2005 slk 350 or a z4 3.0 or 350z?

[tomwilliams0326]

Hello all,
I am getting a second car in March next year to enjoy some spirited driving, 5/6 track days a year and to take to the nursery ring.
So I’ve been browsing and narrowed it down to 3 cars (plus a hot hatch)
Slk 350, z4 3.0 and a 350z
Now the slk is the fastest in a straight line and also the cheapest on insurance being £50 a month cheaper than the 350z so keep that in mind and also more with the bmw.
In terms of driving pleasure and everything I’ve mentioned what would you all recommend.
Failing that there’s always a Clio 200 as well if that shines above the rest
I’ve not heard much about the slk so would be interesting to get your thoughts?
Any other suggestions welcome and the budget is 6k max

[cerb4.5lee]

I'd go with the 350Z out of those three. I do still like the others though. I'd probably say that the SLK is the most cruiser like of the three, so I'm not sure how much fun it would be on a track.

[ZX10R NIN]

Out of those three it's the 350Z the Z4 runs out of ideas when pressing on (it's lack of suspension travel is a real hindrance) the SLK350 is more of a GT car plus the early ones could have balancer shaft issues which is an expensive fix.

[Mr Tidy]

I love the idea of doing the nursery ring! I suspect you mean that toll road in Germany that most UK insurers exclude.

From what I have read the SLK is more of a cruiser, and I don't know if they made any with a manual gearbox - if that matters to you.

I meant to try a 350Z but just fell in love with Z4 Coupes when I took my 1st test drive in one so never got that far! Ended up having 2 of them for over 5 years until I treated myself to a Z4M Coupe in time for last Christmas.

Your budget is borderline for a pre-facelift 3.0i Z4 or a facelift 3.0Si - the facelifts got a bit more power and all the Coupes are facelifts, but for £6k would probably have over 100k miles on them.

From what I have read the 350Z is more powerful than the Z4 but also a bit heavier so performance is similar. Plenty of older Z4s have had suspension parts replaced by now and owners rate Eibach springs with Bilstein dampers, as well as fitting normal tyres instead of the standard Bridgestone run-flats so finding one with those things done would be a bonus!

But every time a topic like this comes up I keep thinking maybe I should have tried the Nissan.

[braddo]

tomwilliams0326 said:

... 5/6 track days a year ...

Have you done many track days? Your 3 choices won't enjoy 6 track days per year very much unless you're happy to modify and spend a lot on consumables. The Merc won't be much fun, the BMW will run out of brakes very quickly and Z's weight will make the running costs (brakes/tyres/fuel) high.

[maz8062]

The 2005 SLK 350 will have 272bhp and come with the option of a manual shift. If you can stretch to a 2008 model and up, you get the 306bhp engine but no manual. The roof comes off so it'll double up as a fun car when you're not at the track.

Head over to Youtube, there's an American chap that bought a 2005 SLK350 specifically for track work so you can get an idea of what they're like.

All are good choices whatever you decide.

https://fastestlaps.com/comparisons/jfdleomvid3a

Edited by maz8062 on Friday 9th October 11:58

[TheAlastair34]

I wouldnt want any of those three for 5-6 tracks days a year to be fair.

You didnt mention your budget but a renault sport megane will no doubt be in budget and be a far better driving tool, or a MX5/S2000 if you want top down fun

Id go for a VX220 though if its a sub 15K budget, if its over that id buy a Lotus Elise

edit seen it was 6K so scrap all those haha

Hot hatch or MX5 is the way forward

[samoht]

I'd consider a Boxster as well, great value and likely better on track than the original three, and the original 2.5/2.7 engine is meant to be relatively less chocolatey than their later efforts.

[Jonstar]

None of those will work on track, without a doubt you want a Clio 200 or modified mx5 mk3.

[ZX10R NIN]

TheAlastair34 said:

I wouldnt want any of those three for 5-6 tracks days a year to be fair.

You didnt mention your budget but a renault sport megane will no doubt be in budget and be a far better driving tool, or a MX5/S2000 if you want top down fun

Id go for a VX220 though if its a sub 15K budget, if its over that id buy a Lotus Elise

edit seen it was 6K so scrap all those haha

Hot hatch or MX5 is the way forward

I see 5-6 trackdays a year as not a lot & I have to live whatever I've bought for the other 359 days of the year at which point the OP's picks make a lot of sense.

When you're talking 15-20 trackdays then yes go for something more focused.

[aka_kerrly]

Jonstar said:

None of those will work on track, without a doubt you want a Clio 200 or modified mx5 mk3.

Really? It's a track day, not a 15+ lap race, if you aren't driving like an animal or aiming for a lap record it's quite reasonable to be able to drive any of the suggested cars to a track day , do multiple 5-6 lap stints & drive back home.


The 350Z in particular as the benefit of being able to fit a spare set of wheels in so you could run some more dedicated track orientated tyre.

Out of the three suggestions , two are very much on my own list of next cars to add to the fleet, the BMW Z4 coupe and the Nissan 350z, both are great cars and have similar dna and are worth driving.

On the 350z the earlier <06 350z are in the cheaper tax band and are said to have a marginally more fragile engine. The later engines are improved but are in the >£500 VED band. My view is if you end up finding a really good example of an early car you can always have a UpRev remap to push the power up to the levels of the later 06 RevUp/HR .


OR on the hot hatch front the mk5 Golf gti ed30, RenaultSport megane 250 are the hot hatches kings in the £6k area for me but perhaps too grown up compared with the Clio 200 which is something I have never experienced but on paper looks like it ought to be a right hoot!!!

[Jonstar]

aka_kerrly said:

Really? It's a track day, not a 15+ lap race, if you aren't driving like an animal or aiming for a lap record it's quite reasonable to be able to drive any of the suggested cars to a track day , do multiple 5-6 lap stints & drive back home.


The 350Z in particular as the benefit of being able to fit a spare set of wheels in so you could run some more dedicated track orientated tyre.

Out of the three suggestions , two are very much on my own list of next cars to add to the fleet, the BMW Z4 coupe and the Nissan 350z, both are great cars and have similar dna and are worth driving.

On the 350z the earlier <06 350z are in the cheaper tax band and are said to have a marginally more fragile engine. The later engines are improved but are in the >£500 VED band. My view is if you end up finding a really good example of an early car you can always have a UpRev remap to push the power up to the levels of the later 06 RevUp/HR .


OR on the hot hatch front the mk5 Golf gti ed30, RenaultSport megane 250 are the hot hatches kings in the £6k area for me but perhaps too grown up compared with the Clio 200 which is something I have never experienced but on paper looks like it ought to be a right hoot!!!

Yes really, if we are talking full track days that is, of course they will do it (as pretty much any car will) but they won't do it well as stock.