You may be shocked to learn that not all tyres are created equally , the tyres are probably a special order which 95% of tyre places don’t stock nor could get from the original source !!! That’s how they charge you ten times what they should really cost , and you’ll feel very special !!!
Yeah thats was a stretch to suggest that. This tech of carbon tubs to which aluminum sections bolt onto the front or rear comes straight from F1 manufacturing.
That’s CZcams mechanics for ya. The SLR’s carbon fiber monocoque can withstand sheering and tensile forces well into the 40 ton range. Maybe a floor Jack would crack a carbon fender, but the car is designed to survive high speed crashes
they send you to training for this vehicle so 1. only “registered” techs who have taken the class for this car can work on this car 2. it’s a liability thing, if they send you to training and you still fuck up then damage comes out of YOUR pocket, dealership won’t help you. if you worked on it without the training you could just say “well i didn’t know” and then the dealership would have to assume full responsibility and they don’t want to pay just as much as you wouldn’t want to. it’s all a liability and insurance thing
I worked for McLaren and would have built that car. We used to jack them with regular jacks on those round jacking points all the time. The only reason you can’t jack anywhere else is because the floor is a flat carbon laminated panel to provide the under car aero. The reason they were bolted to the ramp is to stop them tipping and falling off the ramp if the engine or rear subframe assembly is removed The car will not crack a windscreen from flexing 😂 it’s one of the most torsionally stiff cars ever made. It actually had to be made softer to pass crash tests as it “was like a giant version of a matchbox car hitting a skirting board” as one tech described it. The “carbon tub” you showed is actually a carbon panel over the front crash structure which is cast aluminium. The carbon tub starts with the front firewall and extends backwards from there. The front half is basically sacrificial to lower crash forces. There’s photos online of one that was crashed in a desert somewhere and you can see the carbon tub has separated from the front of the car due to the forces. Any questions please ask.
Yup! Not the same thing but my BMW has a label with a 1-800 number on the underside of the trunk floor, where you would typically find the spare. Only time in a decade that I called it was just out of curiosity.
It has to be strong enough for the twist of the chassis or it would crack going over a speed bump. I think the problem is the pressure point of the jack
If you could afford this car you wouldn’t be bothered by a trip to the shop. This is how things get with very high end cars. It’s not a unique problem to this car.
And this is why I own a 1978 Datsun. You can’t hurt that POS if you tried. Hell, it’s been in two police chases, a flood and 3 impacts with deer. Still on the original engine and shocks at 450k miles on her.
@@botandrew1, yes, all of this. I have owned both a Chevy Camaro & a Subaru Impreza McRae. The Impreza was more expensive but it was also more practical. The Japanese had built a Saturday rally car that you could drive like a Jewish grandmother if you wanted to. It wasn't fussy, it had four doors, & it wasn't twitchy at 130MPH like the Camaro was. At 125MPH my Camaro suspension, which l admit was factory, would start to feel like it could wander & its steering would feel unusually mushy, & it became somewhat scary to drive over 125 but, again, that was with the factory suspension. I'm 100% certain that tuneable shocks, stiffer springs, & a decent tower-mount anti-roll bar would have fixed both the wander & the mushy feeling to the Camaro's steering at speed.
@@CBSeDeSTA Snide one, I offer a service, not a ransom. I will offer service for free when gasoline, diesel, electricity, water, and property tax are also free. The price is quoted before work begins. 60% of work comes from motoring clubs and insurance companies.
That was the deal breaker for me when I went to the dealer to buy one. I didn't want the hassle of towing a car lift around in case I needed to change a flat.
....and ..... So I dropped a g note on a 2001 Corolla, body undercoat, no rust, under 60,000 miles! We pick it up with the 4 point hoist OR even our overhead crane and a spreader-bar!... NO PROBLEMS!
Meanwhile, my old Mazda E2000 provides me with a perennial home, shrugs off a puncture like it's nuthin'...allows me to easily remove and stow the spare...can drive over a washed out rutted driveway with not even a creak from the body. Total cost: $3500AUD, 15 years ago. No complaints.
Haha! Mercedes owner’s doesn’t need find “one of you on the side of the road” MB is the last company that offers factory sponsored road side assistance for the life of the car.
@@SinlowMusicjaded ? He is being honest. Why would he risk his job if he does not have the proper truck to tow a car like that. Then he will really amount to nothing
These were hand built in the McLaren Technology Centre ( before they built the automotive build hall) and the only thing Merc on these is the badge, the engine and maybe some switch gear...
