Tuning houses around the world have tried for years to upgrade the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren's looks, its performance and sometimes even both. While we don't agree with the pampering in the looks department, any performance modification to the already fast as a bat out of hell SLR is something that couldn't be frowned upon.
Unfortunately, and even though we respect some of their other tuning projects, the Germans from Hamann really outdone themselves in a “let's beat a beautiful car with the ugly stick and see what happens” scenario.
Well, the Hamann SLR McLaren Volcano happens, spotted with a horrible color scheme somewhere in Dubai. The only good bits about the car we're somewhat OK with are its performance enhancements – and no, we are not talking about that ironing board of a rear wing, the useless roof scoop or the “go-fast” orange paint/vinyl wrap.
The 5.4-liter supercharged engine has been massaged to offer 700 hp and 830 Nm (612 lb ft), quite a bit more even than the SLR McLaren 722 Edition, which offered 650 hp and 830 Nm (605 lb ft). Getting back to the design, though, Hamann should have probably named it the SLR “Uberflüssig”, which is the German word for “superfluous”, instead of Volcano. Check out the video below or the adjacent gallery of the original Hamann press photos and tell us we're wrong.
Alex handled his first real steering wheel at the age of five (on a field) and started practicing "Scandinavian Flicks" at 14 (on non-public gravel roads). Following his time at the University of Journalism, he landed his first real job at the local franchise of Top Gear magazine a few years before Mircea (Panait). Not long after, Alex entered the New Media realm with the autoevolution.com project. Full profile
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