Tuesday, 6 March 2012

Road - Germans do subtle?

Tucked away out of sight of the mainstream manufacturers at Geneva was German tuner Hamann. They were showing off their latest creation, the Hawk Roadster which is based on the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG.

Not particularly renowned for their subtlety, Harmann’s 'sensitive' re-styling of Merc’s dream car has a new front bumper with LED lights and enlarged air inlets, and a carbon fibre bonnet with air vents. The flanks feature new side skirts, wheelarch flares and quarter panels that are 60 mm and 70 mm wider on each side, respectively, and a new rear bumper with diffuser and carbon fibre wing.

Similarly, the performance has been tweaked. The 6.3-litre V8 engine gets a high-performance stainless steel exhaust system while a remapped engine control unit has increased power from the standard 563 bhp to 628 bhp. The Germans reckon this will be good for the 0 to 62 mph sprint in 3.6 seconds. Top speed is reckoned to be just shy of 200 mph.

The suspension has had a makeover too, with a coilover kit comprising four height-adjustable dampers and four progressively wound springs which lower the centre of gravity by up to 30 mm.

Wheels are typical Hamann too, the lightweight forged 9J x 21 alloys have 245/30 ZR 21 inch tyres at the front, while the 12.5J x 21 rears are fitted with 345/25 ZR 21 jobs.

Do you still think it’s the Americans who go overboard?

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