Classic Car Weekly "Z3 versus SLK" (13 Oct edition)

Shelly

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Good read up 🙂
Like the number plate 🌞
 

mrscalex

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Not a bad write up, and at least they actually drove the cars.
Not sure why they went with the least powerful option - a 2.2/2.8/3.0 would have been a better comparison
Well I thought that too. But they have a budget point of £4k and it needed to be a nice car. So I guess they thought £4k would get them a really nice 1.9, posibly a 2.2, unlikley a 2.8 or 3.0.
 

Lee

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I think they struggled to find someone for the article :)
 

Mike Fishwick

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you have to understand that the real priority of motoring journalists is not to give true comparisons, but a need to satisfy their advertisers - who put far more money into their wretched magazines than is raised by actually selling them!

Most journalists are quite young, with limited driving experience and ability, which they compensate for by reading other people's reports, and add a mixture of their combined prejudices, gut feelings, and errors. Any car with more power than its chassis can handle is regarded as giving 'Driver involvement and satisfaction,' even if that means it wants to swap direction when it feels like it.

Another blind spot - because the writers never buy a car with their own money - is running costs, such as problems with the twin-screw supercharger. Assuming the minimum standard of servicing (a Full BMW/Merc Service History) it has probably never had an oil change, and that is the tip of the iceberg. A £4k 1.9 Z3 will be a good honest car, but a £4k Merc is great expense waiting to happen! Bits for a Z3 can usually be sourced from German & Swedish, but Merc parts are a different matter.

In this case, the comparison of a 1.9 Z3 to a 2.3 litre supercharged SLK tells you a lot . . .
 
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Davil

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Maybe it was posted before but the Everyday Driver guys did an interesting series on a year with cheap sports cars under $8k. They had a Z4 and an SLK. They always remind me of Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd from Diamonds are forever which adds to the entertainment. Well for me anyway. There’s a whol series of episodes

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QuP_D3XyyIE


They then recently did a finale comparing their choices against a host of other cheapies including a seriously dilapidated Z3. That was a shame really as even in the wreckers yard state that car was in they still liked it.
View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ifK7m-snRSY


All episodes well worth watching. Professionally made and well presented.
 
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