What does the new SLR look like?

[Luciferous]

The new SLR is SUPPOSED to look like an F1. But what do you think it actually looks like? Personally I reckon it's got a face like a squashed member of Sesame street.

[McLareN]

''a squashed member of Sesame street'' :mad: :mad: :mad:, that car looks very similar to and F1 (dont forget that it was built by the team Mclaren, ignorant :p).
I've never heard such an insult :mad:, for instance, i dont like very much the Enzo but i dont make stupid polls about is appearence, this is totally stupid and wrong :mad:

[drakkie]

''a squashed member of Sesame street'' :mad: :mad: :mad:, that car looks very similar to and F1 (dont forget that it was built by the team Mclaren, ignorant :p).
I've never heard such an insult :mad:, for instance, i dont like very much the Enzo but i dont make stupid polls about is appearence, this is totally stupid and wrong :mad:

i agree fully

[henk4]

the side profile of the SLR reminds me of the Cheetah (USA, sixties) that also had a hood that was far too long compared to the small glasshouse.

[NoOne]

I honestly dislike the way it looks ... Sesame Street character :D :D

[IWantAnAudiRS6]

I love the SLR! I think it's the coolest supercar by far... love the noise, looks, exhaust pipes pokin' out from the front side... the only problem I have with it is the price. I don't think that £313,000 is a reasonable amount of money for a car that shares it's switchgear with an ordinary SL.

[Turbonutter55]

You left out the most obvious option: the old SLR.

[henk4]

You left out the most obvious option: the old SLR.
that is almost blasphemia :D

[Turbonutter55]

I know. It's what the evil Mercedes storm-troopers WANT you to think. They should sell the old SLR, completely unchanged, except for the engine (which should be a bespoke V10 or straight-eight) instead of this marketing monstrosity. I'm sure I wasn't the only one who saw that poster and thought :I'd rather have the old one.

[Rockefella]

You've gotta admit, the new SLR is great, but looks like a catfish :p .

[:Exige:]

the only thing it has in common with and F1 car visually is the pointy nose ... other than that its just another car for people who cant use a manual gear shift.

[Hell_Unleashed]

U could've had another choice... other... cos I don't think it looks like any of the mentioned... infact... I don't know what the hell it looks like!?

[KnifeEdge_2K1]

look's like bigbird's head

[Coventrysucks]

It looks like a Mercedes Super-GT.
Which it is.

It doesn't look like an Enzo or CGT rivalling Supercar - SO STOP COMPARING THEM!

/Ire at constant "SLR sucks-ass compared to the Enzo" comments.

If you don't like it fine, but don't you have better things to do rather than attempting to find fault in other people's work?

Lets see how you all think an SLR should look, come on, start sketching!
Scan it in or take a digital photograph, it isn't difficult!

[Luciferous]

I seriously would, I need to get a hold of a scanner. Watch this space.

In the real world however, we gotta stop and think. What right do we have to critisize other people's work? They designed it not us so how can we have an opinion? On one hand, maybe we should respect the design. But what if a company travels down a road of desing that is just ugly? Do we let them know, or respect the ugly car for its merits? The way I see it, a car is designed as a total package, inside and out. Everything about the car should ooze the best the company can manage, ESPECIALLY if its a flagship model like the SLR. This includes the looks. But for me, one of the most important parts of a car is the face, its what you remember and what the car is advertised by. I like the body shape of the SLR. I really do. I love the rear end. What I don't love, and you could go so far as to say I hate, is the face. It breaks some of the most basic design principles. And as I've said before, I understand that the SLR and SLK are meant to look like F1's. However, F1' don't need to look good. Sportscars do. The SLR doesn't.
So let's just sit around and laugh at Mercedes' styling department's spectacular fall from grace.

[Coventrysucks]

I seriously would, I need to get a hold of a scanner. Watch this space.

And remember that your proposal has to meet the same packaging requirements for occupants, luggage, and running gear.

It also has to meet global legislation for crash testing, light positioning, etc, etc, etc...

What you have designed will need to be built, out of carbon fibre, so you need to know exactly how much radius, curvature etc cf can take, and its other limitations.

is the face. It breaks some of the most basic design principles.

What would they be then?

So let's just sit around and laugh at Mercedes' styling department's spectacular fall from grace.

Mercedes have recieved a lot less flak than many other companies of late, with regards to their designs.

Just because you don't like it, it doesn't make it a "fall from grace", spectacular or otherwise.

