is a fairly reasonable experience don't really think an eating crazy and don't want to accept it definitely rumble eating more than a regular day in see cars but otherwise simply feeling over safe experience in your society but you don't want to you know for the nasal sinus or writing part right there that it's not a car you're on of the real many where the complaints about subscribe to time with the transmission the endo use of news official meetings pretty new for the time the parity is a tremendous time had a torque converter if you can kind of see how that is a little bit more let down to those four converters just a little bit slower especially in the modern world overall used in Oakland it's just not quite the same experience but you know technology Hanneman sequential manual spider-like in the end oh those are all so different this is what it is it is six and smiling like looks like a you know exotic car steering and three miles up you looking at all the time you know that's mean you're constantly the seat isn't the world's most comfortable seat this carbon bucket seat the creme it's not as bad as I've seen in some sports cars 911 gt3rs but it's a little bit harsh on you you don't I saw this car on the road it was one thing everybody comes but basic York pharmacy that was going to happen that is pretty intense to see this beautiful and the expansion in the Linkletter cars are kind of off the road is actually really nice that's crazy and that's super charging single why that's up okay Wow yeah this is kinda funny I feel like commit Superman a thought educate regarding its languages interesting again as far as not slow you know you really think of a car they can kind of differ as I get a 50 40 degrees mbar what's the pivot but it's so fast and the power come on very quickly when I stop that sound it's remarkably stay one composed upon a normal everyday Road is the rise harsher than a see okay or even something like that which you can over bomb but I could sit here for a while the milites one that seems to be bad on some poets into that mainly all that adjustable and they do kung fu for a larger purpose that is one that don't rating is just going in finding it is not as y12 your hope you know without three or four point that's what they're capable society and what they think might be but where the Danny modern car today I actually think it is that's that's not the consciousness itself you start playing around and you try to be like a little sports car driver the planet this is a serious you know put on the highway of Florence to have entire surface never mind the car accelerates open it in a big car you can feel that when you're turning it yes thing you can do when you're turning into the wheel is oh you can do all that weight in front of you there is a lot of some weight and is not as fast that's differently and rising far steering is very precise with a handling in tennis and meta file that way including in anticipation you named it in Venice on a car like this one rival handle but he knows this because the key mountain coming inflammable velocity season was different parts that hardly it felt like a big mr2 or not 11 feet or whatever they feel like I don't even know how to what I'd like a but one thing appeal because it has big run engine from the power so that's the Mercedes McLaren SLR you know I've always kind of had a thing for this car I mean yeah it's not as limited production as the ferrari enzo and it doesn't have the Ferrari brand name and it isn't the last analogue supercar like the porsche carrera GT but the SLR is cool in its own right the thing is the forgotten $500,000 supercar that doesn't really deserve to be forgotten there are two tabs one here one here you pull on them and then [Music]

Channel: undefined

Views: 4,201,473

Rating: 4.8320971 out of 5

Keywords: mercedes slr, slr, mercedes mclaren slr, merc slr, mclaren slr, mercedes-mclaren, mercedes mclaren, mercedes slr 722, mercedes slr roadster, mercedes sls, amg, doug demuro

Id: hjzfHp3TNL8

Length: 16min 30sec (990 seconds)

Published: Tue May 02 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/phxtravis]

http://imgur.com/a/zPBFb

[u/Ima_Fuck_Yo_Butt]

I'm so glad you reviewed this one!

I've wanted your take on this Merc for a while.

Edit - those interior door handles are nuts! I was like, "Okay, they're not on the door. Then they're on the center console, Doug."

Nope! Floor!

"Whaaaat?"

That was neat!

[u/nipcarlover]

That climate control dial is the coolest thing I've ever seen

[u/menasan]

wait.... why would they make it so you cant see the turn signals unless you're behind it?!?!?

[u/intercede007]

What's that whine while filming in-car while the throttle isn't at or near idle? Is that supercharger whine? A ground loop fault? Seems really high-pitched for supercharger noise.

Excellent and informative video!

[u/MDA123]

Side pipes! It's quirk heaven, /u/doug-demuro!

EDIT: Doug, serious question. How long do you poke around the cars to determine all the quirks you want to cover? Like, how long did it take you to discover that parcel shelf panel thing?

[u/ricky1370]

/u/doug-demuro are you ever alone in the cars? Very occasionally even realise the owners are actually riding along with you.

[u/[deleted]]

I fucking love those wheels

[u/therynosaur]

Dude, you seriously could be Jay Leno's son. You LOOK a lot like him (a young version) and your charisma and car enthusiasm. I mean these in a good way BTW

Great Review!