Been a tech for almost 35 years That’s the dumbest shit I’ve ever seen. Why the hell would they design it like that. They should be ashamed of themselves
Can you say "A fool and his money are soon parted"? I could have a whole stable of cool vehicles- and a garage to put them in- and a parts vehicle for each- for $400k.
Motorenzimmer, a well known german youtube mercedes specialist explained that. It has to do with the carbon chassis structure and the weight packaging...if you take the wrong thing out of the car it might tip over...and the points are the only points were you wont damage the carbon chassis. Thats part of the reason why in germany only a few shops are allowed to work on slr's
Yeah, it seems like they really failed on the structural design front. If you’re opening doors and only lifting with special pins?? Add 50lb more in carbon fiber and some steel jack points so you can use a regular jack and not worry about cracking things
I worked at McLaren when this was being developed. The road going prototype was an absolute monster. It didn’t look quite like this though. It was Matt black with lots of silver and white tape on it to disguise the actual shape. It didn’t have badges and the vents weren’t the same. I wanted to take photos but we weren’t allowed
I used to fix the wheels on these cars all the time. If you simply put a jack right at that metal lift point under the car is perfectly fine. But I wouldn't do 4 jacks at a time, 2 at most on the same side. It always looked like a stretched SLK to me.
I own a wheel refurbishment shop and one day the VIP department of the Mercedes dealer in Oslo comes in with 2 SLR wheels, one front and one rear. Owner had been in a big pothole and they were badly bent on the inside. The front wheel costs 4k and the rear 6k. I spent 30 minutes straightening them out, with heat and hydraulic press. They were perfect again and I charged 150 bucks for the job. They were easy to work with and were made by Borbet Germany.
J-Leno has one of these, he said they drive smooth as butter at speeds 140+, it's there were they really thrive. Perfect autobahn for car. Dream car for sure.
I remember this car on top gear when i was a kid. Jeremy test drove it and absolutely loved it. I remember being impressed as it was the first car i saw jeremy have good things to say about it
Add this to the list of cars i will never own because while im not handy enough to rebuild a car i like being able to change the oil or a tire or any other basic maintenance.
I once worked as a contractor at the MacLaren for 2-3 weeks in early 2000's. They have a mini museum there with one of these SLR's in. The canteen was also fantastic.
I loved the canteen but me and one of my team mates got really fed up with the product tie-ins... Particularly that EVERYTHING that was cheesy had Grana Padano in it and now I'm a bit repulsed by the stuff... Breakfast was fabulous though
The F1-style carbon main chassis also recommends the cool front mounted sidepipe exhaust giving the M113K-engine its unique badass sound in this car because no heat generating part must be connected to the monocoque. As a result the entire exhaust system cramps in the subframe containing also the engine, coolers and front-axle.
I remember back in 2007-2008 driving some of the SL55 amg, and multiple SLRs, the main differences I noticed back then, were the turbine looking wheels, the more aggressive looking exterior, and the cluster, on the SLR had a higher top speed, than the regular SL, to be honest, I dont even remember the exhausts were on the sides, I probably didnt even noticed lol
I was also a McLaren technician working on this car at their facility in Portsmouth. We were constructing the carbon fibre safety cell, body panels and assembling this before it went to the factory in Woking. The safety cell was fascinating to work on - carbon fibre laminates were laid into individual moulds dry (without resin), compressed within a vacuum bag and then further compressed with a vacuum machine (under temperature if I remember correctly). These sections were then removed from their mould and placed within a large mould of the safety cell. It was then injected with polystyrene beads and then further force injected with resin. I believe this was the first time this process had been used and was developed by McLaren. If you could look at the backs of the nylon inserts that are within the carbon fibre, they will have PFC (Portsmouth Football Club) written on them by the locals & NFC by the contractors from Newcastle. Another interesting feature was a thick metal cable that ran across the front of the car and down into each chassis leg. The chassis legs were cast aluminium and the front sections were stepped carbon fibre cones. If the car had a head on crash with a tree/lamppost, the cable was designed to tear through the stepped carbon fibre cones to dissipate the impact. I also remember one of the safety cells somehow being stolen. It was rumoured that it ended up in the hands of Ferrari but who knows if this is true! Great memories and a life long regret leaving the company.
