OK, lets rectify your misunderstandings:

1) You bought 1 low end (4 banger) SLK & have arrived at the conclusion all Mercs have poor build quality? Brilliant. You keep talking about a Z06 (even though its not offered in Vert format). Guess what? DIFFERENT TARGET MARKET. Nonetheless, AGAIN, people are buying the whole car, not its "engine". You even been in a Z06. I have. The interior looks like it was made by Fisher-Price, even the Vette guys concede its crap. Thank the Lord GM fixed it with the C6 (which I've also seen & its an improvement).

2) Yes, people can put blowers on anything, but many of Mercedes AMG cars come from the FACTORY that way...STOCK. Get it? By the way, you didn't just take "some domestic V8" for a comparison. You took the biggest, baddest V8 from America's Icon, the Corvette Z06, & compared it to Mercedes's lower end SLK? I guess its OK for you to take an engine from the vehicle of your choice, but we can only reference a poweplant from a lower/mid range Mercedes model? People don't buy engines, they buy CARS - it has something to do with transportation . However, since you want to focus only on engines, the 493 Hp is a production Benz motor & GM isn't producing anything NEAR that number. Its pretty sad when a 4 door E55 SEDAN (with a mere 469 Hp) is as quick as a all out 2 seat Z06 sports car (an E55 runs a 12.4 quarter). However, I'm sure the Z06 owner can justify kids in the back seat in the E55 waving to him because, "the Benz is supercharged & mine isn't". Yes, great logic. Again, its how the CAR performs and an AMG SLK's acceleration in the high fours is as quick as a Vette, a Ferrari 355, or a Mustang Cobra. What are you looking for Juan Fangio?....sub 4 sec peformance?

3) I'll bring you up on current events. The SLK is not the premium line for Mercedes. The AMG version is quick, but its not an AMG 65 (which runs 11 sec quarters, STOCK). The V6 version runs with a Boxter S & you are whining its slow?

Do us all a favor. Go somewhere else & whine.

-Matt

 

Ahh, one more thing. the N/A AMG motor operates within 93.1% Hp efficiency of the Corvette Z06. Thats just horrible, isn' t it? :p

-Matt

 

I will buy the SLK55 for sure and will not cancel my order. BUT it is a fact that MB has major problems with reliability. There have been numerous articles in major magazines in Britain, US, and Germany pointing to poor reliability of MB vehicles. And the J.D. Power and Associates 2003 VDS ranked MB at 28th out of a total of 38 Nameplates, well below the industry average! BMW was at 13th, well above the industry average! And then there are of course my own bad experiences and the rest of my family and friends!

You must compare cars in the same price range! You can not compare a C$240,000 SL65 to a C$80,000 C6 Z06! Once you have decided on what you are willing to pay (your limit) then of course you look at the whole car and not just its engine! Everybody has to make hard choices. What is my priority, the engine? the interior look/quality? the overall look (sex appeal)? 0-60? torque? comfort? reliability?...

I think the C6 Z06 is the perfect (the only?) comparable car to the SLK55. I had to think real hard to decide. At the end I decided that class, quality and folding hardtop was more important to me than killer performance!

 

Yes, and this is WHY I mentioned you can't compare a Z06 to an SLK because it is NOT offered in convertable form (the big reason WHY I am buying this car for my wife). So, given that, there is no N/A V8 that is superior to the AMG motor (John SLK's original premise has been proven false).

-Matt

 

Matt,

pls relax and accept that no matter how brillant and opinionated you are people will disagree.

I was comparing engines as i have pointed out to you several times.

Yes the Z06 engine is big and bad and so are "AMG Tuned" V8s meant to be.

Anyhow you have summed up nicely what i wanted to say above, many thanks.

Now take your tablets and relax. okay. :p

 

Ahh Matt still having problems reading, Teufel wrote that the Z06 was comparable...


??? what are you on? you just said the AMG V* was 91% as effecient as the Z06 engine

 

Teufel,

As you can see from my posts i think MB could do a little better.

Regardless I think the new and old SLK's a beautiful and i enjoy mine everyday (I live in sunny Singapore) and i hope you have as much fun with your SLK as i am having with mine.

I will move back to Australia in a couple of years time and then i will need to go thru the decision making process that you have...

