The market for luxurious, high-performance Grand Tourers has never been more hotly contested and CarWow recently brought together three particularly fine GT’s for a series of performance tests.

The real star of this comparison test is the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren. Sure, it is almost 20 years since production of the German icon commenced but when it hit the market, it offered up similar performance to the Porsche Carrera GT but in a much more approachable, comfortable, and refined package. There wasn’t anything quite like it in the early 2000s.

Fast forward to today and there are heaps of exotic Grand Tourers to choose from and in this test, we are presented with an Aston Martin DBS Superleggera and a Ferrari GTC4Lusso.

Watch Also: Is The Aston Martin DBS Superleggera Volante As Awesome As It Looks?

In terms of grunt, the SLR is slightly down on its modern-day rivals. Whereas its 5.4-liter supercharged V8 churns out 617 hp and 575 lb-ft (780 Nm) of torque, the 6.2-liter naturally-aspirated V12 of the GTC4Lusso has 681 hp and 514 lb-ft (697 Nm). The DBS Superleggera is the most powerful of the bunch with 715 hp and 664 lb-ft (900 Nm) from its 5.2-liter twin-turbo V12.

Despite its power deficit, the SLR McLaren performs surprisingly well. A handful of drag races were staged and in the first, the Ferrari took the win over the Aston Martin with the Mercedes finishing last. In the third drag race, however, the SLR actually got off the line much quicker than the Aston and only trailed behind the Ferrari.

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