I have a question that may have been asked before but I am looking for advice on my next possible purchase so I will ask anyway.

I am currently an M3 owner (nobody's perfect). I am looking at the SLK32 because I like the way it looks and I have a great itch for a solid roadster. I currently drive my M3 daily, even in the snow. It is Dinan supercharged and I have never had an issue with traction or driving in snow using my normal everyday Pirelli P7000 Supersports. Now I realize the SLK is lighter, but has anyone attempted to drive an SLK of any flavor in the snow? If so, what can be expected? Is the 32 worth it or should I buy a 320 and supercharge it? I hear that Kleemann, like Dinan, matches the factory warranty? And I don't know if I'll like the auto? Any performance or reliability comments?


Thanks,
Jason


99 Dinan M3 [E36]

 

Being a Canucklehead, I need snow tires for about half the year...and they're not just for snow. As the road temperature drops, summer Z rated tires (very hard rubber) have very poor traction. I have my snows installed on my 17" AMG rims in early November and replace them with summers in late April. While I wouldn't drive my SLK in a blizzard, the traction is pretty good with the snows and traction control.

I'm like you WRT a manual tranny. I'd love a 32...but...no manny..no money. Adding a Kleeman S/C to a 320 gets you a high performance car and a manual, but the AMG motor is built stronger than a standard 320, to handle the power. I'm not sure how a 320 manual 6 speed would handle 300+ HP. The warranty is another problem with a Kleemann upgrade. I would guess that if you fried the tranny you're SOOL. Just MHO.

 

The P7K Supersports are an ultrahighperformance allseason tire. I've tried several tires not all rated M+S...like the AVS Sport, Pilot Sports, Poleposition2's, RE730, and Eagle F1's. The P7000's SS's are by far the best all weather traction tire I've encountered. The M+S rating does mean there good for snow. Don't get me wrong I wouldn't venture out in a blizzard either with a sports car. Just trying to get an idea of how the SLK would fend as a routine daily driver.

Is it true that Kleemann matches the factory warranty or was someone feeding me a line?

To my knowledge both Kleemann and Renntech have both modified the 320 and C&D recently did the tuner challenge and stated that the Renntech SLK38 motor was a very tractable and strong motor, they also blurbed something about the vehicle being dead reliable. That's gotta be worth something? Then again I have read so much BS I don't know what's true anymore.

Thanks,
Jason

 

Kleemann does not match the factory warranty. It sounds like Renntech does.
http://www.renntechmercedes.com/Warranty.html

 

Thanks, I was giving more consideration to Kleemann based upon the information I had on warranty matching. But now it seems I need to reevaluate the tuning benefits of both. Who is a Kleeman distributor in the US? I would like to speak with them to clarify this info and to check out their tuning programs for the slk.

Jason

 

Here is the Kleemann web page:

http://www.kleemann.dk/

 

Still evaluating my choices...and I have another question. On BMW's...the engineers are smart enough to produce cars that have the ability to be full featured or defeatured. Meaning I have retrofitted power/heated seated seats into my M3 from another that was being parted out. The wiring harnesses were already there and the mounting points were the same. Another friend converted his automatic trans to a manual fairly easily since the trans mounts are the same and the mounting hardware for the clutch was already there, he just had to change out the brake and add a clutch pedal and run the fluid lines.

Does Mercedes follow this same engineering philosophy? My thoughts are that it would be more cost effective to just buy the SLK32 and retrofit an SLK320 MT trans into it. Does any one here know if the 32 has the clutch mount under the dash?

Thanks,
Jason

 

Just curious how you ended up?

 

I purchased the SLK32. The automatic isn't as annoying as I thought it would be. I drove it in the Chicago snow, Continental SportContact M+S, great traction but in general I needed to massage the throttle. No problem in the rain at all.

I am happy and it turned out to be a good choice for my daily driver.

Jason

 

buy a subaru as your beater car to drive when it snows.