Autoblog

It seems like we're in the minority here but honestly, I've never cared too much about how a car looks if it delivers the goods... especially supercars. I can appreciate when something is done for a purpose, like vents to provide cooling and help with heat evacuation, or fender flares to fit wider meats for better traction, or wings and diffusers that offer real downforce. And I think it's just plain dumb to brand functional aero & body mods as "rice" just because some idiots glue on fake scoops and wings to their econoboxes.
I love this car. It's purposeful and brutish, and everything about it screams function over form. Now I love beautiful cars as much as the next guy, but when it comes down to it, I'm a performance nut. If it goes, stops and turns like it's supposed to then I can excuse the loks, or lack thereof. If I owned this, I'd be busy in the drivers seat anyways... let other people worry about their retinas. ;)

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Props to Franz. couldn't have said it better

It's a matter of opinion, but i would say that 9/10 times, form based on functionality will naturally end up looking better than functionality based on form. But not everyone thinks a Zonda is a work of art, inside and out, like me.

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I'm very surprised I'm saying this but it really doesn't look that bad.

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Like I said. This car proves it's possible for a car to look rice even though it is very powerful.

Yes, you might have to make changes to a car to make it perform better. But the gaudiness of these changes show they were made at least as much to look fast as to be fast. And that's rice.

Those rims do not scream "function". The swath of CF in that otherwise heavy interior does not scream "function". For comparison, look at the seats, which do look functional.

It's just like a Gemballa. Yes, it's fast. But the body kit is so much more over the top than it needed to be to be functional, to the point that it's clearly for show.

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performance aside, the looks of this car never really moved me. but these pics...made me a convert. this car looks subtly menacing.

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why not the LS2LS7?:

Careful now. Don't assume that your opinion is fact, or the standard by which this car should be judged. What's not functional about the wheels? I'm sure they're forged, and very lightweight. The styling isn't to your taste, but unless you know something I don't you can't argue that it's not functional based on how it looks.
The carbon fiber on the dash: this is of course an SL derivative, so those surfaces would traditionally be trimmed in swaths of heavy wood. Using lighter CF instead is functional regardless of whether it saves one pound or ten. You don't have to like it, but you cannot argue that it isn't functional.
The body styling is more over the top than is required for functionality? How do you know this? You're assuming you know more about this car than AMG engineers. You don't know what their targets were for weight, rigidity, aero efficiency, handling... nothing. Lets not forget that the canvas for this project was a garden variety (if you can call it that) SL. The mods are gonna look a little tacked on regardless. The logical thing to assume would be that every scoop, wing and vent is there for a purpose rather than assume that because you don't like it, it's not functional and doesn't need to be there.
Like V3LOCIP3D3 said, it's a matter of opinion and I'm trying my best to accept yours, but don't say that the design isn't functional because of it's "gaudiness". Debating the styling is one thing, but it's a bit of a stretch to say it's too gaudy to be functional.

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Well, looks like they succeeded somewhere: making it controversial in the looks department.

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Franz:
Again, I didn't say the changes didn't enhance performance. But just because changes do enhance performance doesn't mean they aren't over the top absurdity also.

As to the rims, why don't you give me a shout when you see a race car with rims that look like that. Then we'll both know they're all about performance and not gaudiness.

In the interior, even if the CF saves a tiny bit of weight (unlikely given it appears to be an applique), there are plenty of other parts in the interior that could be changed which would save a lot more weight. Which is why it's pretty clear to me this was done as much for effect as performance.

Let's face it. The changes were designed to evoke their DTM cars. That's why it has a fake diffuser, complete with center tunnel that goes to nowhere. Are you telling me fake diffusers are for performance?

Also, so far, Mercedes Black series haven't been outstanding performers. They do okay, but nothing like their level of engine performance would suggest. It is perhaps this that makes the idea of simulating a DTM car most ridiculous. Start out by beating the M5, then you can work on convincing us this is a race car in street trim.

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cars just have a way of looking bad ass when you modify them for performance to the extreme.

this is the first car MBenz has made in years that has me saying "damn..."

finally, someone applied full racecar aerodynamics to a road car

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why not the LS2LS7?:

You're still missing the point I'm trying to make. This isn't a racecar. It's supposed to be the top dog SL, which automatically means it's gonna be a big, heavy, comfy, relatively cushy car. Saying there's lots of other places they could save weight doesn't matter: they could've built the whole darn thing out of CF... but it's an SL. They ditched the folding tin top and heavy wood trim, but left the essence of the SL intact. This isn't a stripped out DTM racer. Even if the CF is an applique, it still saves weight over wood trim... no Merc SL is gonna roll out of Stuttgart with no trim on the console.
Talking about race cars with rims like this... this isn't a racecar! Race engineers rarely consider aesthetics when they build anything. This is still a street car, and a Merc SL. There's no law that says it can't be strong and lightweight but still have a little flash and fashion. That doesn't mean it's not functional. Look in any Volk/Rays performance wheel catalog. Some of the wheels might look flashy and gaudy, but you'd better believe that they're all forged and lightweight.
I'm not gonna argue with you about fake diffusers and what not because your eyes must be better than mine. In all the shots of this car I've seen, I can't tell if the diffuser is fake or not... it's mighty dark down there. As for the performance of the Black Series, It's been pretty darn good considering what they are. They're not exactly stripped out versions you know. They're still pretty heavy, and luxurious on the inside. They won't be top dog in 0-60 & 1/4 mile sprints, and pull 1.5g on the skid pad... that's not what they were built for. The performance is bloody impressive for a GT.

