Following up on my last post:

https://mbworld.org/forums/slk-class-r171/76616-slk350-test-drive-next-week.html

I promised to post some videos/pictures requested by a few of you.

The car was delivered late today so I've only had a chance to drive about 20 miles so far so the following are just initial impressions:

First off I've attached a few pictures of the car (Benitonite Blue?) for your pleasure!

I also managed to shoot a quick video of the vario roof opening and closing:

slk roof.wmv

Anyway initial impressions:

Colour: Nice deep dark blue...... good but I'd probably prefer a paler colour.

Fit and finish: Outside build quality appears good, inside also seems very well put together. The dash is finished in a textured soft plastic that does a very good impression of napa leather, the switch gear has a good solid feel to it. The seats are comfortable and not as hard as I'd expected they also adjust well.

Roof: great..... good fast operation (22 seconds)...... just about quick enough to drop at traffic lights but not very quick if you get caught in a rain shower (I'm used to the S2000 roof that only takes 6 seconds to drop so almost anything else is going to feel slow).

Remote roof opening: If this car is typical the remote roof opening option is a complete WASTE of time!....... although you can unlock the car from a good distance away the roof only wants to open when you are about 6 feet from the car....... even then it seems fairly flakey.... the first two attempts ended up with me having to get in the car to press the roof button when the remote only managed to get the roof half open! I tried opening the roof while walking towards the car but it wouldn't do anything (you have to press and hold the unlock remote button). I like the idea but needing to be within a few feet of the car makes it pointless

Storage: the boot/trunk is a decent size even with the roof stowed, you should be able to fit a decent sized suit case and a couple of smaller bags without too much trouble. Inside the cabin there are a handful of useful storage areas and even with a 6CD changer in the glove box it still has room for a few other bits and bobs.

Steering: The wheel feels VERY heavy at low speed and therefore doesn't make the car easy to manouver.

Handling: In the few miles I've done so far the car feels well planted but rather heavy..... I'll reserve judgement until I've driven some familiar twisty roads at speed!

Brakes: good so far..... I'll be testing the ABS tomorrow and will report back then :v

Performance: yes the car feels very quick and will almost certainly match up to Mercs stated 0-60 time of 5.6 seconds. The 7G gearbox is impressively smooth (I generally don't like autos but this one is pretty good!) and much better than the SMG box in the BMW M3 and slightly better than the 5 speed in the Audi RS6. In C mode (comfort?) the auto changes up early and gives a good relaxed drive, in S (sport?) mode the car will rev to the redline before shifting up and in Manual mode you can go past the redline if you want as the car won't shift up for you (it may if you really overdo it but I'm not going to try). The shift buttons on the steering wheel are a pain initially as both sides can be used to change up and down the gears the outside edge shifts up while pressing the inside part shifts down...... but you soon get used to how it works (I'd still prefer the right button to shift up and the left to shift down as in the SLK55)

Sound: The V6 makes a nice noise but its still too quiet for my liking, I suspect other road users will hear a nice sound as you overtake them but inside the car much of the growl is lost. Unfortunately I don't think many cars can beat the S2000 as it makes an orgasmic growl with the airfilter cover removed!

Anyway more detailed comments on the handling will follow

 

More pics

 

wow, looks great!!! Great review. How's the quietness?(road noise, wind noise) ...cant wait for the vids!!

 

You're the man, thanks for the info!

Looking forward to more!

 

Awesome!!!!! Although I tend to agree that a darker color does hide some of the details of the car. Plus it makes the car look smaller. The vid of the roof opening/closing feels faster than 22 sec to me. And I love the pic of the perforated front disc brake....definately gives the car a racing feel. Glad it's standard for the 350. I wonder, for the SLK55, will it come with perforated discs brakes for both front AND rear?

 

The SLK55 has ceramic brake discs so I'm not sure what they will look like...... as far as I know ceramic discs aren't usually drilled but they may be ventilated or grooved. Either way they will be rather good!

