Humbucker87

Hey guys, my dad has been looking at getting a fun 2 door sport coupe of some sort. He has been looking hard at the new Porsche Cayman S; which I have to admit is looking like a pretty nice car. I had mentioned to him the slk55, but I think the slk would be a bit more expensive and not neccessarily justified. What do you guys think? Also what other 2 door sport coupes are there in the 50-70k range? Thanks for your help guys. Any advantages you think the mb has over the porsche or vice versa would be helpful.

Evil Duffman

the lotus elise.



its damn sexy.

0-60: 4.9 sec

faster than Cayman S, slower than SLK by .3 secs but $10k cheaper than Cayman S!

base price about: $39k i believe

Shinigami

The Elise is great fun, but TEST IT FIRST! Some people don't like the jarring ride, they think it's too uncomfortable.

I think the Elise great tho', but if I had one (as well as my 55), I'd probably only drive it 10% of the time... (the comfort of my SLK is important to me).

Does your dad like to drive a convertible? If so, the SLK would be the one to choose. The Cayenne gets very expensive when you start piling the options on. I'm much more an MB person then a Porsche person, I'd try them both first.

superduper

SLK55 has my vote.

gdsmith56

My problem with the Elise was accessibility, seating, and comfort. It was very tough to get in the Elise (I'm 5'11", 200 (or so) lbs) and the doors just didnt seem to open far enough to make entry/exit something that I would want to do daily. The seats basically sit on the floor so I truly felt like I was in a 'boxed in' go-cart. Driving with my legs straight out was awkward at highway speeds.

No comments on the Porsche.

The SLK55 is the one for me. I just wish the one on eBay in Denver was something other than Iridium Silver. It already has the 030 package on it! !! But this is basically the wife's car and she does not like the Iridium ("It's too common - everyone has that color")

Humbucker87

Comfort is important to my dad, and that's why I think the elise is out of the question. Hopefully you knew I meant the new cayman and not the cayenne. Here is a new pic of it:



I may try and persuade my dad on the MB just because I believe it is a balance of both worlds: comfort and sport. Thanks for the comments guys and keep em comin.

slk55lvr

That Cayman is one incredible driving machine. It weighs a lot less than the slk, but you lose the convertible option. If your dad is looking for a thrilling sports car, period, then the Cayman is the best option. In the summer months he'll wish he picked the slk though You can never go by list price on Porsche's or Bmw's by the way, by the time your done "adding" a transmission to the base price the cayman will cost more than the slk.

Shinigami

Sorry, I meant to say cayman in my post, dunno why I ended up writing cayenne, a slip from my brain

I have no doubts the Cayman is a good drivers car, but I still love the looks of the SLK more, and the V8 rumble is awesome.

SLK55AMG

Depends what your dad is after..... if it has to be practical the 55 is hard to beat.

However if he wants a raw racer the Elise may be exactly what he'd like.

If he can get hold of a Noble or TVR from the UK they would spank the 55 or Cayman. All of the following are available for less than $80k in the UK:

Tuscan 2
T350

Sagaris



All offer mega performance 0-60 sub 4 sec and 0-100mph under 10 sec

StapleGun

Cayman in Silver is the way to go!

MBE55AMG

I came across your own statement and agree with it.

Falco

2 totally different cars. The SLK can cruise you long distance or commuting in comfort and then hit the twisties at approx 8.5-9/10ths that of the cayman. Plus you have a hard top convertible making it an all season car. The cayman is more "track" oriented, with less comfort, less convience, a fixed roof that put together if driven to its limits in the twisties will outpace the SLK55.

I drove a 02 C4 Cab prior to the SLK55 and must day after yesterdays canyon run with some fellow mbworlder's, i can say i am more than satisfied with its performance. All around it is a better car than the boxter, cayman or 911.

IdriveFast

why not a 911? a loaded SLK55 wouldnt have been that far from a 997. maybe a used C4S?

slk55lvr

You can't go wrong with any of those three ( cayman, slk55, 911), and you could make a valid argument for choosing any one of these over the other two. After driving a 2002 911 cab last week, I must say if I was your grandpa I'd go that route! Nothing beats the Benz for cruising and that hardtop convertible option, but for the price ( a 2002 911 runs about 50 k) the older 911's the best value to me.

reallife

No question. I would recommend he test drive a SL500, then find a used, leased car that is three years old, with less than 30,000 miles on it. He'll have the best of all worlds: a fast sporty car, a touring car, a convertible, a hardtop. Let someone else pay for the initial depreciation and work all the bugs out of the electronics, etc. Buy the extended warrenty anyway.

AMG&AMG

Cayman RS might kill the SLK 55 (not the cayman S)

IanSL55

The Cayman is going to be difficult to get until production ramps up but it's much more of a 'true' sportscar than the SLK55... in fact it's reported to handle far better than the 911... HOWEVER IMHO nothing beats the low end torque of the AMG 55's and I promise you he'll fall in love w/ the hard top convertable.

I don't know what you consider practical but w/ little storage space and only two seats, the SLK might just be the least 'practical car' on the road today.

~ Ian

SLK55AMG

Not when compared to lots of other sports cars and the SLK is leaps ahead of something like the Elise in the practicality stakes.

SLK55AMG

Depends what you define as "kill"...... in a straight line drag the AMG will still murder the Cayman but on track the Cayman will have the edge. As the Cayman is quicker on track than the 987 Boxster S and the Boxster S generally has quicker lap times than the SLK55 the Cayman will be the track victor.......

Depends if the new owner wants a track car or not.

P.S. This is not designed to reopen the Boxster Vs SLK debate which has been done to death already

Humbucker87

My dad went to the dealer (a friend of ours) and talked to him about the cars. When my dad mentioned the AMG the guy said, "Are you crazy! The AMG is a race car. If you get that someone is going to get hurt!"

So I think my dad is now considering the slk350.....which is still a great car. Thanks for all your help guys. Man, and I was looking forward to owning an AMG too. Guess I'll have to wait till I'm out in the real world.

AMG&AMG

why didn't your dad say , cayman, Porsche is a race car? weird...

Humbucker87

well the guy (owner of merc dealership) also owns the porsche dealership directly ajacent to him. The guys said all of the caymans he has coming in are sold.....so there would be a bit of a wait.

IanSL55

OK you got me there... more practical than the Elise perhaps... but lets agree not to confuse the term 'practical' and the SLK alright?

~ Ian

AMG_55

if u got 80g's
i would get a cayman s with some options and spend the rest on a supercharger
it's all down to what ur after
thats just my opinion

Teufel

Damn! Nobel, TVR, Elise... None of them are available in Canada!
I n the US I would get the Elise and a second vehicle (truck?).

In Canada I would for sure take Cayman S over SLK55. Just watch out for the option list! It is madness!