The Insane Various McLaren Recommends To Changing The SLR’s $58,000 Rear Brakes
The same old restore invoice on a motorcar ranges from tens to hundreds of {dollars}. For supercars, it’s usually a unique story, given how bespoke and superior the mechanical engineering that has gone into creating the racecar for the street.
The notorious Bugatti Veyron annual upkeep invoice, as an example, could be northwards of $50,000. That’s greater than what a Chevrolet Camaro 2SS prices. The identical is true for the extra retro supercars, such because the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren.
When Rustam bought his Ohio-located SLR (a dream automotive of his), he anticipated nice issues. Reliability, nevertheless, was not its sturdy swimsuit, chief amongst which have been the brakes. Fixing the difficulty would value greater than the aforementioned Camaro. However McLaren had a reasonably uncommon trick up their sleeve to deal with the issue.
The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Had Monstrous Supercar Energy
Earlier than we dive into McLaren’s unorthodox method to fixing grinding brakes, this is a fast overview. The SLR was a road-going jet fighter. Below the hood was the primary ever in-house developed engine by Mercedes’ AMG division, and it was an engine to not compete with.
Its 5.4-liter supercharged V8 produced a then-eye-watering 617 hp, permitting the SLR to achieve 0 to 60 mph in simply 3.8 seconds and on to a high velocity of 208 mph. Though up to date supercars dwarf this, again within the 2000s, this was one of many quickest manufacturing automobiles on this planet, solely rivaled by the Ferrari Enzo and the Porsche Carrera GT.
The explanation the SLR McLaren was so fast was all the way down to its ingenious design and engineering. With a ground-breaking carbon-fiber physique shell development and a modern, aerodynamically environment friendly aesthetic, the SLR weighed in at simply 3,898 lbs. It had the torque below the hood and the light-weight maneuverability to turn out to be one of many quickest automobiles on the street.
As such, a robust braking system was wanted, and so the SLR got here as normal with carbon ceramic brakes. The SLR was so highly effective it was the primary manufacturing automotive to have an ‘air-brake’ fitted to help the stopping process. The brakes have been so forceful, as demonstrated by BBC’s Prime Gear, that it may cease from 120 mph to 0 in simply 240 toes. A very staggering engineering achievement.
Laying Up An SLR Causes Complications For The Brakes
Nearly as good because the brakes on the SLR have been, bother emerged when an proprietor was to put up their supercar for an prolonged interval. Rustam skilled this on the drive house after buying his dream automotive, which had not been pushed for some time. The carbon-ceramic brakes, which might usually present sheer confidence to the driving force when braking, would screech and grind when operated. Clearly, this wasn’t befitting of a 6-figure supercar.
Rustam took his SLR to Mercedes-Benz for an inspection. Contemplating the SLR was one of many first manufacturing automobiles to even have carbon-ceramic brakes, the restore invoice was by no means going to be cheap. Nevertheless, shock and horror dawned when Rustam was quoted a whopping $58,000 to restore simply the rear rotors and pads, one of many highest restore payments that the Mercedes-Benz department had ever seen. A bespoke half demanded a bespoke worth!
McLaren’s Ingenious But Terrifying Answer For Squeaky SLR Brakes
Understandably, Rustam was not going to fork out such an enormous amount of cash for what ought to have been a easy restore. Upon inquiring with McLaren on what alternate options existed, McLaren returned with an unorthodox and insane answer. The SLR must be pushed to 160 mph plus, after which a extremely exhausting braking maneuver must be carried out.
This whole course of must be repeated quite a lot of occasions till the brakes are red-hot. Why? As a result of by making the brakes red-hot once more, a warmth switch begins between the pads and the rotors, and the glaze on high of the rotors would reappear.
Rustam adopted McLaren’s suggestion, and on a closed circuit, he received his SLR as much as 192 mph and carried out the sequence of exhausting stops 6 occasions. Amazingly, the SLR’s brakes by no means pale regardless of how exhausting they needed to work.
Better of all, the answer – insane because it was – labored, and the horrendous grinding noise stopped. McLaren’s out-of-this-world answer was successful. Not shocking given their repute as one of many best motorsport firms in historical past.
How A lot Does A Mercedes McLaren SLR Price Right now?
So, the answer labored. However the restore quote of $58,000 is unforgettable. That is, in all chance, all the way down to the bespoke nature and exclusivity of the SLR, as just one,262 coupes have been ever made. An costly restore invoice shines a lightweight on the present worth of the SLR, as, though they haven’t skyrocketed to the hundreds of thousands as Porsche’s Carrera GT has, the Anglo-German SLR has a mean market worth of $308,000. It has neither appreciated nor depreciated, but it stays the identical costly and bespoke supercar simply because it was again in 2003.
Supercar holy trinities have been dotted all through historical past, and the SLR vs. Carrera GT vs. Enzo battle stays one of many best. The SLR, though costly to keep up, is a excessive level of the 2000s period and continues to be a benchmark for Mercedes-Benz even at present. Put these restore payments to 1 facet; and what you might have is a good looking, well-engineered, intoxicatingly highly effective monster; one which influenced luxurious supercar generations to come back but stays unequalled to this present day.
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