I lived near Portsmouth when I worked at MTC. I always thought it was fascinating that they shipped up the tubs from North Harbour to Woking (then of course they built the production hall for the rest of the road cars) I also found it mildly disturbing that the bonfire night fireworks were right next to the factory! Was that concerning for the staff as well?
@@AlistairBrugsch that’s a really good point actually. I don’t remember anyone mentioning the fireworks but no doubt they would have been a bit concerned!!
Of course. I had a humble Mercedes Benz ML 320. I know it's no comparison, but just to check the transmission fluid I had to make my own dipstick. Then one day, the key got stuck in the ignition. I had to have it towed, on a platform truck, cuz I couldn't move gear selector. Then had to order a new ignition, which had to come from Germany. Once installed, and with a new key, I still had to use the old fob to satisfy the proximity sensor. Mercedes vehicles not only have a high initial cost, but the maintenance and repairs cost is high. All this said, the person who wants these specialty items should be aware of the inconveniences that come with it.
Can confirm. Worked at a wheel and tire shop fresh out of high school and saw one of these at the Mercedes dealership while delivering tires for it. I have a picture of one up on the lift at the dealer, but no doors open for lifting.
you do not change your own wheels out or let the avergae garage do it when you onw one of these...a specialist from a Merc/McLaren centre arrives with a covered trailer and they either have the correct equipment onboard or they take it very carefully to the place that does...returning it with a free valet / detail job to boot.
This is mostly incorrect, you can still jack the car up at the normal jack points, just nowhere else, because that's all carbon aero panels and is not meant to take the weight of the car. I believe the sticker is there because normal jacks have a jack point that's like a bowl that will fit around the jack point and it will likely hit and put force onto the carbon around it, instead of lifting on the actual jack point, meaning you need an adapter, but a normal jack stand can still be used safely. And the part about the windshield is ridiculous, there's no way that a car with a carbon tub will have an issue like that, if it was really that fragile, then you should also be able to break it by going over a speed bump wrong and causing a bit of chassis flex. Since this is a high performance car as well, I'd imagine the forces of track driving would also crack the windshield, and plain and simple that does not happen. Also opening the doors would make things worse, because with the doors open, all the forces have to go through only the tub, and since you clearly did this, and it still didn't crack, we know the tub alone is more than strong enough that it won't crack the windshield. He really should take this video down lol, just misinformation all around.
It’s so crazy. No one mentioned that when I bought it. I upgraded the wheels to Vossen. And now the cars totally whacked. But trying to get it sorted under warranty.
Took a lot of ideas for looks from the Chrysler Cross Fire, which was an SLK 320 with a Chrysler design body. Mercedes assembly plant wouldn't put it together due to union rules, so they were assessed at the Karmen Gia plant.
Yep, composites flex a LOT more than steel or aluminum. Unlike steel and aluminum, they bounce back to their cured shape really well, with no deformation. Eventually, or if flexed too far, the layers will delaminate and it will lose 80%+ of it's strength. That is what this issue is about, jacking at one small point will over-flex the structure and cause delamination (which you can't see, it just makes a very different noise when you tap it with mallet).
My brother got an amg gt, and i was sooooo close to getting one of these until i heard some of the repairs and costs. Weighed out my options with my bank funds, and I'm happy to report that i was in fact able to afford my 2010 Honda accord.....😢
I’ve lifted one and have an uncle that works for Mercedes that told me if you lift one wrong you’ll crack the tub and it’ll be totaled, we currently have one for sale where I work and I refuse to work on it
Don't believe everything you hear. The structure of that benz is meant to hold up at 200mph+ crashes. You think a lift in the air is going to fuck up the structure, right.... Those are warnings so you don't fuck up that massive aero panel underneath. That unbolts.... Vettes have carbon fiber rockers, and you need hockey pucks to give them a lift on the hoist or you crack the covers at 2k per side plus paint...
I first saw this car in NFS Carbon and I was still very young, but I knew it was something special. It was no ordinary Mercedes (at the time I didn’t know of McLaren other than F1 and I didn’t put the two together😂) and I loved that.
Like someone in the comments already mentioned, the “no floor jack” sticker is to protect the carbon aero undertray. There’s NO WAY in hell this car will twist enough to crack something just by being jacked up at one corner. Do you know how much G force this thing experiences going at full send? Way more than a jack can provide! Otherwise, hitting a damn speed bump with one tire slightly ahead of the other would total the car😂
Swear I thought the SLR had a V10 at least! That big ass hood and all that real estate not used. Still a car I forget exists until I see it. I’d love to drive one.
