VIDEO: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG hot-laps the 'Ring
Click above to view the video after the jump
You know the stats. You've seen the leaks. Now, it's time for some video. The crew at MotorTrend were invited to the preview drive of the 2010 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG in Germany, and the buff book's Editor-At-Large, Arthur St. Antoine, enjoyed some passenger seat time with Bernd Schneider as the five-time DTM champion put Mercedes' new gullwing supercoupe through its paces. Make the jump to check out the full 13-mile hot-lap around the Nordschleife. Top tip Dan!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Autblogist! 7:36PM (7/15/2009)
Borrrring.
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JayP 9:19PM (7/15/2009)
Ditto. I was excited to see the passenger strapping on gloves... but I drive my pickup harder on my way to Target.
PJ 10:49PM (7/15/2009)
"Fast" doesn't look like a car chase. Boring is exactly how a fast lap should look--no time wasted reeling in slip angles, no "pucker" moments.
Consider that they covered a 13-mile track in almost exactly 8 minutes (not including time in the pits). That amounts to an average speed of nearly 100 mph. *Average*--as in, including all those tight corners and the lap start, which begins from a crawl. That's fast.
Tom Winch 10:46PM (7/15/2009)
I agree it was boring. Schneider was not pushing at any time during the lap and it's my guess he's not comfortable with the balance of the car. If you watch his hands throughout the video, there's a lot of excessive movement, especially through the more technical sections where he's sawing at the wheel. He backs off a lot going into most turns and even on the long straight at the end. Schneider is a top-notch DTM factory driver for Mercedes and I have to think the car is nowhere near finished the way he was driving it.
nagmashot 2:01AM (7/16/2009)
@Tom
the biggest amount of BS ever claimed at Autoblock the SLS has a transaxle setup and has a perfect weight balance. He was driving around in a near production setup testmule with a car journalist on the codriver seat doing a taxi lap around the ring not a try hard maniac time attack run. All car journalist that have driven the testmule agree that the balnce of the SLS is race car perfect and the amount of grip is phenomenal....
naggs 2:06AM (7/16/2009)
he wasnt pushing it
its a demo lap with a passenger, not a record attempt
Tom Winch 6:13AM (7/16/2009)
@nagmashot - "the biggest amount of BS ever claimed at Autoblock the SLS has a transaxle setup and has a perfect weight balance. He was driving around in a near production setup testmule with a car journalist on the codriver seat doing a taxi lap around the ring not a try hard maniac time attack run. All car journalist that have driven the testmule agree that the balnce of the SLS is race car perfect and the amount of grip is phenomenal...."
Your Mercedes fanboy attitude aside, watch his hands as he drives. I race in GT-2 and I know what I'm talking about. The better the car balance and the driver, the less the driver's hands move. That's true even more when the driver isn't pushing the car. Now I suppose it's possible that Schneider wasn't really paying attention because he wasn't pushing, but I doubt that's the case.
audi_arena 10:28AM (7/16/2009)
@ nagama:
Of course everyone has said the car is amazing. Considering the amount of time and money spent on this car in development, do you honestly believe that anyone outside of the development team would be allowed hear ANYTHING negative about the car?
cm 1:28PM (7/16/2009)
All that and car journalists are know since long to sweeten their reports - those paid trips to fancy locations to drive highly desirable cars have a lot of convincing power...
revaholic 7:39PM (7/15/2009)
Something about this car makes me feel like it's a step back from the SLR. The interior design for one, does not seem particularly upscale.
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dwightB 8:57PM (7/15/2009)
Agreed. It looks like an uninspired, half-a**ed attempt at a 1954-1957 300 SL remake by someone that always wanted to make their own, but didn't quite know how to capture the flavor, or was just too scared to pen something exciting enough to do so successfully.
I will never own one, and will probably never have the means to own one. But I can sincerely say that I am NOT shedding a tear for it, lol.
sparrk 9:16AM (7/16/2009)
you mean the SLR's plastic center console looks better than this car's interior ? not to mention the SLR's flawed brakes and suspension. there is a reason the SLR was a sales flop.
revaholic 9:56AM (7/16/2009)
You're right, sparrk. The SLR's interior was pretty crappy too.
ccdoggy 1:07PM (7/16/2009)
Me too. I also wanted it to sound evil like the SLR, but no, pretty standard sound.
Art 7:40PM (7/15/2009)
we've seen the interior but we don't fully know what it looks like. very peculiar.
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Tdogg 7:44PM (7/15/2009)
That came too close to the CTS-V. I imagined this thing coming atleast within 30 seconds of the ZR-1 and GT-R at the worst.
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JC 7:57PM (7/15/2009)
If you look at the driving, that was pretty far from a 10/10ths lap... I'd say 8/10ths maximum. On all of the videos of the GT-R, ZR1, etc laps you can see the drivers taking MUCH more risks, getting the car a lot more crossed up, you name it. Hell, he wasn't even diving into the apexes that hard, or using the brakes that heavily.
Tdogg 8:00PM (7/15/2009)
Good point...I bet Mercedes doesn't want to pull an LF-A.
MetikalSVT 8:21PM (7/15/2009)
I timed the lap from pit out to pit in. Roughly 8:00. This was obviously not a test run, it had to be a demo of the car. I believe a good 15 seconds could be taken off especially without a 100 kg passenger. This car is so many leagues ahead of the SLR. Especially the interior. This is easily the coolest Mercedes in quite some time. I hope this shuts up the critics saying this is just a rebodied SL. Mercedes has nothing in the development in this car, except for the money of course. This was built from the ground up by AMG.
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Lee 8:14PM (7/15/2009)
So a Cobalt SS is quicker? What was its ET
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