will a manual transmission be offered with any of the new slk models and if so has mercedes either designed or procured a manual that is superior to their recently offered ones, such as i believe in the current slk, which were rated poorly

 

too early to tell but my guesses are that the 7speed tranny will go into the bigger engine and maybe an smg type system used in europe will be used also. Look into a possibility for a manual tranny as being standard on the entry model and im sure they will make improvements

 

I've also read, for what it's worth, that a next generation 6-speed manual will be available in SLK models up to the 350 series @ 272 HP! Whether it's any better than the current manuals, only time & testing will tell.

 

you can get the 6-speed manual in the SLK200 kompressor, and the SLK350. but the 350 will be faster from 0-60 with the automatic (7-gears)

the V8-AMG will only get the advanced 7G-Tronic, which will be even faster.

 

Are you saying that there will be a performance 7G-Tronic transmission like the Speed Shift is to the current 5 speed autos? If so, does anyone know if the advanced 7G-Tronic be faster than the current speed shift?

 

Driller, exactly what you said! ther will be a 7gears-speedshift in the AMG. and i think it will be faster than the normal 7G-tronic. how fast/good? i cannot told you, we will have to wait until the SLK55 will be on the road (Q3/2004).