Why I drive faster in TVR than in SLK350 - discuss

[Dodsy]

Ari said:

Now, what's this about two reverse gears?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_7G-Tron...


The 7G-Tronic has two reverse gear ratios: 3.416 and 2.231. The winter mode, also recently named 'comfort' mode, starts out in 2nd forward and 2nd reverse.

[Ari]

St John Smythe said:

That's the SL. The SLK is a two seater RWD convertible and is most definitely considered a sports car. It's not a GT.

By whom? The SL is a two seater RWD convertible so what does that prove?

[Ari]

Dodsy said:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_7G-Tron...


The 7G-Tronic has two reverse gear ratios: 3.416 and 2.231. The winter mode, also recently named 'comfort' mode, starts out in 2nd forward and 2nd reverse.

That's awesome! (If true - it is Wikipedia after all...)

I need to find a big empty car park, see how fast it will go backwards and see whether, if I start off in Sport mode, it changes gear in the process.

One thing I do love from an anal attention to detail aspect is that, when I engage Reverse the passenger side mirror dips and stays dipped till I either select neutral (after a period of time) or select drive. However if I go more than 5mph backwards it undips itself as it realises you're clearly not manoeuvring against a kerb.

Love German engineering!

[900T-R]

Nothing to add, except that a 190 bhp Chim is more than a bit off-colour. On average, I'd expect about 210-215 bhp (flywheel corrected) but examples that are spot on do come quite close to the 235/240 bhp rating (unlike the 4.5 and particularly 5.0 engines).

If the engine seems OK otherwise and the camshaft is still within or near spec (a contentious issue on RV8s) methinks there's some cheap power to be had following a RR diagnostic session.

[edit] Oh, I see that's 190-200 at the wheels. Latter figure seems a bit high to me, but still - that translates to a heck of a lot higher power/weight than the Merc will muster (OEM bhp ratings are always at the flywheel)... [/edit]

Edited by 900T-R on Wednesday 29th October 13:49

[anonymous-user]

Ari said:

St John Smythe said:

That's the SL. The SLK is a two seater RWD convertible and is most definitely considered a sports car. It's not a GT.

By whom? The SL is a two seater RWD convertible so what does that prove?

It's direct competition is the Boxster and Z4. Both sports cars. The SLK isn't a GT car. Look up the definition

[900T-R]

St John Smythe said:

Ari said:

St John Smythe said:

That's the SL. The SLK is a two seater RWD convertible and is most definitely considered a sports car. It's not a GT.

By whom? The SL is a two seater RWD convertible so what does that prove?

It's direct competition is the Boxster and Z4. Both sports cars. The SLK isn't a GT car. Look up the definition

Still been described by Top Gear magazine as 'a two-seater C-class convertible' although in fairness that was the first generation.

[anonymous-user]

900T-R said:

St John Smythe said:

Ari said:

St John Smythe said:

That's the SL. The SLK is a two seater RWD convertible and is most definitely considered a sports car. It's not a GT.

By whom? The SL is a two seater RWD convertible so what does that prove?

It's direct competition is the Boxster and Z4. Both sports cars. The SLK isn't a GT car. Look up the definition

Still been described by Top Gear magazine as 'a two-seater C-class convertible' although in fairness that was the first generation.

That doesn't sound like a compliment for the car that's for sure!

[Ari]

St John Smythe said:

It's direct competition is the Boxster and Z4. Both sports cars. The SLK isn't a GT car. Look up the definition

Done that - here you go.

A grand tourer (Italian: gran turismo) (GT) is a performance or luxury automobile capable of high speed or spirited long-distance driving. The most common format is a two-door coupé with either a two-seat or a 2+2 arrangement.
The term derives from the Italian phrase gran turismo, a tribute to the tradition of the grand tour, used to represent automobiles regarded as grand tourers, able to make long-distance, high-speed journeys in both comfort and style. The English translation is grand touring.

Pretty accurately describes my SLK. 2 door coupe (with the bonus that the roof folds), able to make long distance, high speed journeys in both comfort and style.

Precisely why I bought it in fact, I wanted something quick, stylish, compact, discreet and comfortable that I could drive three or four hours to a meeting and the same back in a day. Auto transmission, 3.0 litre V6 petrol, auto lights, auto wipers, auto dimming mirrors, sat nav that reroutes around traffic, Harmon Kardon hi fi, voice dialling, heated seats etc etc.

