Shock - the SLK beats the Boxster (and the invertebrate Z3 of course)

[Justin]

According to Car May 2000, the SLK 3.2 V6 is slightly better than the 2.7 Boxster, based largely on having that trick roof. Can't see it myself, it looks like a Hairdressermeister ve must go shopping go kart for German housewifes in their fifties. Anyway, what was interesting was how appallingly badly the BMW Z3 did in the comparison.

67% of Z3 customers cited styling as the most important attribute (so how did they buy this ugly retro-pig?:sick :)

"strutural rigidity is also poo, with audible scuttle shake and a bad case of rear-view mirror tremble" it goes on to give this car a thorough drubbing in the handling and ride ("appalling") department.

How did BMW have the nerve to market a retro-pig like this with such a ridiculously bad chassis?

[This message has been edited by Justin (edited 14 April 2000).]

[This message has been edited by Justin (edited 14 April 2000).]

[Anders]

I think the metal roof thing on the SLK makes a lot of sense in a country like Ireland. In my experience convertibles are not pleasant with the roof down in temperatures below 20C, and 25C is probably about right. Now how many days with those temperatures do we get in Ireland again?

As for looks, I don't think anyone can complain about the SLK. It's a pretty timeless design, much like the CLK in that respect. With a 3.2 litre V6 with a 6-speed gearbox it's getting interesting.

[WhipLash]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>With a 3.2 litre V6 with a 6-speed gearbox it's getting interesting.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Anders, are you thinking of changing the RX-7 for a SLK? How does the SLK compare performance wise to the blistering fast RX-7?

[Anders]

Nothing for reasonable money compares to the RX-7 in terms of performance, so I have already given up on that. I'm sure the SLK320 is about as fast as a Boxster, so that's presumably somewhere around 6.5 seconds to 60mph. Ignoring that I probably can't afford an SLK320, it wouldn't be a car that would be that high up on the list. I was considering a used CLK320 convertible for a while, but I'm not sold of the idea of a convertible because of generally cold weather in Ireland.

I have driven convertibles in places like California and they make a lot of sense there because you can drive with the top down almost all the time, even at night time. When you go over about 40mph (a rare occurrance in Dublin admittedly) it gets fairly cold in a convertible so it needs to be warm outside to cope with it. Unless you like a stiff neck the following day of course.

[Justin]

I have to disagree - I've just driven home topless (so to speak) and it made the hum drum drive an occasion - you can hear the exhaust blare as you give it a bit of welly http://www.eforecourt.com/UBB/smoke.gif I didn't notice any cold, although I'm sure it was a lot less than 20 degrees