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Mercedes and McLaren part ways on next supercar

For years, McLaren and Mercedes seemingly went together like peanut butter and jelly, but now HWA is stepping in to tune Mercedes' next supercar. The scribes over at Automotive News Europe say the separation stems from Mercedes' dissatisfaction with the performance of the SLR McLaren vs. its primary rivals. This comes as quite a shock since only a few months back, all signs pointed to Mercedes buying McLaren. It's not exactly as though McLaren and Mercedes are splitting up altogether, though, as it's been less than a month since a drop-dead gorgeous SLR McLaren drop-top was announced.

Power for the HWA-tuned supercar will come from a tweaked version of AMG's hand-built 6.2L engine, and if the SLR performance is less than satisfactory, expect HWA's effort to be flat-out ridiculous. Speaking of AMG, the new supercar will be badged as such to make it road-legal, but it will still be a full-blown HWA race-developed product. To make room for its latest project, HWA is tripling the size of its manufacturing facilities to 3,600 sq. ft. to the tune of €4.5 million.

We find it almost comical that McLaren's 3.5 second 0-60 time and 640hp aren't enough to suit the finicky folks in Stuttgart, but with Corvettes and Vipers on the way with the same power for a quarter of the price, Mercedes had to do something to raise the already ridiculously-high bar.

[Source: Autoblog.com via Motor Authority]

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Bruce

I can't say I'm overly upset by this news. Don't get me wrong, the SLR was/is an interesting project, but it's time to move on.

BMW_Dude

I agree, the problem with the SLR was compromise and it ending up creating a car which didn't know what it was!

Mclaren wanted a modern day Mclaren F1, light as possible, and all about the driving experience, while Mercedes wanted a GT car which was happy at driving hundreds of miles. Seeing as most of the money was coming from Mercedes, it ended it with a very fast car, but not the kind Mclaren wanted!

Imhotep Evil

McLaren should have been left to make what they wanted.

Ofcourse Caparo shows the right recepy.

The Artist

damn HWA.. wow this is a dream.. man HWA.. ppl dont know..
but they will know very soon
be afraid is all i can say

Centurion

Great news. I really didn't see any future in their collab. They are like oil and water. The SLR was 70% MB(not megabyte ) 30% Mclaren.

The Artist

in that case the new car will be 70 procent MB to..so HWA wont do any good by your and most calculations then luw?

atuv

MB is really crazy about power,i can't believe they consider the 650hp 722 is not powerful enough!!

Centurion

It all depends on how MB wants to pull this off. The SLR turned out to be a sporty GT rather than a super sports car like it's competitor. The CLK DTM on the other hand was as raw as a car in that price range should be.
So there we have two different type of sports cars from the MB. What course they'll take this time, we don't know. Which ever course they take their car will probably be successful like the SLR has been, because there are those who want an ultra sporty GT with killer looks.

The Artist

^yep.. but i belive they will go with the sporty ness.. cause remember..HWA is hardcore.. its bad to the bone.. there is no point in calling on HWA if you wanna go soft..
and as the article says a full blown race developed HWA product

PS
I wonder what bmw fans say about this..as they defend BMWs decision of not makin a supercar with the arguement that it isnt profitable..
now we are seeing MB goin into their second supercar in a short time.. and given that MB is a less sporty brand than BMW.. how do you guys feel about this?
are MB being stupid and betting on a product that isnt profitable or does the company any good..
or are BMW acting cowardly?

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