Aftermarket companies have waited a long time for the Mercedes SLS AMG Roadster. If for nothing else, they just couldn’t wait to get their hands on one to see what kind of tuning program they could make.
At least one tuning company will agree to this because we already have the first tuning program for the SLS Roadster courtesy of Kicherer.
In building the program for the supercar, Kicherer paid careful attention in not completely changing the overall essence of the car, although they did add a few carbon dress-ups to make it stand out as a Kicherer project. The most noticeable is the hand-made GT front grille, but many other fancy parts got added, including a new front spoiler, new side skirts, aerodynamic fins that were added onto the bonnet and on the wings, and a set of three-part, double-spoke 20" RS-1 lightweight wheels.
Kicherer also installed a new coilover "Front Up" suspension system that improves the car’s handling and a stainless steel exhaust with four oval end pipes with an integrated valve control, giving the driver free reign to choose the kind of exhaust tone he prefers.
Without leaving anything behind, Kicherer also took the time to tweak the SLS AMG Roadster’s powertrain with their own sports air filter, taking the Merc supercar’s 6.3-liter V8 engine and increasing its output from the standard 571 horsepower all the way to 630 horsepower. If that isn’t powerful enough, Kicherer is also offering a second performance tweak that includes an exhaust manifold system and a sports catalysor, further bumping up the output to 650 horsepower.
Take all these improvements in and you have a supercar that can accelerate from 0-62 mph in 3.5 seconds with a new top speed of 199 mph. Fantastic.
Toray Industries is a multi-national company based in Japan that is considered as one of the foremost carbon fiber makers in the world. With all the resources it has on tap, Toray is venturing into the world of automotive building with the help of renowned auto designer, Gordon Murray.
Their first project, a two-seat electric concept, is called the TeeWave AR1 Concept and it has got enough carbon fiber to last multiple lifetimes. That’s hardly surprising, either, considering that they have all the carbon fiber they need at their disposal. Almost every panel of the car is made from carbon fiber, reducing the body’s weight to just 846 kg (1865 lbs) while also making it roughly ten times stronger than reinforced steel. By comparison, the Tesla Roadster weighs 1,220 kg (2689 lbs), 44% heavier than the AR1 Concept.
According to Toray, the TeeWave AR1 can reach a top speed of 91 mph with a range that hits 115 miles. The extensive use of carbon fiber on the AR1 Concept allows it to be as light as it is, but the cache to all that is the tremendous cost that comes with building just a prototype. Word has it that one prototype of the carbon fiber-decked AR1 Concept comes with a price of $3.88 million, a number that’s ridiculously expensive even by the standards of the most exotic of supercars.
That’s not to say that there’s no future for the AR1 Concept past the prototype phase, but the whole point for Toray has always been to introduce the prevalent use of carbon fiber, not just on high-priced exotics, but on everyday vehicles as well.
Hit the jump to see a video of the TeeWave AR1 Concept during its debut at the 2011 Toray Advanced Materials Exhibition.
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The Jaguar C-X16 Concept may be catching the eyes of many at the Frankfurt Motor Show, but over in the European Alps, Jaguar engineers are working the kinks out of the production version of this concept: the Jaguar XE. The XE will be debuting sometime next year and will be offered in both coupe and roadster versions, with the roadster debuting ahead of the coupe. After both of those models come out, a GT3 version for the coupe will also show its face. Maybe we’ll get lucky and get R and R-S versions as well.
Either way, the new Jaguar XE will be built on the same platform as the current XK sports car and will be powered by a 3.0 liter V6 made entirely of aluminum and delivering some 380 HP. Jaguar has promised that the XE will be a true two-seater sportscar with plans to hunt down models like the Porsche 911.
Lofty goals aside, the new Jaguar XE will fit in nicely with the Porsche clan by offering a price tag that falls somewhere between the Boxster, the Cayman, and the 911.
Volkswagen has released a full army of concept vehicles based on their new Up! platform at the Frankfurt Motor Show. One of the concept vehicles, the Up! Azzura Sailing Team, is a version of the Up! that takes nautical pleasures to a new level.
As an open-top concept with a lack of doors too, the Up! Azzura Sailing Team was penned by no less than Volkswagen chief, Walter de Silva, and Giorgetto Giugiaro with the idea of bringing to life and paying homage to nautical life. As such, the design elements featured in the concept carry some of those nautical characteristics, including an open-cabin with mahogany and maple wood trims, chrome components, and white-blue leather. On top of that, the car has also been dressed in a resin coating to make it waterproof, which would make sense considering the whole point of the concept.
As for the powertrain, the Up! Azzura Sailing Team runs on an electric motor, although nothing appears to be set in stone since the concept is unlikely to ever make it to production.
From the people that gave us the SR2 and the SRZero comes a new track-day and road-focused roadster that’s expected to be the company’s flagship model of 2011. Radical Motorsports recently introduced their new bad boy, the SR3 SL, at the Autosport International Show in Birmingham, England.
According to Radical Motorsports, the SR3 SL is expected to be their most advanced supercar yet. Certainly, there’s a lot to like about this British beast. It’s got 300 horsepower inside of it, making for a scintillating open-top joy ride. It’s lightweight structure - overall weight is just 675 kg - allows it to to quick and agile, even for Radical’s standards.
And if you just happen to have an insatiable lust for power and speed, Radical Motorsports is offering a Race Pack for the SR3 SL that comes with added features, including an engine calibration map selection that provides ‘road’, ‘wet’, and ‘racetrack’ suitable maps, a racing bi-plane rear wing, racing tire options, and an FIA-approved fuel cell.
Suffice to say, Radical took the time to load up on the SR3 SL, much to our approval.
UPDATE 09/15/11:The Radical SR3 SL has been around for some time now, but it was only this week when it made its public debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Suffice to say, the car looks hella nice up close and personal, too. Check out the new images in the gallery provided!
Details on the Radical SR3 SL after the jump.
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