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The SLR's carbonfibre monococque shell is four times stiffer than that of any Mercedes saloon, designed and made in ways not previously attempted with carbonfibre. "We use a new computer-controlled manufacturing process, which allows us to make the shells more quickly," says McLaren's managing director and ex-Fiat/Alfa product guru Anthony Sheriff, "This speed and the low weight could be the future for mass production."
First, the structure. Central to McLaren designer Gordon Murray's concept is how the SLR behaves in a crash. The central monococque includes the 'roof spider': one moulding which comprises the sills, the door and windscreen apertures and the roof frame. It's possibly the biggest moulding of its complexity yet created, and it forms a vital energy path in a crash - which is why there won't be an open-topped SLR.
Unlike the all-carbonfibre Porsche Carrera GT, though, the SLR has a hefty pair of triangulated cast-aluminium front frames to hold the engine and the front suspension in place. These are bolted to the front bulkhead, rather like the front subframe of a Jaguar E-Type. Ahead of these is more carbonfibre, in the form of a pair of stepped cones designed to telescope on impact. It's much like a Formula One car's front end, but duplicated. "It's very unlikely the monococque would get damaged in a frontal impact," says Montmann. "If you had a crash big enough to do that, you'd be dead in a steel-bodied car."
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