This is why I decided to go with a 2009 silverado
hahahahaha
😂
Excellent choice
😂😂😂
A strong second choice
What a gorgeous car...but what a hassle
pros and cons
If you have that money best believe you have more than 1 car
It's ugly af
My Dacia Sandero is way more beautiful and way more reliable. My dream car.
I actually think it lacks styling
Note to self: if I hit the lottery and buy one of these, NEVER take it to Discount Tire.
You may be shocked to learn that not all tyres are created equally , the tyres are probably a special order which 95% of tyre places don’t stock nor could get from the original source !!! That’s how they charge you ten times what they should really cost , and you’ll feel very special !!!
@@aljaliah6868What 😂 he’s shocked you replied with this “Thanks Mom” Response
Was 400k. New. More like double now at least.
Lmao
@@aljaliah6868not an issue, you get a new set of chrome mags from discount tire and put whatever tires on you want
There is no way in hell this car is flexible enough to crack, bend, or break anything from jacking it up at one single jack point.
Yeah thats was a stretch to suggest that. This tech of carbon tubs to which aluminum sections bolt onto the front or rear comes straight from F1 manufacturing.
I think the same. Its like high speed corner or just road quality. It is bullshit
That’s CZcams mechanics for ya. The SLR’s carbon fiber monocoque can withstand sheering and tensile forces well into the 40 ton range. Maybe a floor Jack would crack a carbon fender, but the car is designed to survive high speed crashes
These cars are built like dog sheet so they break and more money is generated.
@@Ndw1995carbon fiber still is prone to cracking as it doesn’t yield
I was a Mercedes tech and what he is saying is true. The company sent me to training just for this car.
Do you wear white coveralls to work on them, or just for the MAYBACH
Dude that sounds like an Honor, congrats on that
How in the hell is this possible? Carbon is strong so why jacking it is so difficult?
they send you to training for this vehicle so
1. only “registered” techs who have taken the class for this car can work on this car
2. it’s a liability thing, if they send you to training and you still fuck up then damage comes out of YOUR pocket, dealership won’t help you. if you worked on it without the training you could just say “well i didn’t know” and then the dealership would have to assume full responsibility and they don’t want to pay just as much as you wouldn’t want to.
it’s all a liability and insurance thing
@@aeroluke4425 In what sick world would a technician be fully responsible for a repair. I think only in a shithole country like USA xD
I worked for McLaren and would have built that car. We used to jack them with regular jacks on those round jacking points all the time. The only reason you can’t jack anywhere else is because the floor is a flat carbon laminated panel to provide the under car aero. The reason they were bolted to the ramp is to stop them tipping and falling off the ramp if the engine or rear subframe assembly is removed The car will not crack a windscreen from flexing 😂 it’s one of the most torsionally stiff cars ever made. It actually had to be made softer to pass crash tests as it “was like a giant version of a matchbox car hitting a skirting board” as one tech described it. The “carbon tub” you showed is actually a carbon panel over the front crash structure which is cast aluminium. The carbon tub starts with the front firewall and extends backwards from there. The front half is basically sacrificial to lower crash forces. There’s photos online of one that was crashed in a desert somewhere and you can see the carbon tub has separated from the front of the car due to the forces. Any questions please ask.
Add...or floats😅
@@martindaman5280 sorry mate I don’t get it. What floats?
@@mopedmarathonnot his joke for sure.
I love when people who know what they're talking about call out videos like this for spreading misinformation about the car.
This is much more along the story of the tub and front sacrificial front subframe I remember
Instructions: if you get a flat tyre, simply tow your car to the nearest McLaren specialist 😂
Yup! Not the same thing but my BMW has a label with a 1-800 number on the underside of the trunk floor, where you would typically find the spare. Only time in a decade that I called it was just out of curiosity.
@@Glenny2Timez What happened when you called it though?
It has to be strong enough for the twist of the chassis or it would crack going over a speed bump.
I think the problem is the pressure point of the jack
So basically a flat tire in the middle of nowhere requires a mandatory trip to the shop… Brilliant!
Probably has run flats so you could at least drive it to the shop
In McLaren, even changing the tires is a show, for the high end cars
If you could afford this car you wouldn’t be bothered by a trip to the shop. This is how things get with very high end cars. It’s not a unique problem to this car.
And how you gonna have the local guy tow it? You know his insurance isn't enough to cover that price.
