benggolf

Please share with us your experience! How does the car's handling compare with equivalent roadsters (Z3, S2000, Boxster, etc.)?

Is the SLK faster in the straight and slower on the corners by comparision? How does the lap times compare against the competition?

Mr. Vanos

Yes, Don does. I was his instructor this past Sunday at Buttonwillow. We didn't really get a chance to push the car hard, but here's my take. The car is extremely quick, especially through the straights. However, to generate good exit speeds you really have to master the transmission. It's very easy to give throttle coming out of a corner and the car won't move. You can hear the power rev up, but it doesn't unleash it unless you slam the accelerator (bad move, your rear will come around) or until the car stablizes as you are completely out of the corner. By that time, a car behind could have easily passed. The tranny is slick and shifting it is quick (for some reason, it doesn't lock a gear in place, but will bump you up at redline, unlike the standard Touch Shift). Handling is great. The stock car generates little body roll. The only complaint was that we had to play with the tire pressures a bit to dial out too much oversteer and little understeer. Braking on this car is unreal! We had to keep adjusting our braking zone because we kept braking too early. There is little dive in the car during hard braking. I don't even think we experienced much brake fade. I was impressed overall with the car, even with street tires, although with some R compound, this thing would be a lot more fun! It's too bad, you can't turn off traction 100%, but you can definitely drift nicely with ESP off.

Don has tracked his car at 2 different events, so I'm sure he has a lot better input than me.

Don

I had a great time at the TracQuest Driver Education (DE) event at Buttonwillow Raceway this past weekend. Buttonwillow is an interesting and fun track; and TracQuest produces a well-organized, full-service DE event. We ran the 3-mile Race #1 configuration.

My SLK32 was the only Mercedes-Benz at the event. In spite of my rather low level of track proficiency, I received a number of comments expressing surprise at how well a “Mercedes” could perform. After the event, I chatted briefly with a group of corner workers that seemed genuinely impressed (or surprised?) at how quick that “little Mercedes” was.

Mr. Vanos showed great courage by volunteering to be my instructor for the first two sessions on Sunday. We were planning to have Mr. V. drive my car to demonstrate what an SLK32 is capable of in competent hands. But unfortunately, Mr. V. had to leave a little earlier than originally planned. Hopefully, next time Mr. Vanos can drive and provide the forum with an expert opinion the SLK32 abilities on the track.

I was composing the above as new thread when I noticed this thread so I will try to answer a couple of your questions. The SLK is much quicker in the straights than the M-Roadster (240 hp), BoxterS or S200. I haven't been on the track with the new M3 or M-Roadster. I would assume the Boxter handles a little better than the SLK32, but I've followed quite a few Boxsters around turns and never really felt like I was at a disadvantage. But the SLK32 has a huge advantage in power.

Don

I ran part of our session with ESP on and ESP definitely interfered with the throttle while exiting. After I turned off ESP, I was a little more cautious about squeezing throttle coming out of turns because the rear tires were coming loose. I think there is much quicker throttle response available than you were able to ascertain with me driving. Next event, I would definitely like to have you to drive my car. Will there be any possibility for a few laps at Willow Springs this Sunday?

Don

The SLK32 on the straights should be compared with the Corvette or Porsche 996 rather than the BoxsterS, S200, or pre-2001 M-Roadster. Based on three track days running with quite a few 993's, 996's and a few Corvettes, I think the the SLK32 is just as quick if not a slightly faster on the straights than any stock, normally-aspirated Porsche or stock non-Z06 Corvette.

LN 32

I had mine on the track for 2 days in early October, and it was a blast. I only had about 900 miles on the car, and was using the experience partly to get a better feel for what the car could do and understand its handling better, so I didn't push it too much. Even so, there was no one who could even come close to me on the straights. It was a Quattro Club event that I had signed up for when I still was planning to drive my TT roadster there, so there were quite a few TTs, S4s, and A4s, along with a smattering (perhaps a poor choice of word ) of Porsches, BMWs, and Subarus. The 32 had quite a few admirers ... people kept coming up to me after a run to ask, "What is in that thing???!!!" and referring to it as 'the rocket'. Lots of people commented on the distinctive sound.

I agree about the ESP being intrusive; on one run I forgot about turning it off, and couldn't figure out at first what was 'wrong' with the car. The brakes are outstanding, and I really came to love the low dust aspect of the Porterfield pads. Even with all of the heavy braking, my wheels stayed relatively clean. I also drove with the stock tires and was pleased with the handling overall.

Don: I'm curious about what pressures you ended up with for your tires.

<img src="http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b1cf38b3127cce9b949935c61b0000004410">

Mr. Vanos

Perhaps, but I'm not sure to be honest. Did I mention to you there's a school on Friday at Willow Springs that I'm instructing at? It's the Beverly Hills Motorsport Club. If you're interested at attending, email me as soon as possible.

Don

We ended up setting pressure at 39 psi all around after a moderate cool down lap. We were estimating that the pressure after a hot lap would probably have been around 40 psi or so. I felt like traction was a little better in the middle of the session than at the end of a run.

I drove home with the track tire pressure settings and checked tire pressures cold the next morning. The right side was about 32/34 F/R and the left side about 1 psi lower at about 31/33. So at Buttonwillow with me driving the front tires heated approximately 2 psi more than the rears. Of course, your mileage may vary.

Don

I should have added that we ran clockwise so that most of the turns were to the right. As a result, track tire temperatures were a little hotter on the left side. Setting hot pressures equal resulted in cold pressures that were lower on the left side.