SL55 Drivers...Are they all loons?

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bloodmoon

Active Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2003
Messages
156
Location
Kettering, UK
Car
C270 CDI Avantgarde
Okay, I am probably making a huge generalisation with this, but this is what I have observed:

Recently, each and every time I have seen an SL55 AMG, the person behind the wheel seems to throw the Highway Code right out of the window and become a law unto themselves. Here are some examples:

1-I was driving along the M62, approaching a slip road, so I moved over into the middle lane to allow traffic to merge. An SL55 powered down the slip road, barged onto the motorway, then proceeded to weave in and out of traffic harassing anybody in the outside lane before teleporting away. Traffic at that point was reduced to about 50 anyway. What's the point?

2-Last night, I was driving home from Shude's house. I needed to take a right onto the main road, and as I approached, an SL55 screemed in from my left, totally cut the corner off, and made me slam the anchors on to avoid him. If I had not been paying attention - he would have sliced my front end clean off the speed he was going at.

3-In Shudes car a few nights ago, SL55 hurtles right at the traffic lights into Tesco car park via a roundabout, doing about 50 mph. So it's not much of a crime, agreed, but I try and be cautious of shoppers and other pedestrians in a supermarket car park.

Do you surrender your Highway Code when you purchase an SL55? Do you get a license to drive like a madman?

Has anybody else had encounters like this?

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing at all against the car itself, but all my experiences have been negative and extremely frustrating.

--
Antony
 
DB1 excluded of course!

I haven't seen any bad driving by the new SL's I've seen.
 
Havn't seen any SL55's!


Keep my Highway code in the glovebox by the way!
 
I've seen two today..... (could have been the same one, actually..... it was going too fast to be able to determine !)
 
I see at least 1 or 2 every day on the way to work. Its like a mercedes convoy making its way into the city centre.

Might be the fact i work next to the dealer :D

I think everyone would be guilty of driving a little faster with a car like that.

As ferris buller said and i quote " if you have the means i throughly recomend it " lol :D :bannana:
 
Last edited:
A little bit of trivia regarding Ferris Beuller:

In 1985 Matthew Broderick was involved in a car crash in which a mother and her daughter both lost their lives. After much legal debate, he was finally charged with Reckless Driving and fined a whopping....$175.

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Antony
 
No not all SL55 AMG drivers are lunatics, just happens that most of them up your way are probably over paid footballers or their wives, whereas daaaaahnnn 'ere in the Saaaathhh its all barra boys who spend all the time posing, so they drive real slow so everyone can see that they have made it.
 
Antony,

Could it be that the same AMG SL55 driver was the cause of all three incidents? :D hehe. Umm where does Jeremy Clarkson live then?

I've seen a few SL500 on the roads and those were driven sensibly, not seen any AMG versions yet.

An E200 cut me up very badly today :mad: barged straight out onto a roundabout causing me to brake very hard, bloody loon.

S.
 
Originally posted by Steve_Perry
Antony,

Could it be that the same AMG SL55 driver was the cause of all three incidents? :D hehe.

Hehe, well I suppose it *is* possible - after all, all 3 were black...

It really sucks when drivers of the same marque screw each other over. I can understand entirely shunting boy racers out of the way with an S-Class, but when fellow Mercedes owners stomp all over you, it seems a little unsportsmanlike.

Well, to quote Shude, I suppose fellow Benz owners treat each other with "A cold indifference"...

*sigh*

--
Antony
 
I saw a SL55 last night on the way home driving through Hertford. It was driving perfectly and keeping to the speed limits. Lovely looking car!
 
Well as one SL55 owner I feel I need to defend the position here! One of the reasons for buying an SL instead of say a 911 Turbo was for the fact that with the convertible roof etc and the general car characteristics it is very pleasant driving slowly (especially now) and adhering to the highway code (mostly :)).

In fact I would argue that a 911 (I had one) made you FEEL like it needed to be driven as fast as possible everywhere. I don't get that in the SL at all.

I don't think stupid driving is entirely connected with the car you drive in the main, yesterday I was tailgated by a nutter in a Peugeot 206 who LOVED the idea of blasting past an SL55. Of course it takes restraint to let him by and think what a "....".

I drive quickly on tracks and given the need would think that I could keep up with most people on the road (if I had to), but I like driving too much to do something stupid to cost me a licence and maybe hurt someone. Having said that off course 70mph is not always adhered to....

DB1
 
Do you find that driving such a powerful car, you get all kinds of losers trying to prove a point at the lights, or scream past you on the motorway?

The reason I am asking, is that I have on several occasions, observed seriously quick cars behing harassed by mundane "lesser" cars with no hope at all of offering a challenge.

For example, I have seen a 911 being tailgated by a Mondeo, an Escort Cossie being harassed by a vectra and an S-Class being harassed by a Fiat Punto!

How do you personally deal with this nonsense? Just ignore them?

--
Antony
 
I see that a lot too.

I hate to see a fast car pottering though.

How often do you hear/see a 1.6 escort nail it away from the lights?

Somethimes I am praying to see say an M3 just give it some welly in 1st and 2nd to see it go etc.


I had to really provoke a Sapphire Cosworth with my Xenons a foot from his bumper to get him to give it some stick the other day!

Sometimes you need to let rip!
 
I agree. Although sadly I am lacking the refined power of a supercharger. In order for my car to shine it has to gain momentum first. Having driven Shude's car, I can see where my straight 6 is lacking at the bottom end.

By the way, I think the c230K manual seriously underrated the 0-60 time. It claims, what?, around 9 seconds??? I have seen Nick do it in waaay less than that.

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Antony
 
Originally posted by bloodmoon
I agree. Although sadly I am lacking the refined power of a supercharger. In order for my car to shine it has to gain momentum first. Having driven Shude's car, I can see where my straight 6 is lacking at the bottom end.

By the way, I think the c230K manual seriously underrated the 0-60 time. It claims, what?, around 9 seconds??? I have seen Nick do it in waaay less than that.

--
Antony


Figures quoted by MB are way modest.


Top Gear Magazine independently tested the C230K manual when it came out and did their own timed runs:

0-60: 7.7 secs

Standing 1/4 mile: 15.9 secs terminating @ 92mph

30mph-70mph: 6.8 secs
 
On another note .....


Does anyone actually pay any attention to anything less than a BMW flashing you out the way ?


( i used BMW because thats the minimum allowed to get me to move):D
 
I generally adopt the stance of:

"If they want to get past - let them"

I mean, if they want to run the risk of getting a speeding ticket or losing their license, well its not my concern. I regularly move into the leftmost lane of the motorway once my overtaking manoevre has been completed, letting the squabbling masses fight for "Fast Lane Supremacy"

--
Antony
 
On the rare occassion someone wants to pass, then fine. I'm not fussed. On the motorway, it's not like an A-Road where the fools overtake on the straight and then hold you up through the twisties.

Good lane discipline is essential. Cant stand dawdlers in any lane when there is space in a lane to their left.

Take me back to the Autobahn..............................


EDIT:

Fav. move is:

Empty motorway, approach car in centre lane whilst I am in inside lane, move 2 lanes to outside, overtake then move 2 lanes back to inside lane. Blink twice and can no longer see car in RVM.

NOT! How annoying is it when you have to do that??
 
Is the autobahn as magical as everybody makes out? I mean, is it fully laden with cars doing over 100mph? Is it a boring drive (long and straight), do you get racers on there?

I have never been personally, but have often wondered...

--
Antony
 

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