Unless the tire explodes, damages the carbon tub.... then it's a trip to the new car showroom. Like, wow.
Yeah because this is a everyday problem I'm having.
😂😂😂😂 i have same problem
I am so glad I don't own this mclaren.
I'm Glad I'm not the only one, with this terrible problem!
Also that means someone has jacked one of these up and made a whoopsie
Do you even lift (your SLR), bro?
And this is why I own a 1978 Datsun. You can’t hurt that POS if you tried. Hell, it’s been in two police chases, a flood and 3 impacts with deer. Still on the original engine and shocks at 450k miles on her.
I passed my driving test in a Datsun 120y 😊
Yeah that’s exactly why you drive a Datsun and not this lol
It is actually really fun to drive.
I own one and I drove it every single day 😊
@@botandrew1, yes, all of this.
I have owned both a Chevy Camaro & a Subaru Impreza McRae. The Impreza was more expensive but it was also more practical.
The Japanese had built a Saturday rally car that you could drive like a Jewish grandmother if you wanted to. It wasn't fussy, it had four doors, & it wasn't twitchy at 130MPH like the Camaro was.
At 125MPH my Camaro suspension, which l admit was factory, would start to feel like it could wander & its steering would feel unusually mushy, & it became somewhat scary to drive over 125 but, again, that was with the factory suspension. I'm 100% certain that tuneable shocks, stiffer springs, & a decent tower-mount anti-roll bar would have fixed both the wander & the mushy feeling to the Camaro's steering at speed.
Thank you. As a Roadside Service guy, I will not accept jobs upon supercars.
Well yeah you pray on the needy not the super car thank you for your input., 😊
@@CBSeDeSTA Snide one, I offer a service, not a ransom. I will offer service for free when gasoline, diesel, electricity, water, and property tax are also free. The price is quoted before work begins. 60% of work comes from motoring clubs and insurance companies.
@@CBSeDeSTAI’m guessing you get mad when landlords charge rent?
@@denzelwashington2927 why shouldn't we be? They're leeches that don't do any labour
That was the deal breaker for me when I went to the dealer to buy one. I didn't want the hassle of towing a car lift around in case I needed to change a flat.
....and ..... So I dropped a g note on a 2001 Corolla, body undercoat, no rust, under 60,000 miles! We pick it up with the 4 point hoist OR even our overhead crane and a spreader-bar!... NO PROBLEMS!
Sick bro! I gots me the 08 Kia Optima at 55k for only 8 g's last year, holmes!
Meanwhile, my old Mazda E2000 provides me with a perennial home, shrugs off a puncture like it's nuthin'...allows me to easily remove and stow the spare...can drive over a washed out rutted driveway with not even a creak from the body. Total cost: $3500AUD, 15 years ago. No complaints.
The good thing about dream cars is that, no matter how flawed, they're always perfect in our minds.
This is the main reason I sold my SLR
Bruh. Did you just say… Jack the Car off? 😂
Was looking for this comment
Me too…lol
Same
Owning this car is like owning your very own SR-71.
If SR-71 was a piece of crap.
I'm a tow truck driver. Good luck trying to find one of us on the side of the road to help you out. Enjoy that Mercedes. 👍
… And that jaded attitude is exactly why you haven’t amounted to much besides being a tow truck driver.
Haha!
Mercedes owner’s doesn’t need find “one of you on the side of the road” MB is the last company that offers factory sponsored road side assistance for the life of the car.
@@SinlowMusicwhat an emotional reply. All your music is garbage too. Maybe you’re better off towing with him?
@@SinlowMusicjaded ? He is being honest. Why would he risk his job if he does not have the proper truck to tow a car like that. Then he will really amount to nothing
Flatbeds will handle it no problem.
the coolest crossover vehicle of its time
Mercedes used to be some of the most reliable cars in the world, and in my experience, the basic models were easy to work on. Times have changed.
This car is almost 20yrs old! When are you talking about? 90’s?
If you want luxury, performance and reliability, you buy Lexus
These were hand built in the McLaren Technology Centre ( before they built the automotive build hall) and the only thing Merc on these is the badge, the engine and maybe some switch gear...
there is no way a car that has 600+ horsepower cannot withstand being jacked up at the jacking point. I call shenanigans on this video.
Make sure to always have an anesthesiologist by your side so the car doesn’t feel any pain or discomfort
So it can't be driven on public roads. A pot hole could total that engineering nightmare.
