LATEST NEWS Merc SLR McLaren sets speed record at London

IAFRICA.COM AUTO NEWS LONDON ENGLAND - - A Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren powered into history by setting the first London Land Speed record at 283km/h on July 15, 2006.

Autocar Editor-at-Large Steve Sutcliffe was behind the wheel at London City Airport as the magazine lined up 10 of the country’s fastest production cars against each other to set a new benchmark — which is being sent to Guinness for consideration for the Book of Records.

At 1319m, City Airport has the shortest main runway of any of the UK’s 23 major airports, and it’s the only one to be surrounded by water. That didn’t deter Sutcliffe, who had to accelerate from a standing start, only hitting the brakes at a predetermined point around three-quarters of the way along the course.

The SLR McLaren super sports car combines the engineering skills and production processes of Mercedes-Benz and the construction expertise of McLaren.

Hand-made at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren has a carbon fibre composite body making it stiff and strong, as well as relatively light.

Power comes from a 5.5-litre supercharged V8 Mercedes-AMG engine developing 466kW at 6500rpm and 780Nm between 3250 and 5000rpm.

This means it can accelerate from 0-100km/h in 3.8 seconds, reaching its 333km/h top speed shortly afterwards. The SLR McLaren has the braking performance to match its power, with internally ventilated fibre-reinforced ceramic discs all round, aided by a boot-mounted airbrake.
A five-speed automatic gearbox and speed-sensitive power-assisted steering come with the £317 500 SLR.

This blend of power and precision engineering helped Steve Sutcliffe set the record – despite never having driven an SLR before.

"The SLR McLaren has the power, the technology and the stability to hit those high speeds with incredible control. This is the fastest any production car has ever been driven legally in London," he said.