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What makes the SLR a breed apart from the other members of the latest supercar wave, though, is the way it delivers that power and what effect it has on its ability to tackle corners. Supercars, on the whole, are mid-engined because that's the way racing cars have been for the past four decades. But this one is front-engined; you can tell just by looking at its extra-long bonnet and the way the cabin is squashed up towards the back.
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OK, make that front-mid-engined. The engine sits behind the front axle line, like it did in a vintage car, almost eating into the cabin. Ahead of the engine is a long intake duct, complete with a colossal air filter, which begins at the three-pointed star. "Every styling detail has a function on this car," says Andreas Montmann, the SLR's product manager. Either side of this, behind the other air intakes, are radiators for engine cooling, air-con, oil, the power steering (it gets very hot) and the two heat exchangers, one per bank, for the supercharger's charge-cooling system.
That charge-cooling is how this engine gets its extra urge over that of the SL55 AMG. The SLR's engine is also an AMG production, derived from the existing 24-valve, 5439cc, supercharged V8; but now with an all-new dry-sump lubrication. It drives through a five-speed automatic transmission taken from the Maybach (it's big enough to handle all that torque) but reprogrammed with AMG Speedshift R. I'll explain shortly.
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