GT3 SLS Puts Gullwing Mercedes Back on the Track
Canadian Auto Press
Mercedes-Benz couldn’t have created a GT3-capable racecar from the outgoing SLR. It was simply too heavy. But the new gull-wing SLS is an altogether new kind of sports car; lighter, rigid and more ideal for track competition.
GT3 SLS
Yesterday the German automaker took the wraps off something special indeed, an AMG-prepped customer race version of its very special top-line model. The GT3 SLS uses the same 6.3-litre V8 as the road car, with the final output being set by the FIA. Of course the engine will be modified, but not as immediately noticeable as the car’s exterior.
The core sheetmetal is all the same, but carbon fibre additions transform the look. Truly, from the rear it looks as if Mercedes is paying homage to a car once under its umbrella, the Dodge Viper Coupe. Of course the GT3 SLS is all its own, but the underbody rear diffuser, tall carbon fibre rear wing and other changes give the car decidedly a race-ready look.
Up front there’s more modifications, particularly the deep carbon splitter, revised hood with massive cooling vent, air intakes for cooling the brakes, vents in the front fenders just aft of the wheel cutouts, and side skirts.
AMG smoothed out the underbody too, while adding fuel filler pipes in the C-pillar and central-locking wheels.
Sales begin in the fall with full homologation completion expected before the 2011 race season.