Absolutely fantastic for covering effortless long distances.

Not much of a sportscar though...

[anonymous-user]

Ari said:

St John Smythe said:

It's direct competition is the Boxster and Z4. Both sports cars. The SLK isn't a GT car. Look up the definition

Done that - here you go.

A grand tourer (Italian: gran turismo) (GT) is a performance or luxury automobile capable of high speed or spirited long-distance driving. The most common format is a two-door coupé with either a two-seat or a 2+2 arrangement.
The term derives from the Italian phrase gran turismo, a tribute to the tradition of the grand tour, used to represent automobiles regarded as grand tourers, able to make long-distance, high-speed journeys in both comfort and style. The English translation is grand touring.

Pretty accurately describes my SLK. 2 door coupe (with the bonus that the roof folds), able to make long distance, high speed journeys in both comfort and style.

Precisely why I bought it in fact, I wanted something quick, stylish, compact, discreet and comfortable that I could drive three or four hours to a meeting and the same back in a day. Auto transmission, 3.0 litre V6 petrol, auto lights, auto wipers, auto dimming mirrors, sat nav that reroutes around traffic, Harmon Kardon hi fi, voice dialling, heated seats etc etc.

Absolutely fantastic for covering effortless long distances.

Not much of a sportscar though...

It's a sports roadster/sports car, not a GT car.

Here, maybe Autocar can help you. Plus they list all the competitors to an SLK, strangely they are Sports Roadsters too.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/mercedes-benz/...

Just in case you still can't grasp the type of car a GT is, here's Top Gear's take on their top 5 GT cars.

http://www.topgear.com/uk/photos/top-gear-top-five...

Still, what do they know.......

[Ari]

Whereas I've only owned, used and driven an SLK for the last three years.

Still, what do I know.......

[eldar]

Ari said:

Whereas I've only owned, used and driven an SLK for the last three years.

Still, what do I know.......

I've owned one 7 years. And I don't care if its a hatchback, GT, tourer or tuktuk. Its fast, reliable and I like it.

[anonymous-user]

Ari said:

Whereas I've only owned, used and driven an SLK for the last three years.

Still, what do I know.......

It's all a matter of opinion. I would have thought that the latest SLK350 is more of a sporty car than a Grand Tourer. We've only had ours a month or so, less than 1000 miles, but it seems too loud and firm for a proper GT. I don't know how it compares to the previous model.

I have been pleasantly surprised by the performance and handling though, didn't think it would be as good as it is.

Having driven the SL, with the same engine, in recent years over quite a few miles, it is much more refined than the SLK, as it should be for the extra cost. Different character entirely. In my opinion.

[DJRC]

I regard my 55 as a GT. But then I so regarded my Sagaris as a GT. The SL is a battleship, the 55 is a pocket battleship

[Ari]

Pffftt, what do you know, you've only got one.

Don't you read The World Authority On Motorcars that is Autocar?

[anonymous-user]

Ari said:

Pffftt, what do you know, you've only got one.

Don't you read The World Authority On Motorcars that is Autocar?

Yep, they certainly don't have a clue about cars compared to your vast knowledge Ari

You may find the SLK comfortable on long trips, etc but it isn't really a GT car. Wikipedia sums it up.

Wiki says:

At start of the 1990s, after the introduction of their two-seater grand-tourer R129 SL and the Mazda MX-5, Mercedes-Benz set out to create a new compact roadster, slotted below the SL. By late 1991 under Bruno Sacco, the first design sketches were drawn and 12 1:5 scale models being built in the first half of 1992. By the middle of the year, five of them were proposed again in full-scale. In early 1993, the final design was selected and approved by the board, with the German design patent being filed on September 30, 1993.[4] On April 22, 1996, the new production SLK-Class, based on the R170 platform was introduced at the Turin Motor Show. SLK 230 Kompressor launch model became a competitor to the Porsche Boxster and BMW Z3.

[r129sl]

Come on, everyone knows the SLK—in any guise, 170, 171 or 172—is "softer" than the Z4 and Boxster and that its pleasures are less immediate. I mean, the clue is in the name: it is an SLK, 'K' for Kurz. It is a short SL. And before you point out that the 'S' is for Sport and the 'L' is for Leicht, that has been a fiction for half a century. Since 1971 the SL has been the definitive GT. I know the w107 SL C had remarkable success in hardcore, long distance endurance rallying in '78, '79 and '80 but so did the w123 280 E but it doesn't make either of them a sports car.