 

I had a strange encounter this morning....... as I was slowing for a roundabout before joining a dual lane road I saw an old SLK approaching fast in my mirrors....... so I went extra slowly to allow him to catch up once he was with me I booted it off the exit with him hot on my tail...... but left him for dead.

Once a little over the speed limit I backed off and he did a nice ricer flyby a few seconds later (so he was trying!)...... then I tucked in behind him to see which version he had...... the badges showed SLK230 AMG?!

I didn't think there was such a thing as that?...... I've checked pictures of the SLK230 and the SLK32 AMG and it looks like he has added the AMG badge AND changed his exhaust to a twin port (the same as the SLK32 AMG).

Faker?..... or an SLK AMG that I've not heard of?

 

it sounds like your perceptions are strongly influenced by your experiences with the S2000. You may want to recosider your purchasing of the slk55 and consider the new boxster s which would be more akin to the s2000. Your insight is still very welcome since we in the colonies still have a difficult wait ahead of us.

 

SLK55AMG-

Definitely a "faker" ! They have never produced an SLK230 AMG. The guy must have just had the exhaust system and AMG badge stuck on his car!


Marky-Mark

 

Thats what I suspected and he didn't have the AMG performance to go with the badge!

 

Yes as the S2000 is my current car (and superb with it) its hard not to compare other cars with it :p

You may be surprised but I'd take the SLK350 over the current Boxster S..... I was totally underwhelmed by the Porker when I tried one last year (I tested the 2.7 Boxster, the S and a 996 Carrera 4S) I went for the S2000 over the Boxster S and have had no regrets...... I've also since heard lots of stories about Boxster ownership that I'm glad I avoided!

 

OK follow up after 200 miles of country roads.......

0-60 video..... for some reason zippyvideos won't accept my video but with a video editing program which shows time...... 0-60 takes almost exactly 5.5 seconds, 100 in 14.5seconds!

slk350 overtake.wmv Heres an overtaking move...... starting at the same speed as the van in front who was doing around 55mph.

slk drive 2.wmv A gentle drive down a country road.......

Anyway my views after 200 miles are:

Performance: Very good! Mercs 5.5 second 0-60 is accurate and achievable by anyone in the 7G equiped car. In a straight line the 350 is slightly faster than my S2000 but its marginal..... the SLK350 is however much easier to launch than the Honda as it has very quick pickup.

Sound: the V6 noise is very nice indeed..... not very loud but it will probably please most people (you can probably hear it in the vids above)

Roof up: very refined ride, firm but not too hard..... the SLK handled some very rough british roads without much bother. Road and engine noise is hardly noticable when the roof is up and windows closed so it will make a very good mile muncher on the motorway.

Roof down: The chassis in the new SLK is very stiff..... I couldn't feel any sign of scuttle shake which is very good indeed!

Fuel MPG: 22mpg average

Handling: Sorry guys but I have to compare the SLK to the S2000 again...... the SLK is generally very good but falls short of the S2000 in the handling department. Although the SLK sticks to the road very well and the traction control does its job well the car feels very heavy in corners, the feeling of heaviness is made worse by a slightly slow steering response..... the steering felt slightly numb to me. Throttle response is also rather slow compared to a good manual car so quick applications of the gas resulted in delayed action from the car and a jerky ride. Don't get me wrong the SLK350 is still a very good handling car and to put this in perspective I would say the 350 handles better than the SL55 AMG which I drove a few months back..... so it ain't bad!!!!!

Brakes: Good strong brakes with ABS cutting in only at the last minute with a few final judders..... better than the SL55 AMG in my opinion which seemed to struggle to slow down rapidly without the ABS going into overdrive!

Wet handling: I've no idea! it didn't rain!

7G: Its the best auto box I've even driven but still not enough to make me want to give up a manual...... most changes are very smooth but occassionally the box got confused and didn't change when I told it to or just changed with more of a jerk than usual. So do I buy the SLK55 afterall?..... hard choice and I really don't know the answer yet!

I took two friends out today in the SLK and then my S2000 (neither of them had been in either car before)...... both REALLY liked the SLK and said it would be a car they'd consider buying.... but after the S2000 both also said they prefered the Honda for its more raw roadster approach, even though the S2000 is slightly slower in a straight line both guys said it felt faster to them and much more agile around bends.

