mischief

On another note, what does this friend drive?

H-townbenzoboy

Now THIS is a "chick car."

http://www.duricy.com/~firetone/lafe...6exteriors.htm

Lady Wolf

No, the SLK is not a chick car. The only time it looks girlie is when I blow it's doors off with my E55T while hubby is driving it Of course the fact thathe's practically taken over MY E while I get HIS SLK is beside the point.

reggid

the fact that this thread exists means that some people believe it is a chicks car (or hairdressers car)

Who says a chicks car can't be fast anyway!
i think its more the way it looks which makes it susceptable to being labelled a chicks car.

lisamcgu

Actually, this thread exists because AMGgirl was told by some guy that she had a chick's car. One guy's stupid comment, not some people's belief.

And probably prompted by jealousy that a girl happened to be driving a car he thought he should be driving.

The Godfather

AMGgirl drives chick cars hahahaha

Florp

Please please PLEASE tell me you're joking...

Lady Wolf

Why would I be joking? It can't touch the 469hp I have in my wagon unless we are on a 2 lane winding road and it would have to be VERY winding.

benzgenius

I sat in one, and I admit the SLK does feel like a chicks car.

rrobello

I think the comment about it being a "girlie" car is based on its looks and yes IMO it looks pretty girlie, just like the Lotus Elise, fast but girlie....I live in La Costa and have seen several driving around in La Costa/Aviara/Encinitas and each time I have seen one it has been a woman driving it, if that counts for anything.

lisamcgu

You've seen lots of SLK55s in La Costa? Are you sure they weren't 350s?

S_kLaSse

I know a chick who drives SLK55, seen 3 chicks drives 55, but only seen one man with 55. It seems like it is a chick's car. SLK is always known as chick's car. Luckily all those chicks I saw are damn pretty. I just hate to see a granny drives one.

rrobello

it would depend on how you define "lots." I said several, but there are 5 that I see on a regular basis around here and all are driven by women, I have seen others sparatically around here and none have been driven by men. And to comment on some of other peoples comments about most women not knowing what an AMG is...what does that matter, especially when labeling a car as a chicks car? Most women I have met around here buy a car based on its looks and couldnt tell you if it was a Mercedes or a Ford if their lives depended on it, they dont care about its power, or any real features or often even its cost and rarity, they just thought it was "cute." Hence why it is a chicks car. (PLEASE DO NOT HARP ON ME ABOUT BEING SEXIST, JUST A GENERAL OBSERVATION OF MOST WOMEN CAR BUYERS). And I didnt know this was a hard car to get, around here, like I said before Mercedes are a dime a dozen (all types) and more often then not are driven by a soccer mom or trophy wife.

rrobello

I've always thought the same thing...lets be honest ladies...why did you buy the SLK55? I bet the answer has a lot to do with its looks. Why else would you; if you wanted more performance and HP then why not buy the SL55. The SLKs have always been, IMO, a scaled down, cheaper, "CUTER" version of the SLs. I could be wrong though.

blkslk55

look at the performance the slk55 delivers compared to the sl55.....for a stupid amount of differance in $$, you get similar results. (from a guy's perspective).

jd604

It is a general consensus among automotive press reviewers that the new R171 SLK is more 'masculine' than the now-retired R170 original. This is a statement of fact based on the number of references to this very concept of the SLK being a 'chick' car by third party professional articles and large circulation periodicals. Whether you respect the writers' opinions is another matter.

Personally... I sincerely hope it's a 'chick' car!

Put plainly, I am not trying to attract the attention of the guys walking down the street, at the gas station, or in some parking lot... for me, the delicious glances from the women are far more gratifying.

lisamcgu

Actually, I bought it because -

a) went fast
b) had a loud cool rumbling engine noise
c) had the new hood style
d) had all the new technology poured into it
e) only those in the know would own one
f) ... oh yeah, it showed how smart I was for getting all this for way less than what those masses of idiots were paying for the SL!!!

phonetics

Why you call people idiots for buying something you can't afford? You are like laughing at people who own a Ferrari when you are driving a Mazda Miata.

lisamcgu

Uh ... if the Mazda looked better and performed almost as well as the Ferrari ... Hello?

It has nothing to do with people putting down those who afford a nicer car ...