[Luciferous]

Basic design principles? Oh, how bout the so called 'catfish whiskers' on the bottom of the face? Name a good looking car that has them. Also for a car that's supposed to be cutting edge, the lights make it look cross eyed. It's because of the effect of having the bottoms of the lights directing inwards. The nosecone of the SLR is just hideous, it's way to big and rounded into an awkward shape, and doesn't merge into the bumper, which could be OK on another car which had a recurring theme of the effect, but on the SLR it sticks out like a sore, ugly thumb. The driving lights at the bottom are too small and out of proportion compared to the rest of the face. Cmon, I do graphics, all I learn about is aesthetics, I could go all day.

But seriously Conventry, do you think that we should take my first suggestion and not comment when we think a car is hideous? Personally I don't, I reckon a car is a complete package and if something's wrong then complain until someone listens. It may sound petty but it stops car makers giving us crap cars. And to me the car's aesthetics are a big deal. I've admitted before I've never been the biggest fan of Merc's styling department. But I could at least accept their design philosophy. The first time I saw the McLaren SLR it was in testing and all you could make out was the body shape and the back lights. I thought it looked awesome. Until I saw the finished product sporting only a mug a mother could love. Mercedes' spurred me bad that day so I'm sure you could forgive me for maybe being a little overzealous in trying to get revenge.

So to conclude I took your advice and designed a car that fitted all the criteria you mentioned (even if I did say the only thing I hated was the face) and redesigned the SLR to be better looking than it is now. Here it is:

[Esperante]

That looks beautiful Luciferous.

[Coventrysucks]

Basic design principles?... Cmon, I do graphics, all I learn about is aesthetics, I could go all day.

Those aren't "design principles", that is just a list of the bits you don't like.

I am studying transport design, so I know quite a bit about the subject as well.


But seriously Conventry, do you think that we should take my first suggestion and not comment when we think a car is hideous?

I have nothing to do with nuns.

There is nothing wrong with critisism, but people who complain about things being "ugly" without putting it into context is annoying.

There is a lot of work that goes into the design of a car, and you can't always build the beautiful shapes that you want to.

You may think that the front is ugly, which is fair enough. I don't think it is as good as it could be, but it has to fit into Mercedes' line-up, and act as a halo model for the brand.

It has to carry over the current Mercedes lights and other Mercedes styling cues, and they wanted to make the connection with McLaren and F1 visually, which is fairly easy to do if you are designing a mid-engined supercar (Enzo), but more difficult when it is a front mid-engined GT coupe. Hence the nose.

It doesn't look great in photos etc, but it is much better "in the flesh" (IMHO).

[gtrjazz]

It looks like Peter perfects car out of Wacky Races.......Crap

[PerfAdv]

The SLR does have styling cues from Mercedes' racing models and other cars in the line-up. To be it looks like having put the C-class coupe in a CAD program and then massively stretched it, especially the hood, then enlarged it to about 1.5 times the original C, then added the styling cues. The nose cone, the whiskers resembling F1 foil supports, and the giant cooling ducts. It's some surface excitement maybe better done without but look at the whole package.

What do I see when I look at the car? A formidable machine! The most debateable design element: the elongated hood. It could have easily been shortened but to position the big supercharged V8 behind the front axle, for a front-mid placement it was necessary. Low polar-moment, weight distribution, handling that's surprising for a GT. Maybe not proportionally balanced and lacking immediate aesthetic appeal but it has presence. It's a shape that impacts your senses. It a profile that will be immediatly recognizable as uniquely its own. The shape says: This SLR is more business than pleasure.

Overall, a great image car for Mercedes. I like the shape, afterall.

[jcp123]

What does an SLR look like? Never seen one.

[Luciferous]

That looks beautiful Luciferous.

Why thankyou, I think I really nailed it with the 'zoom' exclamation, showing this car is pure business, designed to go fast and nothing else. Personally I think the bigger nose gives it a lot more prescence on the road, but I think if it had the original model's wheels it would probably look better...

I reckon the best thing about the (actual) SLR is the elongated bonnet. I hate the bulge running down the centre, but the length reminds me of the sports cars of old with serious dimensions and not the restrained ones of today. I think the car would have looked much better had they just abandoned the F1 connections in the styling completely. If they went with a modern interpretation of the original SLR then it would look quite nice indeed. I understand they wanted to put on the F1 nose to show the significance of having McLaren build the car, but the performance should speak for the connection, not the styling. And now the F1 theme is followed through with the SLK. What the hell?

My problem with the car is that people seem to want to argue that it looks good simply on the basis its got a Mercedes badge and carries not only the SLR name, but the McLaren name as well. I don't find it good looking and due to it's callous approach to aesthetics, I don't think anyone else should either. But apparently they do, so I say to each his own, I'm not going to try and beat you up over it, just argue the point out of sheer morbid fascination...

[Hell_Unleashed]

What does an SLR look like? Never seen one.
Ur joking rite?