Don’t believe everything you see on social media
Utter nonsense
Been a tech for almost 35 years
That’s the dumbest shit I’ve ever seen.
Why the hell would they design it like that.
They should be ashamed of themselves
Yeah, lightweight, no, ultra-performance, not anymore, catastrophic maintenance and repair, always.
To grab more money from millionaires.
Can you say "A fool and his money are soon parted"? I could have a whole stable of cool vehicles- and a garage to put them in- and a parts vehicle for each- for $400k.
Motorenzimmer, a well known german youtube mercedes specialist explained that. It has to do with the carbon chassis structure and the weight packaging...if you take the wrong thing out of the car it might tip over...and the points are the only points were you wont damage the carbon chassis. Thats part of the reason why in germany only a few shops are allowed to work on slr's
Yeah, it seems like they really failed on the structural design front. If you’re opening doors and only lifting with special pins?? Add 50lb more in carbon fiber and some steel jack points so you can use a regular jack and not worry about cracking things
Well then, I’m gonna sell mine before I have a flat tire!😂
Haha, the intro to this was great, haha. Netflix and chill😂 super funny!!
Dear Mercedes,
How fucking dare you....
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
I worked at McLaren when this was being developed. The road going prototype was an absolute monster. It didn’t look quite like this though. It was Matt black with lots of silver and white tape on it to disguise the actual shape. It didn’t have badges and the vents weren’t the same. I wanted to take photos but we weren’t allowed
I was there (MESL) when the MP4-12C prototype was being tested. Same deal 😂
I used to fix the wheels on these cars all the time. If you simply put a jack right at that metal lift point under the car is perfectly fine. But I wouldn't do 4 jacks at a time, 2 at most on the same side. It always looked like a stretched SLK to me.
This thing is a beast. Way too beautiful.
As an owner of one of those cars...
Money is not an object.
You have a 585 credit score. Stop.
@mrgadget5845
In truth, you are 200 points away.
@@NBC_NCOso 385?
@khakipeach2128
Yes.
Mercedes makes such crap that anyone with a pulse can get one...
Including you.
you a free mason?
I own a wheel refurbishment shop and one day the VIP department of the Mercedes dealer in Oslo comes in with 2 SLR wheels, one front and one rear. Owner had been in a big pothole and they were badly bent on the inside. The front wheel costs 4k and the rear 6k. I spent 30 minutes straightening them out, with heat and hydraulic press. They were perfect again and I charged 150 bucks for the job.
They were easy to work with and were made by Borbet Germany.
This is the only reason I bought a 1974 Mark 1 Mini😊😊😊
Its a beautiful vehicle ..maybe one of the best
J-Leno has one of these, he said they drive smooth as butter at speeds 140+, it's there were they really thrive. Perfect autobahn for car. Dream car for sure.
I recommend getting run flat tires if possible.
Wow. Crazy shit. Thanks for sharing
Thanks for sharing the details
Well what good information you have given for the everyday worker. I'm sure you helped a lot of CZcams viewers with this information.
Old Corvette's are the same way when you lift you got to pop all the doors and thing for the body to relax but it is just fiberglass.
I remember this car on top gear when i was a kid. Jeremy test drove it and absolutely loved it. I remember being impressed as it was the first car i saw jeremy have good things to say about it
Add this to the list of cars i will never own because while im not handy enough to rebuild a car i like being able to change the oil or a tire or any other basic maintenance.
I once worked as a contractor at the MacLaren for 2-3 weeks in early 2000's. They have a mini museum there with one of these SLR's in. The canteen was also fantastic.
I loved the canteen but me and one of my team mates got really fed up with the product tie-ins... Particularly that EVERYTHING that was cheesy had Grana Padano in it and now I'm a bit repulsed by the stuff... Breakfast was fabulous though
One of my favourite cars that just looks ferocious
Netflix & chill reference goes hard
This IS my dream car. Always loved this piece of machinery. Watch Top Gear's segment on it, I think aired back in early 2000's if I remember right
Such a lovely car. 722 Sterling is just 1 step forward... beautiful cars.
The F1-style carbon main chassis also recommends the cool front mounted sidepipe exhaust giving the M113K-engine its unique badass sound in this car because no heat generating part must be connected to the monocoque. As a result the entire exhaust system cramps in the subframe containing also the engine, coolers and front-axle.
