Fifth Gear: SLK v SL AMGs

[wallingd]

Who saw it? What do we think?

Lol @ Vicki ( :bannana: ) being scared by the rollbar . Amazing stuff...

 

[Maff]

That SLK sounds rather nice

 

[Jackie Chiles]

Neither of the cars are well suited to that track but they sure looked good with VBH at the wheel. Incidentally my dad met her when TopGear did a feature on his Matra, said she was lovely and even bought him a cup of tea.

 

[fuzzer]

Neither of the cars are well suited to that track but they sure looked good with VBH at the wheel. Incidentally my dad met her when TopGear did a feature on his Matra, said she was lovely and even bought him a cup of tea.

does he still ahve the cup ?

 

[Howard]

does he still ahve the cup ?

LOL !!! sicko........

but i know where your're coming from !

 

[PJH]

does he still ahve the cup ?

I'd still have it if she had bought me one.....

 

[scotth_uk]

Watched the download this morning - looked ok to me. The SLK did seem a little less sorted than it's big brother though.

VBH's squeal with full opposite lock certainly does it for me.

 

[glojo]

Once again it looks like I'm the odd one out. To me this person always gives the impression of an immature, giggling little school girl. She shrieks and screams whenever the car either breaks away from her, or she puts the vehicle into a controlled slide.

I personally thought the biggest issue the comparison highlighted was the activation of the roll bar. Apart from her stupid reaction though the item was glossed over??

As far as I am aware the roll bar is activated by an explosive charge? I might well be wrong and would love to have heard more about this issue. Is the SL still a 2 plus 2? If there had been someone in the rear of the vehicle and they were thrown backwards by the edited out manoeuvre (all we actually saw was VBH letting out an expletive as the roll-over bar activated) What would have happened to the passenger. The bar is propelled upwards with great force to protect passengers, but if they were being thrown backwards by the spinning car????

What did she do to cause the bar to activate?

Did it activate in accordance with its design features?

What has to be done to reset it it?

Why does it not work by the amount of lean, or roll?

If I owned an SL, I would be concerned that the roll bar is going to activate just because I hit a bit of oil and the car simply spun with no chance whatsoever of flipping.

Regards,
John 'The old Grump'

 

[Shude]

As far as I am aware the roll bar is activated by an explosive charge?

Motorised.

Is the SL still a 2 plus 2?

No rear seats

What did she do to cause the bar to activate?

If the suspension is allowed to reach a certain level of travel it thinks the wheel has left the ground (roll over) and the bar pops up.

Did it activate in accordance with its design features?

Yes.

What has to be done to reset it it?

IIRC it's either a menu thing or it simply does it when you turn the ignition off and back on again.

If I owned an SL, I would be concerned that the roll bar is going to activate just because I hit a bit of oil and the car simply spun with no chance whatsoever of flipping.

Damon Hill also got the SL55 AMG rollbar to pop up when he was blasting around a track with Dominic Littlewood. He really did leave the ground for a second as he went over a bump at speed!

 

[glojo]

Hi Shude,
Thanks for the very informative updates. When did those little seats get removed from the SL?

Interesting that it is measured when one wheel leaves the ground? Best not change a tyre. Pity Ecclestone did not have an SL when the wheel thieves struck.

If it is when the wheel leaves the ground then I can imagine all sorts of scenario's where the roll bar is activated?

Having it motorized is a much more techinical method, and I would love to see its design features. I had wrongly assumed it worked similar to the seat beat tensioners. I wonder why they failed to activate? If the computer had decided the car was about to flip, you would expect the seat belt to pull you back into the seat? The motors must be extremely robust, the noise of the bar hitting the stops was 'explosive'!!!!! (I am most certainly not doubting your reply, I am merely really impressed)

Thanks very much for the quick reply,
John

 

[Shude]

When did those little seats get removed from the SL?

The '129 had pathetic optional rear seats but otherwise I think the SL has been pretty much a 2-seater since day one.

Interesting that it is measured when one wheel leaves the ground? Best not change a tyre. Pity Ecclestone did not have an SL when the wheel thieves struck.