 

I'm not "on" anything. Maybe you should put down your crack pipe though . The key point made was that even the Z06 motor (which you brought up) and that we've already determined isn't even offered in a convertable format (like the SLK55), is hardly the "super" powerplant you keep trying to support. It has a whopping, tire scorching, pavement burning, rubber incinerating, 6.9% more efficiency that the N/A AMG 5.5L. Ohhhh, my. That is just awe inspiring. I'm gonna run down to the Chevy dealer & get one installed in my SLK55 upon arrival .

Now, if you can't understand those basic facts (supported by the efficiency data which has been posted), you are either hopeless, or a troll. However, if you can comprehend that your original premise (the SLK55 powerplant is "weak/inefficient") has been unsubstantiated (unless you wish to counter the above points with hard data), then great! We all want to see your hard data/analysis. I'm all ears Buddy.

-Matt

 

I totally agree with you. MB could do a lot better but so could GM (C6), Porsche (911, Boxster), BMW (M3, M5..) and...!

No matter what you get you are compromising on something!

Good like deciding what to get! No matter what you or anyone else decides to buy, at the end we all will be disappointed! Take me for example; I will be very very disappointed when MB puts their 450hp? four valve per cylinder 5.7L? V8 in the SLK in about two to three years!

 

Details on MB's 4 valve V8's are, all naturally aspirated (MB have publically said they are getting out of supercharges) 4.6L ?hp, 5.5L 408hp and 6.3L 500hp. These engines are based on the current V8 block.

Have fun.

 

Mathew,

Per your posts you are the guy who is buying is wife an SLK55 and will supercharge it if she thinks it's not fast enough. Yet you drive a 10 and a 15 year old Mazda.

Nice fantasy Mathew, dream on...


I have added some smiles in the hope that they aid your comphrension. :p

 

To be accurate, Mercedes has NOT announced their future 4v blocks - the ones you are referring to are a) blocks that are in use today or b) previously announced ones. They have not announced any engine 'upgrade' for the SLK55 (nor the C class or CLK class. Even the SL 55 has no 'official' upgrade patch as of now). Yes, Mercedes will switch to 4v engines altogether. Yes, Mercedes has said, they will get out of Kompressoren (though it's unclear if this goes for AMG as well). But it's also clear that in the MY2005 most cars won't see the new engines, and 2006 is up in the air. If you plan this way, you'll never buy a car (or a computer, or a new TV or a DVD Recorder....) - you're bound to be 'disapointed' at some point - unless you just enjoy it all for what it is ;-)

 

What is your point? My RX-7 likely has less miles on it than your 4 banger SLK - its immacualte & is a basicly a race car. I can buy anything I wish - money is not an issue.

What point are you trying to convey - that cars older than your little SLK are slow? . Yet another brilliant deduction from a clown who drives a car with less horsepower than my family car, in a country where you can't drive passed like 50mph (my firm has one its plants there - not exactly a place where you can actually "drive" a car). What a waste of time. Do us all a favor & go away little troll.

-Matt

 

I red in a German magazine that the new S class will get the new 430hp 5.5L four valve per cylinder engine. It will be show cased in the 2005 Frankfurt Auto Show. Assuming they are right, then a 450hp AMG 5.7L would make sense! But as dosers has been saying it for like twenty times now... (Just read any one of his quotes!).

 

:-)
Yeah, the S class (and the CLS for example) have 'announced' new 4v engines. But keep in mind - the IAA in Frankfurt isn't until September of 2005 ! So, as noted before :-) we are talking MY2006 at best. For the SLK (and C and CLK possibly) we might even be looking at MY2007 (with minor body change) for an engine update to those mystic 4v. My bet is that any future SLK55 engine hasn't been talked about yet. THe S class engine will be tough to fit into the SLK (not for displacement reasons obviously). AMG will have to revamp their offering for the C / CLK / SLK models, and we'll probably see a new engine, based on a smaller bore 4v at that time.

But, I am guessing completely of course. Just like anyone else :-)

Cheers,
Dan.

 

Wow. That is impressive . A 4V head would really help it breath better. We just can't wait though - it sounds like this possible powerplant is too far out to delay the SLK55 purchase. Maybe we will trade it in for an "upgrade" if/when the 4V head becomes a reality in a few years.

I think as Teufel may have pointed out on an earlier post, there will always be something better "coming". So, time to buy man!

See ya,
-Matt

 

I am guessing sometimes in 2007! But as I said before I am not waiting.

