R170 to R171

[Creepy coupe]

Anyone gone from one to another? only ask, as the wife is thinking of trading her 230 for a newer car and wondered what to expect.

Ta

 

[MOCAŠ]

Anyone gone from one to another?

Yes, me.

I bought my R170, an SLK200, on impulse after wandering round the used cars at my dealership while my W168 A Class was being serviced. That was in 2003, and around year later I was invited to the launch of the R171. As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted one, but decided to wait a year and buy a well-specified nearly-new example. I'd learnt the hard way with the A Class that brand new models can be a bit of a testbed for early adopters...

My search for an R171 began in earnest around late-summer 2005. I knew I wanted a 350, and I wanted it in black with no more than 10,000 miles on the clock. I was ambivalent about whether it should be manual or auto, although the 7G-Tronic gearbox that I eventually plumped for had a certain novelty appeal. Leather, heated seats, Airscarf, COMAND and Parktronic were other essentials, while anything else would be a bonus. I must have looked at around twenty examples before I finally found one with the right spec and colour.

Finally made my purchase in September 2005 and I've still got it now, almost 5 years later, with no plans to change it - at least not until the replacement arrives in 2011/12 - so you can take it for granted that I'm happy with it.

The R171 feels a lot more modern than the R170, as you'd expect. While options for the R170 were few and far between, the R171 can be specified with a variety of goodies such as Bi-Xenon headlamps, auto headlamps/wipers, climate control, electric/heated steering wheel, Harman Kardon surround sound, as well as the aforementioned parking sensors and COMAND.

The roof's folding mechanism is also much improved. When I first saw inside the R171's boot with the roof up and the rigid luggage cover in place, I couldn't accept that the remaining space was sufficient to take the roof when folded. Admittedly the opening is quite slim with the roof down, but the actual capacity is very good, thanks to the clever way the rear screen rotates as the roof goes down.

The car is always fun to drive, with noticably sharper handling and steering than the R170, and it has been a model of reliability. Performance is in a different league as well, of course, but that's to be expected when going from a 2-litre 4-pot to a 3.5-litre V6; sounds a lot nicer, too, especially with the roof down.

Let me know if there's anything specific you'd like to know about.