If it is when the wheel leaves the ground then I can imagine all sorts of scenario's where the roll bar is activated?

It is possibly tied into ASR/ESP and only activates at certain speeds

Having it motorized is a much more techinical method, and I would love to see its design features.

I have *assumed* that it's motorised, the R129 also had a motorised roll-over bar on some models.

Seems a bit stupid that the bar pops up while the roof is up though, isn't the roof structurally sound? I guess it's a heavy car so maybe it's needed.

 

[Maff]

The SL (R230) is when the rear seats went, replaced by storage boxes and luggage straps. The rollover bar is activated if a certain threshold is reached, i.e. just one wheel leaving the ground won’t activate it, an amount of travel on two wheels and a certain speed are needed before it is activated.

You can manually raise it and lower it via a switch on the dash with it's electric motors, however when it flips in an emergency I think it is spring loaded for quicker activation. (the motors to move it manually are very slow)

 

[peterchurch]

Hi Shude,
Thanks for the very informative updates. When did those little seats get removed from the SL?

Interesting that it is measured when one wheel leaves the ground? Best not change a tyre. Pity Ecclestone did not have an SL when the wheel thieves struck.

If it is when the wheel leaves the ground then I can imagine all sorts of scenario's where the roll bar is activated?

Having it motorized is a much more techinical method, and I would love to see its design features. I had wrongly assumed it worked similar to the seat beat tensioners. I wonder why they failed to activate? If the computer had decided the car was about to flip, you would expect the seat belt to pull you back into the seat? The motors must be extremely robust, the noise of the bar hitting the stops was 'explosive'!!!!! (I am most certainly not doubting your reply, I am merely really impressed)

Thanks very much for the quick reply,
John

The SL gave up the idea that you could actually fit four bods in the car with the launch of the 230. The "roll bar" is very refined it glides very smoothly up and down at the touch of a button, so if you have little people in the car you can stop them being decapitated by a bit of spirited driving.

That said I have some very rough and windy roads near me and despite some very enjoyable rides (managed to set the door locks to emegency open many times) I have never seen the roll bar go up.

I take the roll bar as being the last warning before the ditch

 

[glojo]

Brilliant replies,
Thanks Shude, Peter and Maff,
I am so pleased to read that those silly little rear seats have gone.

The motorised roll bar sounds very much in line with the technical innovations that Mercedes-Benz enjoys using.

I am sure I am not the only one that was this illiterate and motoring programs should make an effort to enlighten the viewer. No one wants an anorak peeling off a lot of facts and figures. It would have been the ideal oppurtunity to talk about the feature when it activated, instead of just childish, girlie squeals and giggles.

Jason Plato and Tiff doing their comparisons would have been far more entertaining and informative.

Thanks for putting me right and I just wish I could get out and look at these new models.

Just to add salt to the wounds I have received an invite to spend a day at Thruxton playing with a new Cayenne. Typical!!!!!

John

 

[Howard]

Childish i know, but i love listening to VBH's childish squeals and giggles

Sorry

 

[peterchurch]

Brilliant replies,

I am so pleased to read that those silly little rear seats have gone.

John

They are not up to the standard of a CLK but they will house children and at a push will even fit an adult In my opinion loosing the option of them was a mistake

 

[glojo]

Childish i know, but i love listening to VBH's childish squeals and giggles

Sorry

If you were in the minority they would drop her like a hot potato. I am just a real 'saddo'

I agree in a way with what Peter says about the rear seats, but in this no win, no fee culture, how long would it take before a rear seat paasenger sued for deep vein thrombosis?

A neighbour has a new Bentley Continental GT and the rear seats are clearly designed for the likes of VBH and Bernie Ecclestone. They are totally impracticle.

My wife has just informed me that she has seen the owner in a new CL600, could they have seen sense?

Regards,
John

 

[MainMan]

Neither of the cars are well suited to that track

Quite right. No car with a slush pump is suited to the track for obvious reasons.

 

[KillerHERTZ]

missed this, any chance if of it being repeted?

 

[scotth_uk]

Just download it from www.finalgear.com