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Finally someone applied race car aerodynamics to a street car? What's the Enzo (let alone FXX), chopped liver?

Real diffusers are an integral part of real race car aerodynamics. Fake diffusers are an integral part of fake race car aerodynamics.

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From the MB press release:

"From the rear, the most eye-catching feature is its new carbon-fiber apron with air diffuser ribs. Hidden within it is an active cooling system for the final drive and 40-percent locking differential."

Fake diffuser my a$$...

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Again from the MB press release:

"Weight-optimized AMG forged alloy wheels feature an unusual staggered diameter and width: 9.5 x 19 inches up front and 11.5 x 20 in the rear, with 265 / 35 19 tires in front and 325 / 30 20 tires at the rear..."

Sounds pretty functional to me...

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Holy cow! You're right! There's marketing-speak there that says this stuff is race stuff. So it must be so. Marketers would never, ever spin things.

You can see in these shots:
http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2009-mercedes-benz-sl65-amg-black-series-live-shots/977303/
http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2009-mercedes-benz-sl65-amg-black-series-live-shots/977308/

Where the shiny CF reflects the grass on the ground. The tunnel is blocked, and the entire space between the exhausts and the tunnel is blocked. If there were no CF blocking these areas, you'd see more black and not the reflection of the grass beneath.

The fake diffuser is for show. Just like on the Vettes.

If the CF is an applique and thus is heavier than no applique at all, then it is there for show, not for performance, because it is decreasing performance just by being there. So why do you argue otherwise?

You again try to mischaracterize what I am saying by pointing out that various parts might also be light and/or strong, in addition to being bling. This is not an argument against my point.

My point, again, is that this car is designed to look this "fast" way at least as much as it is designed to go fast. That makes it ricey, that makes it like a Gemballa, which despite also being fast, is also clearly an exercise in trying to look over the top. So please, don't try to say I'm wrong by pointing out that certain of the parts also have some function other than the looks, because I never said they didn't.

Mercedes could have made this car fast and made it look normal. That wasn't their goal. They clearly wanted it to look rice, and they succeeded. The rims are a dead giveaway of this.

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Ok, Mr. Automotive aerodynamicist. Keep pretending you know more about aerodynamics than AMG engineers. You're way of thinking is so flawed, and you have your head jammed so far up your own a$$ you can't see it. If you're gonna attack the credibility of the MB press release, why stop there? Why take anything any manufacturer says about their cars as truth? How do we know it's a 6 liter V12... what if the bastards put a smaller displacement motor in it? They say it's Nappa leather on the inside... quick! Send a sample to be confirmed! LOL
You're such a joke, it's pathetic.

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You're not alone, Franz. Up until BMW hired that idiot Bangle to style the E60, I loved BMW for its functional styling. It seems to be a german philosophy to go under the hood first and then let change the body last. Just look at the E46. There's no way of telling the difference between a 318 or a 330, except the 330 is slightly lowered, has a double exhaust pipe and bigger rims. The power difference however, is 100 hp. You know the changes were made because they had to.

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Zlimness:

Exactly. I feel the same way about BMW.

why not the LS2LS7?:

"The fake diffuser is for show. Just like on the Vettes."

You just admitted that you think Vettes are "rice". LMAO

There's more to a diffuser than the apron you can see, Sherlock. Most functional diffusers start near the rear axle and extend all the way out. In this case, that's why this one contains the active cooling for the rear diff. But no, you're an expert, and because it's shiny and reflects a little grass it could never be a real, functional diffuser. LOL. You're a riot. Also, a diffuser does not have to provide downforce to be functional... it can also help with airflow, and in creating high/low pressure zones, directing airflow for cooling (heat exchanger for that rear diff, genius). But no, it reflects grass. Can't be functional.

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*appears*

I am the happiness farie here to erase all the anger and nonsense on this thread. *claps hands* Done! Now there will be no more hate on this thread.

BTW this car looks so mean. If anyone could afford it, I'm sure they would buy it. I would. After, of course- the ZR-1.

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why not the LS2LS7?: Do you ever have anything positive to say?

This car is simply BADASS. No ifs, ands or, buts about it.

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