Mr. Vanos

By the way, how was the last track event? I'm dying to know how she performed on the track.

awiner

Ill have to get LN32 from MBNZ.org to post over here. LN32 ran her SLK32 at some events and also just had it Dyno'ed the other day as well. Ill shoot her off an email.

Don

The SLk32 was a blast to drive at Willow Springs. As you know, Willow Springs is a very fast track. Some of the more adventures souls claimed they run more than 130 mph THROUGH the big sweeper at Turn 8. It takes a lot of confidence to be able to drive your car at the traction limits at that kind of speed.

Since this was my first time out with the ’32 and my first time at Willow Springs, I had resolved to stay well within the limits of both the car and driver. My number one goal was to be able to drive SLK32 home after the event. But I did work toward finding the limits on Turns 2 and 3 and to a lesser extent Turn 1 and the exit of Turn 9. The car seemed to handle very well. But the power and torque are awesome. It’s definitely important to be smooth with the throttle.

I did see a couple of fairly spectacular high speed off track excursions. One guy spun off in a brand new 996 exiting Turn 9 at probably around 100 mph, yet suffered no real damage.

The TracQuest event was very well organized with excellent instructors available. I had the only Mercedes-Benz product at the event. Lots of Porsches and a number of M-roadsters and M-coupes were present. A number of participants and several instructors commented on the power of the SLK32. One guy in an M-coupe seemed quit surprised by the way that I just “blew by him” (his words) on the back straight.

I’m looking forward to Buttonwillow this weekend. Brad said he’s going. Will you be there, Simon?

Mr. Vanos

Wow, sounds great Don! Glad to hear you had fun. Brad is going up on Sunday only. On Saturday, we're invited to tour the BMW VPC facility in Oxnard. I may come up Sunday, but not sure yet. My M3 is still in the shop getting the Supercharger put in; if it's done in time (unlikely), I'll come up and instruct this weekend. Otherwise, it's just too frustrating not having my own car to drive!

See you soon!

kenny

Is this you?

Don

Not me! I ran with the top up.

Notice the white helmet top above the windshield frame and roll hoop. Yikes!

kenny

Oh so there was a couple SLK32s on the track I guess... that picture is from last weekend at Willow Springs. The guy in the mustang has a few laps on video, but I couldn't see any SLK32s on the track with him.

Don

I went to Willow Springs on Oct. 15 with TracQuest. I didn't see any other Mercedes-Benz cars at all. There were quite a variety of cars there, but Porsches and BMW's predominated.

LN 32

Great fun, and everyone was referring to the 32 as 'the rocket'. There were mostly Audis there (naturally) but also a few Porsches, BMWs, and Subarus. A friend who was filming video told me later that you could always tell when my car was coming up on the tape from it's distinctive sound. The car had a great many admirers by the end of the 2 days there.

BTW, I also ran with the top up for two reasons: Better aerodynamically, and since I don't have arm restraints, the top could help limit flailing arms in the event of a roll.

<img src="http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b1cf38b3127cce9b949e8b070e0000000410">

speeder

Hi--
I'm new to your website & would appreciate any information about the 2002 SLK32AMG & if there are any problem areas, such as: engine, supercharger, electric roof, etc. I'm going to take a test drive tomoorow & was wondering if anyone could suggest a dealer in the Orange County, CA area.
Thanks,
Bob