RE: Mercedes SLK: Guilty Pleasures
Discussion
I recently had the 987/SLK decision - first thing that swung it was bore score on the Boxster.
But the main thing that led me to buy the '55 was the noise! Roof down, that engine, it's another world of enjoyment. The fact is I don't see many B-road these days where I can really exploit a chassis - and if I do I'm normally stuck behind traffic - so other factors were considered more highly.
I'll get flamed for this but my wife has a SLK 250d AMG and we both agree it's one of the best cars we have owned.
Plenty of torque for today's roads, approx 55-70mpg, cheap tax, all the toys in the cabin, well built.
I've owned 350z and boxster before and found them to heavy, especially the Porsche.
If the SLK had another 1 inch travel in the seat it would, for me, be the perfect car. (Apart from the fact I can't get my wheelchair in the boot)
Plenty of torque for today's roads, approx 55-70mpg, cheap tax, all the toys in the cabin, well built.
I've owned 350z and boxster before and found them to heavy, especially the Porsche.
If the SLK had another 1 inch travel in the seat it would, for me, be the perfect car. (Apart from the fact I can't get my wheelchair in the boot)
Personal choice, priorities and values are what should be used to purchase anything for ones own consumption and I for one find my 17 year old R170 SLK 230 just right for me.
It was healthy to here the prejudices around the SLK being questioned in this article and I agree wholeheartedly with the right to air ones preferences without the need for justification.
I used to ride motorcycles and find that the freshness with the roof down, which is so easy to do, the lovely raspy exhaust note when accelerating and the dynamics of this car to be closer to a bike than I have found in a car before (maybe I have led a sheltered life?) and it has just the right balance between speed and fun for my needs.
It may not be the quickest, the sharpest handling or have the right image but it comes with loads of character, brings a smile to my face every time I drive her, which is most days, and is extremely comfortable.
And for a car of this complexity and age it still surprises me how everything keeps on working; I have friends with new cars who have more problems than me!
Anyway, I suppose it's all down to personal choice, I trained as an engineer at Rolls Royce and value the engineering and unquantifiable qualities this car gives in bucket loads.
I think you have to live with one for a while before you get it, just like with BMW boxer engined motorcycles.
We should not follow, like lemmings, the views of others who will not be owning it when something as good as this under our noses and may be just the right car for us.
It was healthy to here the prejudices around the SLK being questioned in this article and I agree wholeheartedly with the right to air ones preferences without the need for justification.
I used to ride motorcycles and find that the freshness with the roof down, which is so easy to do, the lovely raspy exhaust note when accelerating and the dynamics of this car to be closer to a bike than I have found in a car before (maybe I have led a sheltered life?) and it has just the right balance between speed and fun for my needs.
It may not be the quickest, the sharpest handling or have the right image but it comes with loads of character, brings a smile to my face every time I drive her, which is most days, and is extremely comfortable.
And for a car of this complexity and age it still surprises me how everything keeps on working; I have friends with new cars who have more problems than me!
Anyway, I suppose it's all down to personal choice, I trained as an engineer at Rolls Royce and value the engineering and unquantifiable qualities this car gives in bucket loads.
I think you have to live with one for a while before you get it, just like with BMW boxer engined motorcycles.
We should not follow, like lemmings, the views of others who will not be owning it when something as good as this under our noses and may be just the right car for us.
I've had every model SLK from a R170 SLK 230K R171 350 pre facelift to current SLK 350 with Magic Sky,Dynamic Handling etc....
Sure they are no twisty road crusher but right up to about 8 tenths they are a great car. I've tracked it a few times and the pull of the direct injection motor on tracks like Phillip Island and Sandown I certainly don't get shamed.
Had the car 3 years now and it has only done 25000km and been through one set of tyres. Makes a great interstate cruiser and the magic sky and folding roof is the best of both worlds.
No issues during our ownership - but this car was designed during the GFC and it shows with the old chassis. Would have purchased the Boxter Spyder except for the crap roof.
![](http://thumbsnap.com/sc/ibHO57o8.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/C3kl9HIq" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/C3kl9HIq.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/rCgUQeKD" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/rCgUQeKD.jpg)
Edited by MattE24 on Wednesday 29th April 23:14
![](http://thumbsnap.com/sc/rCgUQeKD.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/C3kl9HIq" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/C3kl9HIq.jpg)
DJRC said:
Hold on a minute, did I miss something?
Who the f
k regards the 3.0 Z4 as a decent car???? Its an even stter interior than the mk2 SLK - which is saying something - for a start, a naff engine compared to the 350 SLK and truly truly appalling suspension & damping!
if you want to argue an Alpina then I can understand, but a normal Z3.0 Z4? Only by people who haven't owned many roadsters.
Probably missed a lot living where you are not allowed to progress swiftly or beep your horn! And you don't have a garage in your profile, so what do you drive, a Qashqai/Zafira/Scenic?Who the f
k regards the 3.0 Z4 as a decent car???? Its an even stter interior than the mk2 SLK - which is saying something - for a start, a naff engine compared to the 350 SLK and truly truly appalling suspension & damping!if you want to argue an Alpina then I can understand, but a normal Z3.0 Z4? Only by people who haven't owned many roadsters.
The N52 3 litre in my Z4 is rated at 265 bhp - MB needed a 3.5 litre to slightly improve upon that (the MK1 SLK had a 3.2 litre that managed a miserable 218 bhp IIRC). Have you driven anything with a 3 litre N52 engine? If not you should!
And being a coupe my Z4 doesn't bend in the middle like the poser-mobiles you refer to!
