The Mercedes-Benz SLK350 Review

Too small and uncomfortable.. That more or less sums up what I think of the Mercedes SLK 350.

I have always enjoyed Mercedes cars and my SLK experiences started with a 2002 SLK 320 Manual. It was bright red and my, so called, friends referred to it as a "hairdressers" car!

Looks aside, it was not a bad car, the gearbox was a bit notchy and the suspension was not very sporty but on the whole I quite liked it. So when I first took delivery of my SLK 350 auto with the F1 style front end and the more powerful engine I was excited, I like to drive fairly quickly and I enjoy driving for drivings sake. The new car looked better than the old model and the interior felt more up to date.

My first drive of the 350 was quite interesting. As I pulled away, with far too much throttle, the rear wheels snatched at the tarmac for grip and the car snaked it's way up the road. My first impression was positive, I like a lively drive and this certainly felt quite lively. But my initial impression did not last for very long. I discovered that if I drove the car with too much vigor that the gearbox would soon start to mess about, it would refuse to change up and hold the car in a gear for far too long. On one occasion I arrived at a t-junction which was on a fairly steep incline; the car would not move! it just sat there with it's engine revving away. After what felt like an age a gear was found with a bang and away we went.

I continued my drive in a far more sedate manner and the car behaved as it should, but this experience had tainted my view and I was never particularly happy with the car's performance.

Another problem with the SLK 350 Auto is one of having a very slow gearbox when it comes to selecting reverse gear after drive. If you are driving along a busy high street and spot a parking space you pull up just past the gap and select R on the auto box and then wait.......it feels as though it's going to take forever. The only thing I will say about this is that it's a problem with ALL modern Mercedes auto's and the SLK is not alone.

The Interior cabin of SLK is quite well appointed, if a little on the small side. There is a distinct lack of accessible storage and trying to find find somewhere to put your house keys, mobile phone and pack of gum is quite a challenge.

The folding roof is quite superb and should be a standard feature on all cars. The only small problem is the amount of luggage space space left when the roof is folded down.

The cars performance on a nice wide open, smooth, bump free road is very good. The car accelerates well and stops well. The engine feels a little harsh when being driven in anything other than a docile way and I have already given my opinion of the gearbox.

The car's suspension is very hard and is set up in such a way that hard driving into corners will produce a little initial under-steer followed by very controllable over-steer. The suspension is, in my opinion, just too hard for everyday use.

In conclusion, The Mercedes SLK 350 is not my type of car. It's not an exciting drive in the sense that a Caterham or a TVR is exciting and it's not comfortable like some of it's bigger brothers. I think this car is targeted at the 50+ female driver who does not want to drive quickly and is more interested in the look rather than build quality and performance.

Colin Mather Business Entrepreneur and Trainer http://www.colinmather.com tel: +44(0)7545 091838 email: colin.mather@colinmather.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Colin_Mather

The Jaguar D Type

The Jaguar D-Type was built between nineteen fifty four and nineteen fifty seven, a total of three years. The D type shared the same engine design as the previous C Type Jaguar, although this was the only similarity between the two cars, with the D Type having major changes made from its predecessor. The most notable change was the monocoque chassis, which was highly innovative and drastically improved aerodynamics and efficiency, a large feat for a competitive racing car. The car originated as a competitive racing car, but once Jaguar ceased racing the D-Type was converted for public sales.

The Jaguar XKSS was the road car created from the left over D-Types. An additional seated was added to the car, a full windscreen, a passenger door, and other changes to make the car more practical for the general public.

Unfortunately for Jaguar, a fire destroyed nine of the twenty five cars which were either completed or close to completion on the twelfth of February nineteen fifty seven. The market for high performance European cars was highly profitable in that time, the main reason for converting the unused chassis into production cars to gain back some of the investment.

The design on the D-Type really mirrored that of an aircraft, with the innovative introduction of the monocoque body style. The fuel for the car was within bags within the cells of the chassis, another design aspect which mimicked that of aircraft engineering. The aircraft style like engineering was down to the work of Sayer, a former Bristol Aeroplane Company worker, who successfully brought his innovative design to the table.

From a mechanical standpoint, the D-Type shared many attributes with that of the previous C-Type. The engine was unchanged, and the disc brakes kept. The major changes came from the work of Sayer, who managed to make the car much more aerodynamic and efficient. The body style was so successful the Jaguar E-Type maintained many features as the successor of the legendary D-Type.

Bonhams auction sold a first factory production D-Type for £2.2m in the summer of 2008 at their popular auctions.

Classic Cars For Sale has Jaguar cars for sale. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andy_Webbed