What is a sports car, anyway? In what sense is any road car used for sporting purposes anymore? It's not like anyone drives them to the track and then competes against others anymore. That went out in the early sixties.

Edit: you might add, what is a GT car these days? In what sense is any road car used for grand touring anymore? It's not like anyone drives to the Italian Riviera and then knocks about for a week or two.

Edited by r129sl on Thursday 30th October 21:25

[anonymous-user]

r129sl said:

Come on, everyone knows the SLK—in any guise, 170, 171 or 172—is "softer" than the Z4 and Boxster and that its pleasures are less immediate. I mean, the clue is in the name: it is an SLK, 'K' for Kurz. It is a short SL. And before you point out that the 'S' is for Sport and the 'L' is for Leicht, that has been a fiction for half a century. Since 1971 the SL has been the definitive GT. I know the w107 SL C had remarkable success in hardcore, long distance endurance rallying in '78, '79 and '80 but so did the w123 280 E but it doesn't make either of them a sports car.

What is a sports car, anyway? In what sense is any road car used for sporting purposes anymore? It's not like anyone drives them to the track and then competes against others anymore. That went out in the early sixties.

Edit: you might add, what is a GT car these days? In what sense is any road car used for grand touring anymore? It's not like anyone drives to the Italian Riviera and then knocks about for a week or two.

Edited by r129sl on Thursday 30th October 21:25

True, but it doesn't change the fact that the the SLK is the Mercedes answer to the Z4, Boxster, MX5, etc. i.e. Sports Roadsters.

[Ari]

St John Smythe said:

Yep, they certainly don't have a clue about cars compared to your vast knowledge Ari

You may find the SLK comfortable on long trips, etc but it isn't really a GT car. Wikipedia sums it up.

Wiki says:

At start of the 1990s, after the introduction of their two-seater grand-tourer R129 SL and the Mazda MX-5, Mercedes-Benz set out to create a new compact roadster, slotted below the SL. By late 1991 under Bruno Sacco, the first design sketches were drawn and 12 1:5 scale models being built in the first half of 1992. By the middle of the year, five of them were proposed again in full-scale. In early 1993, the final design was selected and approved by the board, with the German design patent being filed on September 30, 1993.[4] On April 22, 1996, the new production SLK-Class, based on the R170 platform was introduced at the Turin Motor Show. SLK 230 Kompressor launch model became a competitor to the Porsche Boxster and BMW Z3.

Oh no's - the twin pillars of automotive authority, Wikipedia and Autocar!

Truely I am humbled and shall trade the car immediately for something more refined and relaxing like a Lotus Exige, for surely I have been labouring under a misapprehension these last four years!

[anonymous-user]

Ari said:

St John Smythe said:

Yep, they certainly don't have a clue about cars compared to your vast knowledge Ari

You may find the SLK comfortable on long trips, etc but it isn't really a GT car. Wikipedia sums it up.

Wiki says:

At start of the 1990s, after the introduction of their two-seater grand-tourer R129 SL and the Mazda MX-5, Mercedes-Benz set out to create a new compact roadster, slotted below the SL. By late 1991 under Bruno Sacco, the first design sketches were drawn and 12 1:5 scale models being built in the first half of 1992. By the middle of the year, five of them were proposed again in full-scale. In early 1993, the final design was selected and approved by the board, with the German design patent being filed on September 30, 1993.[4] On April 22, 1996, the new production SLK-Class, based on the R170 platform was introduced at the Turin Motor Show. SLK 230 Kompressor launch model became a competitor to the Porsche Boxster and BMW Z3.

Oh no's - the twin pillars of automotive authority, Wikipedia and Autocar!

Truely I am humbled and shall trade the car immediately for something more refined and relaxing like a Lotus Exige, for surely I have been labouring under a misapprehension these last four years!

Glad you've seen the light!

[DJRC]

Ari said:

Pffftt, what do you know, you've only got one.

Don't you read The World Authority On Motorcars that is Autocar?

Ahem, er two actually

And I've always regarded mags opinion as second to my own because it's my hard earned that buys my motors. Old retail saying: he who pays...says.