SLK, no not for me - AMG might be fun if it wasn't auto-only. I'll pass....
Mr Tidy said:
DJRC said:
Hold on a minute, did I miss something?
Who the fk regards the 3.0 Z4 as a decent car???? Its an even stter interior than the mk2 SLK - which is saying something - for a start, a naff engine compared to the 350 SLK and truly truly appalling suspension & damping!
if you want to argue an Alpina then I can understand, but a normal Z3.0 Z4? Only by people who haven't owned many roadsters.
Probably missed a lot living where you are not allowed to progress swiftly or beep your horn! And you don't have a garage in your profile, so what do you drive, a Qashqai/Zafira/Scenic?Who the f
k regards the 3.0 Z4 as a decent car???? Its an even stter interior than the mk2 SLK - which is saying something - for a start, a naff engine compared to the 350 SLK and truly truly appalling suspension & damping!if you want to argue an Alpina then I can understand, but a normal Z3.0 Z4? Only by people who haven't owned many roadsters.
The N52 3 litre in my Z4 is rated at 265 bhp - MB needed a 3.5 litre to slightly improve upon that (the MK1 SLK had a 3.2 litre that managed a miserable 218 bhp IIRC). Have you driven anything with a 3 litre N52 engine? If not you should!
And being a coupe my Z4 doesn't bend in the middle like the poser-mobiles you refer to!
SLK, no not for me - AMG might be fun if it wasn't auto-only. I'll pass....
Your engine = 265. The 350 = 305. And a lot more mid range punch.
I've driven every model in the Z4 range.
You drive a coupe, which instantly makes you a second class citizen. One would almost think my point about ppl not driving roadster was too subtle.
The AMG versions are fun. The manual or otherwise makes no difference at all to that.
I live mostly either in rural Italy on some of the must glorious roads in the world, Bavaria where amusingly enough the cars we are discussing were designed and built for and doing the continental dash back and forth to the UK and France.
And I mostly currently drive a 55.
I always love the term drivers car. It's almost always used by people who also say "hooning" and think that somehow equates to proper motoring.
The fact of the matter is that the SLK is a better car than a Boxster.
Yes yes I know, at ten tenths on the raggedy edge with the tyres smoking and the flat six bouncing off the redline through the hammerhead the Porsche is the place to be. Meanwhile in the real world...
The SLK is quieter, roomier, more comfortable, much better equipped, better looking (the comment above asking which way the Boxster was pointing is spot on!) and simply a nicer way to travel 200 miles for a meeting and drive back again, which, surprise surprise, is how those of us in the real world actually use our cars. You can leave it in a hotel or train station car park for a couple of nights without worrying that some scrote is going to stick a screwdriver through the roof and the engines aren't made of chocolate like Boxster engines. Then on Sunday you can drop the roof and go for an enjoyable drive through the new forest with the missus to a nice pub for lunch.
And that's the joy of it, it's two cars in one, a genuinely capable mini GT (the mistake everyone makes is thinking it is a sports car, it isn't) and a topless roadster - with no compromise to either.
If you're a powerfully built company director looking for a weekend toy to park next to the Range Rover in the garage - or more likely an IT helpdesk monkey with a Vectra SRI trying to decide which car would most impress Sharon in accounts when you're inevitably spotted and promoted to CEO, choose the Boxster.
But actually, in the real world where we don't live our lives a quarter of a mile at a time - free for those 10 seconds or less, the SLK is simply a nicer better car.
Yes yes I know, at ten tenths on the raggedy edge with the tyres smoking and the flat six bouncing off the redline through the hammerhead the Porsche is the place to be. Meanwhile in the real world...
The SLK is quieter, roomier, more comfortable, much better equipped, better looking (the comment above asking which way the Boxster was pointing is spot on!) and simply a nicer way to travel 200 miles for a meeting and drive back again, which, surprise surprise, is how those of us in the real world actually use our cars. You can leave it in a hotel or train station car park for a couple of nights without worrying that some scrote is going to stick a screwdriver through the roof and the engines aren't made of chocolate like Boxster engines. Then on Sunday you can drop the roof and go for an enjoyable drive through the new forest with the missus to a nice pub for lunch.
And that's the joy of it, it's two cars in one, a genuinely capable mini GT (the mistake everyone makes is thinking it is a sports car, it isn't) and a topless roadster - with no compromise to either.
If you're a powerfully built company director looking for a weekend toy to park next to the Range Rover in the garage - or more likely an IT helpdesk monkey with a Vectra SRI trying to decide which car would most impress Sharon in accounts when you're inevitably spotted and promoted to CEO, choose the Boxster.
But actually, in the real world where we don't live our lives a quarter of a mile at a time - free for those 10 seconds or less, the SLK is simply a nicer better car.
ManOpener said:
Otispunkmeyer said:
ManOpener said:
The idea of a manual SLK350 in an interesting colour really appeals to me actually.
I think they're generally very nice looking cars, but yes- they're hugely wheel sensitive.
Interesting colour...I think they're generally very nice looking cars, but yes- they're hugely wheel sensitive.
Good luck with that. Like every other german machine it seems no one has any imagination. Its black or silver or lump it.
I've seen a couple in colours that aren't black or grey/silver. Not many, mind. There's a nice dark blue I've seen at least one it.
garyhun said:
ManOpener said:
The idea of a manual SLK350 in an interesting colour really appeals to me actually.
I think they're generally very nice looking cars, but yes- they're hugely wheel sensitive.
Here's my old manual 350. It was a great car to own and drive.I think they're generally very nice looking cars, but yes- they're hugely wheel sensitive.
looks quite nice.
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