I used to feel the same way about the DBS at first, so I'll let this infraction slide...lol.

The DB9 now looks kinda plain to me, bare or naked if you will. Still though debating which Aston-Martin is the best looking car is a good thing. How many other brand would we have such a debate about?


M

Pretty much how I feel about the DBS - it just missed out on the top spot in the beauty pageant cause it resorts to some overtly aggressive bumpers to look more special. Except in my book, it is this gem and not the DB9 that goes home with the crown:





As for this comparison, if it is a one night stand or even a month long one fling, I want the DBS, but if I am gonna own it, I want the F599.

That's a weird words from u Martin u really must love the 599GTB to say this,anyway giving it was faster than the 599GTB and DBS around TG race track makes it not just for smoking both cars in straight line

Anyway back to topic

.3 secs around one track and the funny TG one at that. SLR is about 1.5 secs slower than GTB around Hockenheim and 5 secs slower around the ring. but I doubt Martin had track times in mind - probably more about all the praise heaped on 599 by reviewers vs all the complaints against the SLR.

Well with all my due respect to the ones who complains about the SLR they simply don't understand that car and that's exactly how MB wanted it to be not like what McLaren wanted,and we all know if MB let Mc tweak the car their way it'll handle better than any GT out there but MB just makes their cars the way they want.

As for the 599GTB it's one hell of a car it's one of my fav all time Ferraris but next to SLR specially in 722 trim it looks pale and plain IMO,saw them both in real and it's very easy choice for me

The SLR is a done deal. It's had its term in the Merc topspot. The SL65 BS almost shows the MaccaMerc how it should've been done.

The TopGear track in Clarkson's words is designed to flatter cars with high power outputs and top speeds for good reason - it's TV entertainment. It's not very technical nor does it severly test all the dynamic attributes of a car. Practically every one of the world's pre-emminent performance motoring journalists (current and ex-racing drivers among them) have singularly criticised the SLR for being a disappointment and somewhat unenjoyable drive.

The SLR is a dramatic looking machine and its looks mark a zenith for Mercedes Benz design in the 21st century. That said, from a mechanical engineering point of view the SLR was never at the leading edge of technology - in fact, I'd go so far to say that its engine, transmission and braking systems were on the brink of obsolescence even when it was newly released. The SLR's aesthetic design deserves universal acclaim - its mechanical virtues do not (and didn't ever get any acclaim).

Everything about the 599 GTB is the antithesis of the old-skool mechanical approach found in the SLR. It has a state-of-the-art, high revving 48 Valve DOHC V12 that's naturally aspirated; in stark contrast with the 24V SOHC Supercharged V8 that represented the swansong in the concept's shelflife. The 599 GTB has a manual gearbox - one that's very similar in technology to a pukka F1 car that just happens to have won 6 world championships in the last 8 years. The SLR's outdated 5 speed torque convertor automatic is just not appropriate in a supposed pinnacle car.

The SLR is representative of a bouyant and exhuberant automotive market in which car makers took the opportunity to produce the ultimate expression of their brands. So, the SLR may be remembered for many things but for me the lasting memory is this: it was the car that was completely outclassed and overshadowed by the Carrera GT and Ferrari Enzo as a supercar and out GT'd as a GT by its SL55 and 65 AMG stablemates.

We've more than likely had the privilege of recently witnessing the apex for car performance for the next two decades and we'll remember several cars in the years to come for being special - cars such as the Veyron, Zonda, Enzo and CGT. Each of these cars had something quite special - as does the 599 - but the SLR will and should be remembered for having nothing extraordinary about it all.

The 599 is quite simply the greatest front-engined car we've ever seen. And that's what makes it truly special in my book.

Ok the engine and transmission I can see being low-tech, but the construction of the car wasn't IMO.

M

At an optimistic 1768 Kg (many thought the SLR to be heavier) the SLR's all-carbon fibre construction was neither unique nor did it render real benefits in the weight-saving sense. A 599 GTB weighs less and makes do with just the barest smattering of carbon fibre.

So again, nothing extraordinary to set it apart from the truly special cars of the time.

I see what you're saying here when we look at the numbers, but I think it would have been a lot heavier (being a Mercedes) if they'd built it the way they do all of their other passenger cars.

M

[*cough*]Bull$h!t[*cough*]

conjecture
/knjekchr/

• noun an opinion or conclusion based on incomplete information; a guess.

• verb form a conjecture; guess.

— DERIVATIVES conjectural adjective.

— ORIGIN Latin conjectura, from conicere ‘put together in thought’


Ah yes, the crass SLR 722 - the ricer's SLR.