Lady Wolf

The fact is when it came down to it we COULD afford the SL55 but decided we liked the SLK better as the SL just doesn't have that extra bang for the buck. It is not twice the car the SLK is or even 25% better IMHO. What we did instead was buy the SLK for my husband and the E55T for me and spent just about the same as we would have spent on the SL alone.

rrobello

2003 SL55
Horsepower: 493 bhp @ 6100 rpm
Torque: 516 lb-ft @ 2650 rpm
0-60 mph: 4.4 sec

2005-06 SLK55
Horsepower: 355 bhp @ 5750 rpm
Torque: 376 lb-ft @ 4000 rpm
0-60 mph: 4.9 sec

couldnt get the Mercedes Benz website to load the SL55 info so I had to go with the what I could find the 03....but if there has been a change I am sure it was for the better and the 05-06 would be even more powerful and faster, but this will do....while yes I agree its not really twice the car for twice the price...it is a huge improvement and that cant be argued, an extra 117 horses for a stock car that is like going from an eclipse to a 911 carrera no comparison and those tenths of a second are very hard to shave off epsecially between two cars that wiegh about the same, anyone that has modded a car will know this, as you can bump up the HP a lot and barely gain a second in the quarter mile, so this difference is a huge difference. And come on if you could afford it you are telling me that buying the SLR wouldnt be worth the extra 300,000 because you only gain 124 HP and .4 secs 0-60 over the SL55. No, you would buy it in a heart beat if you could because we all know its worth it. Heck if you were truly looking for bang for your buck you would've stayed away from european cars all together as they are just more expensive as a whole to begin with and probably shouldve bought a Z06 or if you really wanted to save a whole lot of money the C6, or GTO or heck save yourself 40,000 and buy a Mustang GT it comes stock doing the 0-60 in 5.1 secs and with under 2,000 in mods it would be faster and have more power than the SLK. Or hey since we are in the price range, lets stay european and go with that 911 I mentioned. Yes the interior and the cool little gizmos as features are nicer in euros then in domestics but then again we were comparing the SL55 to the SLK55 now werent we. So we get back to looks, and this even comes into play when deciding to get a mercedes over anything else to begin with (PLEASE TELL ME YOU DIDNT GO MERCEDES BECAUSE OF THE LOGO AND NAME BRAND, THATS EVEN WORSE THAN "ITS CUTE").

Lisa you said so yourself "if the Mazda looked better..." looks are obviously playing a roll here....because a monster miata with very little tweeking can easily hold up to low end ferrarris, heck the lotus elise is only 50-60,000, less than half the cost of low end ferrarris and much quicker off the line and handles way better, but they are ugly. And they have "a loud cool rumbling engine noise"....have you heard american muscle, if you like loud rumble....personally I think that mercedes are very quiet, and always thought that was part of the draw, performance mixed with the comforts of luxury including reduced noise. "only those in the know would own one"....again I see 5 around here on a daily basis and several others on occasion, all driven by women who really dont seem to care about their car no less be "in the know" about anything...sorry, but I watched one at the bank two days ago park super close to someone elses car and then throw her door open without even looking, and the ones I see around here go for weeks it seems like without being cleaned, they drive slow (not taking advantage of that power) and get in the way and are definately not paying attention, so apparently even morons who arent "in the know" can own one.

Now dont get me wrong here, its not that I dont like the car, I think they are good cars, but seriously if you really bought it for the reasons you described, then you should have shopped around a little more because there were better choices (IMO, with some support from the numbers), in fact the only thing that still remains is the looks.....

And as to my comment that you all responded to it was a general observation of most women who I have noticed that own the car in order to support the arguement that it is a CHICKS CAR....not so much all of you (SORRY IF I OFFENDED ANYONE), obviously you dont fit into the norm, that you are really into your cars and thats way cool and that you know what you are talking about when it comes to them, thats even cooler, I love that, and of course there are going to be some men that drive the car, but to label a car as being girlie or masculine, I think it needs to come down to who it appeals to more, and the SLK I think definately appeals to women more for whatever reason and thus makes it girlie.

The Godfather

lol Jesus Christ!! Lisa only said it "stupid SL drivers" as a joke, kidding, poking fun, not that she truly believes they're idiots.

billybenz

For What It Is Worth I Was At A Couple Of Track Events And The Slk 32 0r 55 Are Always At The Front Of The Pack In My Opinion It Is A Sports Car Not A Chicks Car Not A Guys Car It Is A Sports Car!!

rrobello

ok before I **** everyone off and get accused of trolling the site to pick fights I am going to bow out of this battle, I actually only first posted about the meet in Encinitas because it was were I live and then in this one because I thought it was an interesting topic and lighthearted, but I can see that this is getting pretty serious and I do not want to get anyone upset, I appologize if I already have. Enjoy the cars. Afterall thats all that matters, right?

blkslk55

you are not picking fights! it's all good.....i read your long post before this. get the june issue of car and driver and have a read on the slk55 it will surprise you!