I remember back in 2007-2008 driving some of the SL55 amg, and multiple SLRs, the main differences I noticed back then, were the turbine looking wheels, the more aggressive looking exterior, and the cluster, on the SLR had a higher top speed, than the regular SL, to be honest, I dont even remember the exhausts were on the sides, I probably didnt even noticed lol
I was also a McLaren technician working on this car at their facility in Portsmouth. We were constructing the carbon fibre safety cell, body panels and assembling this before it went to the factory in Woking. The safety cell was fascinating to work on - carbon fibre laminates were laid into individual moulds dry (without resin), compressed within a vacuum bag and then further compressed with a vacuum machine (under temperature if I remember correctly). These sections were then removed from their mould and placed within a large mould of the safety cell. It was then injected with polystyrene beads and then further force injected with resin. I believe this was the first time this process had been used and was developed by McLaren. If you could look at the backs of the nylon inserts that are within the carbon fibre, they will have PFC (Portsmouth Football Club) written on them by the locals & NFC by the contractors from Newcastle. Another interesting feature was a thick metal cable that ran across the front of the car and down into each chassis leg. The chassis legs were cast aluminium and the front sections were stepped carbon fibre cones. If the car had a head on crash with a tree/lamppost, the cable was designed to tear through the stepped carbon fibre cones to dissipate the impact. I also remember one of the safety cells somehow being stolen. It was rumoured that it ended up in the hands of Ferrari but who knows if this is true! Great memories and a life long regret leaving the company.
I lived near Portsmouth when I worked at MTC. I always thought it was fascinating that they shipped up the tubs from North Harbour to Woking (then of course they built the production hall for the rest of the road cars)
I also found it mildly disturbing that the bonfire night fireworks were right next to the factory! Was that concerning for the staff as well?
@@AlistairBrugsch that’s a really good point actually. I don’t remember anyone mentioning the fireworks but no doubt they would have been a bit concerned!!
The best sound car ever. sound like a spitfire on wheels!!
This car is one of the great sexy automobiles of recent decades
Of course. I had a humble Mercedes Benz ML 320. I know it's no comparison, but just to check the transmission fluid I had to make my own dipstick. Then one day, the key got stuck in the ignition. I had to have it towed, on a platform truck, cuz I couldn't move gear selector. Then had to order a new ignition, which had to come from Germany. Once installed, and with a new key, I still had to use the old fob to satisfy the proximity sensor. Mercedes vehicles not only have a high initial cost, but the maintenance and repairs cost is high. All this said, the person who wants these specialty items should be aware of the inconveniences that come with it.
Damn, thank you so much for this PSA! Think I’ll hang onto my $400k and ’05 Accord for awhile😨!
Absolutely ridiculous!
My £200 2004 ford is still going despite battle scars 😮😊
That’s why I love Lexus. Spoken from experience of once driving an old 1994 C-Class sedan. 👌❤️😎🥋🥋🥋
Can confirm. Worked at a wheel and tire shop fresh out of high school and saw one of these at the Mercedes dealership while delivering tires for it. I have a picture of one up on the lift at the dealer, but no doors open for lifting.
There are many inaccuracies in this video.
Pro tip:
Don’t believe everything you see on social media.
@@markturley3106 yeah it seems like some bs. One would think doors latched for maximum rigidity would be the desired lifting position.
And that's why I'm sticking to my 1995 civic. VTEC baby!!!
Such F1 influence right there
Back when mclaren and mercedes were always netflix and chill...
If there was any car in my life I could afford I would only have this one. I think it’s the most beautiful car I’ve ever seen.
Older corvettes were this way as well since they dont have a support frame it buckles when you jack up a corner.
you do not change your own wheels out or let the avergae garage do it when you onw one of these...a specialist from a Merc/McLaren centre arrives with a covered trailer and they either have the correct equipment onboard or they take it very carefully to the place that does...returning it with a free valet / detail job to boot.
Vettes have a similar situation in which you have to open doors hood trunk and if equipped as a form of convertible/targa/t-top roof
If your carbon cracks because you jack the car up, you designed your tub wrong. Cars on a track will experience strong torsional forces regularly.
This is mostly incorrect, you can still jack the car up at the normal jack points, just nowhere else, because that's all carbon aero panels and is not meant to take the weight of the car. I believe the sticker is there because normal jacks have a jack point that's like a bowl that will fit around the jack point and it will likely hit and put force onto the carbon around it, instead of lifting on the actual jack point, meaning you need an adapter, but a normal jack stand can still be used safely.
