Ted Baldwin

.............I have avoided getting into the condemnation of the new CLk because I have a w208 CLK 320 with many mods and I'm quite happy with car. So, not many cars impress me and since I have the w208, my judgement of the 209 may not be totally impartial. But, I think the w209 CLk 500 is a great car. The W209 CLK320 is stupid. I know that CLK 320 is not a race car, but to develop a new line up and have it perform less well than the one it replaces makes no sense. The current W208 CLk 320 has 215HP and 0-60time of 6.9 secs. The new W209 CLk 320 has also 215Hp and with its added weight has a 0-60 time of 7.4 secs. Mb recognized this madness and that is why for the W209 CLk 500 they developed better air intakes system which increased the HP from the 275Hp of the W208 to 302Hp for the W209 CLk 500. Hence the 500 badging. With the added weight, the new W209 has the same performance numbers as the CLK 430. Where is the improvement? At least for the CLk 500 changes were made to get it on par with the CLk 430, but for the W209 CLk320, it performes poorer than the car it is replacing. With competion from other car manufactures, I don't think MB is going to sell many W209 CLk 320's. If you were in the market for a CLK 320, why would you want the W209? I think MB made a mistake on this one and I predict that in the next year the W209 Clk 320's will be upgraded by Mb for better performance numbers. Interested in your thoughts.

Ted

northbenz

Just got back from Germany and the CLK240 is the model they are promoting over there. Inside Stuttgart's InterContinental Hotel, Mercedes has a CLK240 on display. Parked out front was last year's CLK, a CLK200 Kompressor. (Of course when it takes $50 plus to fill up one's gas tank over there, the more economical engines have their place.)

Beltfed

Don't expect a bump in power for at least 2 model years. I'm even a bit annoyed that all MB did was carry over the 5.0 liter motor without any additional HP. The upcoming AMG models are going to have so much HP, that I think it would have been perfectly fine to have a 320-325hp 5.0 liter engine.....but whatever.

I actually think MB is going to do quite well with the CLK320.....we have an E500 on order and I looked at the order sheet. I don't know the time frame for these cars, but they had like 32 E320s on order and 13 E500s.

Many MB buyers just want a nice comfortable peppy car.....not a road rocket. Thats why the 320 series cars do very well, not that the $1000 gas guzzler tax is a terribly big deal.....but its not going to help 500 sales. People see that and they will be like "great, I'll be stopping for gas every 10 minutes." Thats not really the case, but this is what crosses peoples minds.

young

my 2 cents:

my first thought is that it is a business decision. that is, SOP of mercedes USA is to offer at least 2 engines per model.

1. imho, most mb buyers (not members of this forum) seek luxury, and not performance/power. the difference in 0-60 times would be not their primary criterion.

2. cost difference is not an insignificant amount of $8300. especially w/ the downturn in the economy.

3. very difficult to say if the 320 will not sell especially since it is a new model. i think it will sell decently. after a year or so, mb would be in a better position to gauge the wisdom of offering the 320 model. if it doesn't do well, i think you are right, and they will up the performance.

4. although the power may be less, other aspects like handling, brakes, safety equipment, suspension, etc are better. not to mention, imho, the vast improvement of the interior trim. so overall, the 320 still makes a convincing argument.

charlesu

I am one of those that seek luxury over performance (besides gas in Hawaii is the most expensive in the country, I know, be glad we don't pay European prices) This is my fourth Benz and the style, elegance and (up until recently) quality are the things I covet most.
Charles

Ted Baldwin

...............actually, I made a mistake. The o-60 time for the new CLk 320 is not 7.4 secs. It is 7.9 seconds. This is a full second slower than the model it is replacing puts puts the W209 CLk 320 in the same performance category as a Mitsubushi Eclipse. In the perfor,mance world, a full second difference in 0-60 time is huge!!! I think the W208 CLK 320's resale value will rise dramatically after the W209 CLk320's are introduced.I Agree that most MB owners buy their cars for luxury not performance, but so do Cadillac owners. To replace a car with another that is a full second slower from 0-60 is sheer madness except if you are aiming to win over the Cadillac crowd. Basically what MB has done is to go back several model years to the likes of W124 coupe which is visually appealing but extremely unresponsive to drive. I know, I have a 1992 300CE. The E320 is a family 4 door sedan. I agree that its sales may not be affected, but the sale of the W209 CLk 320 which afterall is a "sports coupe" will be greatly affected. Wait till you start getting overtaken buy 4 cylinder Honda accords. As far as Luxury, both cars are eually luxurious. The only issue is that you cannot get Keyless-Go and Parktronics in the current W208 CLK 320. There is simply no reason to buy a w209 CLk 320 over a W208 CLk 320 except if you feel that the W209 CLK320 looks nicer. That is debatable, but even if you think so.......then get the Mitsubishi Eclipse, it is quite visually appealling, will outperform a W209 CLK 320 and costs less too. MB made a mistake on this one.

Ted

Z-Dude

MBUSA has the W208 0-60 time at 6.9, and the W209 time at 7.4. The 7.9 second number that you see is for the 0-100 km time, which was approximately 7.2 seconds for the W208. In talking to MB reps here who have test driven the W209, they say that it actually is faster off of the line (up to 50 mph) compared to the W208 due to changes in gear ratios, but dies off between 50 and 60 mph.

They also say that if performance is your number one criteria, the CLK 500 is the way to go.

I love the design of the W208, but next to a W209, it looks "old" unfortunately.

C-Kompii

The new 3.7 litre 245hp V6 engine (badged 350) will be replacing the 3.2 litre V6 engine on the newly face-lifted S-Class by the end of the year in Europe. Meaning there is a good chance that the new CLK will receive this engine sometime next year.

The pillar-less structure on the new CLK is one of the main contributor to the added weight. From this you can almost conclude that in terms of importance, Mercedes puts styling ahead of performance for this two door coupe. To the majority of the CLK buyers, its styling and image is the coupes' main selling point.

-G'day-

Ted Baldwin

............This is interesting because the 300CE is a half pillar structure an like the w209 looks quite nice especially with all windows down. MB must be going back to that. I still think that if performance is really unimportant, MB would not have done anything to the W209 CLk500. They would have left it at 275HP, but they didn't. Peope buy MB for overall style and performance, not stle alone and not performance alone. MB usually represents the best balance between style and performance. For the W209 CLK320, and especially for the US market............the apparent complete abondonement of performance for style will prove costly for Mb until as was pointed out, they replace the current engine with the 245HP engine slated for the new S class in Europe.

Ted