That car at speed does sound so very errrm... nice!

5th Gear couldn't get the ex- "Phones for U" supremo, out of an SL55 - he did 6 laps of the course and came out grinning ear to ear !! Critized the interior, tho. Can't see why.

Nice idea for a programme - money no object but wants his garage replaced, so they ran every thing from city cars to the Zonda. He chose a Caterham, a Mini Cooper and an SL55 over an M5. Tiff drove the M5 in typical fashion.

He finally left a decision on the Zonda because he couldn't bring himself to spend £350,000. When you're worth £200 Million, must be a hard one......

 

lol!

the Sl55 sounds wonderful, saw one while gettin of my bus TWICE! lol

even while idling it doesn't lack in power (soundwise)

 

I suppose John Caudwell's criticism of the SL55 interior is because he's used to wall to wall leather in his Bentley Continental. No doubt he'll find out about exclusive nappa leather and designo options if he's serious.

Lets hope they come up with some more good new ideas like this one for the next series starting in March. I think the programme to date has been too much of an old-style "Top Gear" clone which is probably why the BBC axed it originally.

 

Opinions on the SL55 interior are divided. The owner of Evo Magazine has just got one for a long term tester and doesn't like the aluminium either - "cheap and tacky". Personally, I like it, I think it's fresh and different and finely judged. Mercedes can't do wood properly, wood is out of place in a car like this anyway. Carbon Fibre? That's a bit like putting fake hex bolts around the steering wheel which is a game Audi (used to?) play.

More seriously, the Evo guy received poor service from the MB dealer in Harpenden, didn't return calls, shrug of the shoulders, all that. Certainly I've found key to MB ownership nirvana is to get yourself a dealer who does give a s..t. I find rural dealers tend to be better and have recently had a good experience with MB in Stratford-upon-Avon, so they will be the first to look at my SL55. Actually, the service department of the dealer I bought the car from are not very good. Being in London, they are completely overrun.

Look out for future running reports in Evo. In the January issue, they also rate the SL55 4th in their Car of the Year, behind the Carrera 4S, the reworked (badly needed) 575M, and the utterly bland NSX-R. Very complimentary about the SL55 though - they love it.

There's not much meat in 5th Gear. If you remove the adverts and trailers, the competitions and all the other stuff, there's less than 20 minutes actual meat per programme.

Having signed up Tiff Needell, Channel 5 also have him on other programs talking about oil rigs and cranes. And didn't they have Vicky working on an animal programme? Talk about sweating your assets.....

Of the four motoring programs (Driven, Pulling Power, Top Gear and 5th Gear), I marginally prefer the new format Top Gear, though I think the two side-kicks are wimps. Clarkson is just too domineering. Wouldn't it also be more inclusive also to have a woman presenter? Of the 3 women presenters I can think of, Penny is over-awed by the other ghastly two on Driven, Vicki is just too much of a bubblehead, and the Newman woman is just thick.

 

I agree with you BlueSL about the women presenters. Closing Driven and moving Penny Mallory to 5th Gear would be good. I think she's an ex rally driver so no real competition for Tiff - she certainly knows what shes talking about.

Clarkson's been getting around recently too (Have I got News for You, Great Britons, What Not to Wear). He seems to perform best surrounded by wimps. He just seems to provoke arguments that dont go anywhere when he's with more savvy folks.

 

I thought Clarkson was pathetic on HIGNFY, bring back Angus I say. Trinny and Suzannah could sort me out any time they liked...

Just found out next years MB Club Technical Forum is on 1 March and costs £15, limited availability, first come first served. It's held at DC UK's training centre in Milton Keynes.

It's an enjoyable day and allows you to realise that, however much of an anorak you think you are, there are some people who leave you standing, like the guy last year who happily talked about SL options by referring to their 3 digit codes instead of their names. Weird but true. What sort of life can that be?

If you're a member of the MB UK Club, you'll find contact details in your latest Gazette, plus a picture of yours truly (*blush*) looking blankly into an SL in the background.

Anyway, this is blueSL signing off for Christmas, time to tackle the problem of my over-stocked wine cellar.

Happy Christmas to you and yours...

 

Thanks for tip-off BlueSL about the MB technical day. Hadnt got round to reading my Gazette. Clearly opened wine cellar too early!

I am promised photos of my Christmas present at midnight which I will post soon after!

Cheers

Paul