Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) losing interest in cars?

I've recently been looking at SLK/SLC's.

The diesel SLK's look remarkable value for money, not to mention £30 road tax and stellar economy. Why is it you enjoy driving it more than the SLC though ? Which SLC did you have ?

@alistair and John, yes, maybe a bit drastic to chuck in towel over a fairly minor thing, especially when I’m also just as happy driving knackered old bangers, but it’s a main dealer car with 9k miles and I had just begun a holiday tour. It was more a gut feeling that it just wasn’t meant to be, the dealer has been fantastic and we’re still on good terms so I’ll see how I feel next year.
Great car though and the folding metal roof is brilliant.

Here’s it broken down, I was stuck there from 1pm to11pm till I finally got the thing away on a truck. I was so cheesed off I drove straight home in a hire car, arrived at 6am had a quick nap then went to work at 7:30am

I've been mad about cars for as long as I can remember.

I've had 58 so far, including 11 Morgans, 17 BMW's and 7 Porsches.........🙃
I like finding them and the buying process, I like owning them........but not for too long, I always want the next one....... I've never been one to take them to bits, it was never something I wanted to do, lack of patience I think, and chronic left handedness😆......greasing kingpins was the limit of what I could be arsed to do....!

BUT........ The joy of 'motoring', just for the hell of it, a quick thrash round the lanes, a blast down a B road has become more and more of a chore over the last few years.
The amount of traffic, crap roads, speed bumps, speed cameras, average speed zones, nutters who shouldn't be on the road(!!!!), all have combined to make driving..... hard work...no longer fun..!
Driving a Morgan has also felt dangerous on roads where I live, very exposed and vulnerable. I like the feeling of having Euro ncap 5 star metal around me now........

I can't see me getting another manual sports car, auto's/pdk etc are just so good that the faff of DIY gear changing seems a waste of time. I know all the old tosh about 'being involved' and being part of the process by changing gear, but it's so last century......

I do love a convertible though..........

One of the few cases that only 5 in existence rarity did not in anyway justify the asking price for a 2 engined four wheel drive 2CV

We would have bought 2 x SLCs a 200 and 250d but Sue preferred the styling of the SLK so she got the last of the 250d SLKs. The SLC 250d ceased production just a few few years later although the petrol versions continued until 2020, I hope Mercedes reintroduce a new version at some point. The SLC is basically an updated SLK body , same interior, with updated command system and for the higher spec'd and AMG cars has an adaptive suspension settings as standard that was optional on the SLK but rarely spec'd, other than that the cars are basically exactly the same inside.

I had the SLC200 basically 180bhp, a nicely spec'd version with rare electric memory seats. Nice car that did everything well but a bit gutless by comparison. The wife's SLK is the euro 6 250d AMG with the 9 g auto box and 369 ft lbs of torque, amazingly quick for a diesel, its the torquey engine that really makes for a quick good handling car, the AMG spec is slightly lowered, taller alloys and body kit. You have to be aware of the potential for the DPF (diesel particle filter) to soot up if used regularly for short journeys, I just add a DPF cleaner every 3 tank fulls and a good fast motorway run every month or so. Best mpg we have seen so far is a 250 mile motorway run at the speed limit and above and it did 61.5 mpg roof down including the last 20 miles or so in commuter traffic. It has doubled the wife's mpg for commuter driving compared with her petrol Mercedes cabriolet. The SLK feels that it has power on tap from almost tick over by comparison to the SLC than needs to be rev'd, it's staggering to be doing only 1400rpm at 70mph, which makes for a very quiet cruising capability.

Hope this helps.

That would have pissed me off big style, and it would immediately raise the spectre with me as to what's next to go wrong.

I agree Julian, automatics/pdk have come on so much these days compared to my first auto Mercedes I got in the 1980's. With up to 8/9 gears and the capability to learn your driving styles and multiple selection criteria from economy to sport mode etc and paddle shift....what fun is there really left when swopping gears thru a manual box and dipping the clutch, especially if in slow moving commuter traffic. The fact that the auto CX is faster than the manual says it all for me.

I found my Roadster gearbox was agricultural, first was useless and almost impossible to pull away on an incline gracefully whilst trying to balance the clutch, handbrake and accelerator so not to wheel spin. I hated pulling away from junctions on wet slimy and the occasional cobbled roads, often lead to axle tramp. I don't need that type of hassle in my motoring life.

Some people advance with the times, others stand still and watch the stampede into the future. I'm the latter. My fate was sealed when I did my first engine change at 17 with hardly any tools. That's been my continuing pleasure ever since. I don't chase fashion, and I don't chase the plug and play mentality of today. Happy to watch others embrace complexity!

I've driven plenty of rental autos and didn't like any. Passengered in plenty of SUV's.....guess what? Didn't like any. Passengered in a Golf E. Love my diesel Golf. That E Golf was so dull I hardly remember the journey!

As technology advances, one has to be careful that one doesn't throw the baby out with the bathwater, but at the same time recognise life can be made easier and more accessible to one's partner who now only drives auto's. In her day she used to wring every ounce of performance out of her Peugeot 106GTI's,, but at 5 foot nothing was never comfortable driving a larger manual car or a car with heavy controls especially steering and gearbox Morgan. We both loved our Morgan Roadster 4 seater but once I couldn't drive it comfortably, it had to go as it was far too heavy for Sue to handle, even I struggled with the heavy steering at slow speeds and the gearbox, clutch and handbrake balancing was crude and difficult on occasion to balance.. But as they say each to their own, too many years and too many miles stuck in a manual car in slow moving traffic quickly taught me the advantages of automation. Of course a lot is dependant on what type of roads and mileage you drive, for a while I used to do 100k a year mostly motorway where you don't really change gear much and urban driving, were you are constantly up and down the box, edging forward. I might think differently if most of my driving was on empty twisty country lanes or open roads.

Tend to agree with John, age and lifestyle change with time and the "right" car is the one that best fits our needs at the time.
We loved the Plus 8, but it was time to move on, the Boxster better matches our needs now but at some point that will change.
I used to do a lot of DIY servicing on the. bikes and the Roadster, less on the Plus 8 and it is simply impossible on the Boxster, I've never seen the engine!

The Porsche PDK is the finest gearbox I've used, it isn't a traditional automatic but a pair of pre-selector manual boxes, with 1,3, 5 and 7 on one box and 2, 4, 6 and Reverse on the other. Each box has its own oil bath motorbike style clutch and the result is lightning fast, smooth gear changes and it always seems to be in the right gear at the right time! 0 to 62 is faster with the PDK than the manual box and fuel consumption is better, too.

In comparison the Mercedes double clutch box on the A35 AMG was terrible, to traditional torque converter box on the C43 is better!