And the part about the windshield is ridiculous, there's no way that a car with a carbon tub will have an issue like that, if it was really that fragile, then you should also be able to break it by going over a speed bump wrong and causing a bit of chassis flex. Since this is a high performance car as well, I'd imagine the forces of track driving would also crack the windshield, and plain and simple that does not happen. Also opening the doors would make things worse, because with the doors open, all the forces have to go through only the tub, and since you clearly did this, and it still didn't crack, we know the tub alone is more than strong enough that it won't crack the windshield. He really should take this video down lol, just misinformation all around.
That's why I won't buy a McClaren. Instead a 68 Chevy Chevelle SS.
That's bonkers but I love it. Adds character.
Dang just when I was about to buy one. Thanks for this warning! *gets back on trek*
It’s so crazy. No one mentioned that when I bought it. I upgraded the wheels to Vossen. And now the cars totally whacked. But trying to get it sorted under warranty.
No you didn't.
over-engineered so hard they had no room for basics.
have fun getting a tow when it breaks down. I'd refuse it
Took a lot of ideas for looks from the Chrysler Cross Fire, which was an SLK 320 with a Chrysler design body. Mercedes assembly plant wouldn't put it together due to union rules, so they were assessed at the Karmen Gia plant.
We need more of this
I’ve had puncture a few times and is a bigger
so having no power steering..
but it’s an iconic car
This actually worried me briefly, and then I remembered that I’m not even close to being able to be in this situation.
Great way to keep us watching, nice creativity on the title 😂
Yep, composites flex a LOT more than steel or aluminum. Unlike steel and aluminum, they bounce back to their cured shape really well, with no deformation. Eventually, or if flexed too far, the layers will delaminate and it will lose 80%+ of it's strength. That is what this issue is about, jacking at one small point will over-flex the structure and cause delamination (which you can't see, it just makes a very different noise when you tap it with mallet).
My brother got an amg gt, and i was sooooo close to getting one of these until i heard some of the repairs and costs.
Weighed out my options with my bank funds, and I'm happy to report that i was in fact able to afford my 2010 Honda accord.....😢
Great video! If I would try to use a floor jack on my classic car from 93 it would also break apart. My fiesta is all rust you see.
I’ve lifted one and have an uncle that works for Mercedes that told me if you lift one wrong you’ll crack the tub and it’ll be totaled, we currently have one for sale where I work and I refuse to work on it
"Yeah... drove over a speed bump at 5 miles an hour ... wrote off my car"
Same with my $4000 car. The flat tire and the jack (attached to my rockerpanel that is so rusty) can total the car
Don't believe everything you hear. The structure of that benz is meant to hold up at 200mph+ crashes. You think a lift in the air is going to fuck up the structure, right.... Those are warnings so you don't fuck up that massive aero panel underneath. That unbolts.... Vettes have carbon fiber rockers, and you need hockey pucks to give them a lift on the hoist or you crack the covers at 2k per side plus paint...
Damn! That was close! Nearly destroyed my SLR.... Was getting ready to use a rusty bumper jack to lift it high enough to put 24" spinners on it....
Really interesting. One of the holy trinity of the early 2000s
And that's why I drive both a 2005 Trailblazer and 2017 Tahoe.🗿
I first saw this car in NFS Carbon and I was still very young, but I knew it was something special. It was no ordinary Mercedes (at the time I didn’t know of McLaren other than F1 and I didn’t put the two together😂) and I loved that.
got nothin on the y2kcamry 💯😮💨
Like someone in the comments already mentioned, the “no floor jack” sticker is to protect the carbon aero undertray.
There’s NO WAY in hell this car will twist enough to crack something just by being jacked up at one corner.
Do you know how much G force this thing experiences going at full send? Way more than a jack can provide!
Otherwise, hitting a damn speed bump with one tire slightly ahead of the other would total the car😂
English cars have been notorious for being overly complicated, and ridiculpusly expensive to repair.
Thank God I want this video before I get a flat tire !!
Swear I thought the SLR had a V10 at least! That big ass hood and all that real estate not used. Still a car I forget exists until I see it. I’d love to drive one.
Yes I'll I actually enjoy changing a flat tire and have no time to waste time wasting money 😅
This Is why I like my 20+ year old general motors products.
C1 C2 and C3 Corvettes you also have to jack evenly and open the doors….
Great insight, thanks
This is why I bought the indestructible 911. No extra chromosomes after a night of netflix and chilling.