I hope my review doesn't read too negatively...... and as a comparision I would rate the SLK350 above the Porsche Boxster S, BMW Z4 3.0i, Audi TT, and Nissan 350Z!

 

good write up, im actually on my way to england today hopefully i can see some new slk's in person. Any pics of the interior? also why didn't you get the 6 speed for the test drive? i think that would have been more to your liking. Also i believe you have the slk55 on order so im sure the handeling will greatly improve. As far as the s2000, its a great car with emazing road hugging capabilities. Good luck with your futur purchase.

 

I tested the 7 speed auto version because its closer to the SLK55 AMG..... if I didn't like the auto in the 350 I susepct it will be the same in the AMG.

I think the manual 350 would be better for me as you say but I want the power of the AMG..... shame it doesn't have a manual option!

 

i believe the 7 speed in the AMG is tuned for quicker response. I could be wrong though. But yeah the slk55 would be emazing with a manual tranny but if you look at the cars in manual such as the slk350 or the c230 sedan the margin between auto and manual is emazingly close whereas bmw's margine is around a second apart.

 

SLK55

Did it have the new DVD command? Views?

Have you ordered a new SLK55 yet? They've taken a shed load of orders according to my dealer. I'm #3 (supposedly).

 

awesome videos SLK55!! love the sound of the V6...do you have the unedited version of the 0-60 time??thanks!

 

yes, the AMG 7 speed tranny in the slk55 is tuned for quicker responses and faster, smarter gear shifts. the AMG Speedshift mode is better too, w/ 35% faster gear changes. slk55 is a badass car, manual or not

 

If thats the sat nav system.... yes it had it and it worked very well..... not many views as I didn't play with it much! On one 60 mile trip where I used the sat nav it got me there without much drama...... the only negative I would say about it is that it would sometimes tell me to turn AFTER I'd already done so it warns you before the turn then again at the turn.... it was this final instruction that was sometimes too late (maybe I was driving too fast for the sat nav woman to keep up! )

Have I ordered an SLK55 yet?..... no but I have a confirmed place on the waiting list (about the 100th UK order).

 

Some more pics of the car and another little video I shot this morning.....

slk350 tunnel.wmv

Perfect 0-60 without traction control in 5.5 seconds then a blast through a tunnel and then another 0-60 run with some burn rubber at the start (6.2 seconds)

 

See the previous page for more pics and another video clip

 

A couple of changes from my first post: I said in C mode the auto changes up early...... it actually doesn't seem to do so if you put your foot to the floor..... so actually I couldn't tell the difference between "C"omfort and "S"port shift modes!.

I also said that in "M"anual shift mode the box won't change gear for you even if you overrev it...... well it does change up for you afterall if you go past the redline. It also changes down for you if you slow down significantly or use the kickdown.

 

Can you play DVD movies while in Park? How is the harmon/kardon 11-speaker sound quality? Is the DVD Nav the same as in the current SL models? Birds-eye views, etc.?

 

Sorry I didn't try the DVD functions.....

The stereo was good but not the best I've ever heard (better then my current one though!).

The Sat Nav only seemed to give a flat map view not a drivers eye view.

Anyone wondering what the difference in engine noise is between the SLK350 and an S2000..... listen to some of the videos I posted of the SLK350 and then (with the same volume setting) listen to the S2000:

s2000 noise.wmv

My S2000 is standard by the way!

 

thank u, thank u, thank u. great effort on the review. i am sure the coming magazine article would not come close to your performance.

i think the SLK 350 will be a real stunner for MB in terms of sale.

years ago i was considering SLK 230 and Boxster (ie when they first came out). was disappointted by the sound of the SLK. reminded me of my wifes' sewing machine hence gave it the flick rather quickly. also wanted a V6

by the time the SLK 320 came ...... novelty was gone and never consider the SLK again.

If I was in the market SLK 350 will be high on the list, great that MB brought out the V6 at the release of the New SLK......... no doubt a marketting ploy