Speaking of IAA Frankfurt 2004. I am not able to get any information regarding the event! There's no information on their website www.iaa.de or any other websites! Didn't the 2004 IAA end already? What does IAA stand for? Die Internationales Automobil Affenhaus

 

Oh, I agree !
You can never win. Then again, you don't ever really loose either. IF the MY2006 has the rumoured 405bhp 4vallve V8, maybe it's time to buy it and trade the old one in (there'll be a small cosmetic upgrade as well). If not, there are other cars out there. Let's face it, it's half the fun ;-)

d

 

Internationale Auto Ausstellung.
And yeah, this year's over- after Frankfurt (the largest), Detroit and Paris, there isn't anything much happening this year. They won't have info on the 2005 one till about May I'd think.

;-) I like Affenhaus though

d

 

Mathew you should not ask a question and then try to answer it, epsecially with your IQ which results in a stupid statement like "that cars older than your little SLK are slow?"

What i am trying to convey is that i think you are full of and you are fantasising about MBs but driving 15 year old Mazdas. I hope this now clear Mathew.

Gee Mathew i am impressed you sound very well travelled.

You can drive from Singapore to Malaysia (in about 20 minutes) where traffic offences can be settled cheaply on the spot and there are 100s of miles of open road and beautiful tropical beaches, jungle and scenery in general and 5 star hotels that charge less than USD100 per night, so please don't feel too sorry for me and my SLK.

Now Mathew take your hands off your gerkin, wash your hands and go to bed.

 

I have already red about the 2004 Paris Auto Show, www.motortrend.com, www.roadandtrack.com, www.autobild.de... But nothing about the 2004 IAA in Frankfurt. I am not talking about the 2005. Where can I read about the 2004 IAA? Any ideas?

 

Teufel,
the IAA for PKWs (cars) is bi-annual. The last one was in September 2003, and the 2005 is the next one. Before the 2003, it was held in 2001 and so on.

All the best,
Dan

 

Thanks! I didn't know that! Bi-annual Auto Show! That I really don't understand!

 

I agree, it's weird - and I have no idea why. It's the world's biggest, and yet it's only every 2 years.... Or maybe, because.. ;-)

 

You are so ignorant its actually comical. You also seem to have some personal issues - real classy statements above. What are you, 17?

1) You have digressed from being proven wrong that the N/A SLK55 powerplant is indeed 93% as efficient as the highest output American V8 (even though we all know its not even available in convertable format like the SLK55. The Vette's convertable powerplant is actually less efficient than the SLK55's, but hey, whos counting?)

2) Due to your inability to face your little theory being dismantled in #1 above, you result to petty little insults (all of which are misinformed) like trying to insult one of my cars, or your perceived position of my financial status? Its obvious you are hardly a Mental Giant.

3) However, while we are on the topic of my RX-7 R1, it competes in the annual Concourso in Monterey, CA. It was 1 of 350 ever produced by Mazda Corporation & it placed 2nd in its category this year at the Concourso. Here's the website you Clown: http://www.concorso.com/ I was recently offered $40k for it, but I always decline to sell - its a fun drive. You feeling like an azz yet?

4) My financial position is hardly your business. :p However, lets put it this way, both me & my wife each have been making 6 figures for years. Ever heard of a place called Silicon Valley?...Intel? Stock options? You getting the general gist here Brilliance?

5) Yes, I am "well travelled". I work for a Fortune 500 Semiconductor firm & negotiate multi-million dollar manufacturing contracts in SEA, NA, & Europe. I've had my Limo drive the Singapore to Malaysia route several times & its nothing but Banana trees (we also have a manufacturing plant in Malacca, I know the route like the back of my hand & that is NOT Singapore - Malaysia is a foreign country last time I checked). And, by the way, I stay at the finest 5 star hotels in both Singapore & KL, but thanks for your 2 cent price reference! :p

Summary:
We all know you are the poor individual with a chip on his shoulder. You drive a 185hp low end junker with a non functional top, yet talk about high power sports cars? My Schwinn is faster than your SLK .

Do us a favor, quit postulating what you "think" other stranger's income "might be" on some internet car forum & stick with what you know. That wouldn't be much, but its better than digging yourself deeper & deeper into a hole & making yourself look like an immature AZZ to everyone on the Benz Forum.

-Matt