Drive in the Alps: Mercedes-Benz SLC 200

When you travel to the alps for some ultimate driving pleasure one does not simply turn up in a diesel Renault Scénic. What the magnificent twisty roads of the largest mountain range in Europe deserve is not a boring and uninspiring family runabout. To conquer the Alps you need a car with less practicality and more excitement. Preferably a car with two seats and no roof, aka a roadster.
Enter the new Mercedes-Benz SLC.

Mercedes-Benz SLC 200 in iridium silver

The SLC is not a new type of roadster from Mercedes it is just the new re-branded name of the now 20 year old SLK. The original SLK was a huge success with over 300 000 units sold. This is partly down to the (then) groundbreaking metal folding roof which added stability and safety to the roadster. Fast forward 20 years and recipe is still the same, only now called the SLC. The recipe is very like the outgoing SLK in fact, as the SLC is only a facelift. The SLC gets only one new engine which goes to the top range AMG 43. Otherwise the SLC has to manage with the old engines from the SLK.

Or is it diamond silver, I'm not sure

This one had the 2.0 litre four cylinder turbo with and output of 184 horsepower through the rear wheels. Gone are the days of the Kompressor badge, which in my view has taken away some of the charm of the SLK/SLC. This new more efficient turbo unit is highly versatile. It revs happily up to 7000 rpm and the six speed manual this car had slotted nicely in to a higher gear ready for the engine to climb to 7000 again. In more docile driving the engine pulled surprisingly well from low revs. This is thanks to the peak torque of 300 newton meters coming in at a low 1200 rpm. With this versatility you're always in the right gear be it at the autobahn or 2000 meters high in the Swiss Alps. The SLC 200 is also available with the new 9-speed automatic. But who really wants an automatic in a roadster, really. Even though at low revs the engine sounded sometimes like a V6, it lacked character. It was versatile yes, but not trouser tingling or filled with eager like a puppy chasing leaves. In short it felt like a German machine, satisfied with any task you commanded it to do. Nothing more, nothing less.

If compered with the SLK, identical.

The AIRSCARF has three different power settings

The interior hasn't changed at all in the SLC. It's almost identical to the 2012 SLK. The interior is just as the engine very functional but boring. The seats are tight enough to keep you in during hard cornering but comfortable enough so that the trip over the mountains doesn't feel like you've done it on an ox. This also reflects on the quality of the ride. I was never tired after sitting in the car for 6 hours straight. I'm guessing the AMG Line sport suspension is harder but I don't think it will be an issue, that's how well sorted the car is. Also adding to the comfort was that this car was fitted with the optional AIRSCARF (yes it is actually marketed in all caps). It is a heating system with vents in the headrest that blow warm around the neck area. This is especially handy when you drive your SLC up in the mountains with the top down and suddenly notice that there's snow around your car.
 

The SLC 200 is a pleasant drive. It drives well, the engine is resourceful and it does feel at home on tight mountain roads. The steering is light and quick and it managed 225 km/h on the autobahn. It made the journey over the Alps a great experience, but even so the car never left me wanting more. Maybe I'd appreciate the SLC 200 more if I did the journey in a Renault Scénic diesel.

Formula 1 - How was Sochi?

So how was Sochi? Well at least for Mercedes it probably could not have gone better, at least if you don't count one weird stop on lap one.

Again a one-two finish and secured their constructors championship. It would have been a perfect sweep if not for Valtteri Bottas stealing the fastest lap right at the end on the final lap.
That being said Hamilton lead every single lap and the race wasn't very exciting to say the least, but that's how the whole season has been so far so nothing new to report. Only Rosberg can challenge Hamilton for the championship with 16 points separating the two teammates...yay...hoping next season won't be as boring.

Now back to the Sochi course. We saw it in action and can I be the first one to say it was pretty good. I enjoyed the Olympic sights and the overall layout of the track. Enough corners and straights, I think they hit a pretty good balance. It also felt very fast and I believe the average speeds were quite high during the race. Also it doesn't seem to be like any other track, so any complaints about it feeling like track X should not be in the discussion.

Overall I think Sochi was a decent addition to the F1 calender and I hope to see it more, though in a more competitive field.

It's motor sport time!

I know this blog doesn't really do motor sports, since I don't personally know much about it. But still, it's a huge motor sport weekend so it will be noted even here at TheSeatHeater. Today it is the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indy 500 in Indianapolis. Both giant events in the motor sports calendar.

Monaco GP will start in a moment so and I thought let us hype ourselves up for that race. Qualifying yesterday went on in tricky conditions with water on the track from a previous rain shower. It was lucky for some teams like Williams who finally managed to get both drivers in to Q2 and for the young Dutchman Giedo van der Garde who also pulled his Caterham to Q2 for the first time. But the water quickly evaporated from the track and the top guys were on the top again and Q3 looked predictable with both Mercedes and Red Bull going strong. And it was predictable. Qualifying ended with the Mercedes drivers taking the one (Rosberg) two (Hamilton) again and the Red Bulls taking places three (Vettel) and four (Webber), leaving Lotus driver Kimi Räikkönen in fifth position. And as we know the Monaco circuit is one of the, if not the, toughest circuits to pass someone. So the start will be critical. 

Now for the Indy 500, which I know much less about. The 500 mile race will start later today, in about 5 hours time. In qualifying Ed Carpenter took pole position. The defending champion Dario Franchitti was weak and only took the 17th position at the starting grid. Will Power - who made the fastest lap at 229.808 mph - took 6th place and will be in great contention for the victory at this years Indianapolis 500. Since I have never watched Indy 500 live I don't know how important the qualifying is. But I guess that it is as important as in Formula 1. 

It will be an incredibly exciting and fuel pumped Sunday for motor sport fans. 

Gumball 3000

It's time for the Gumball 3000 pictures. The cars entering this years rally are absolutely incredible. And the drivers list is almost as incredible. People like David Hasselhoff and Tony Hawk are competing in the rally this year for crying out loud.

The 15th anniversary of Gumball 3000 logo was on around 100 exotic cars.

It was a hugely impressive arrival by the Gumball competitors here in Finland. They caused a huge spectacle directly after disembarking the boat. Policemen were everywhere trying to keep everything under control, and failing at it. 

As I said in the last post I'm so sad that I can't share with you the incredible sound these cars made. But there's always youtube for that. I'm not going to put every picture here but I will use them in other upcoming posts and maybe put some of them to the older posts as well. 

Enough talking. Here are the pictures.

Yes it's a camouflaged Lamborghini Aventador. It's invisible until you start it up.

Could someone please tell me what this monstrosity is.

The awe inspiring Mercedes-Benz SLR Stirling Moss. Only 75 in the world.

Koenigsegg  CCXR. It can be powered by ethanol and biofuel. So it's an eco-car , almost.

The loudest car of the day. A highly modified Chevrolet Camaro.

The one off Galag TG1. Don't be fooled. It's just an extremely modified Nissan GT-R.

There were three Ferrari F12 Berlinetta's disembarking. Three!!!

And a Ferrari FF

And one of the 599 built, Ferrari 599 GTO.

The oldies were also represented by the magnificent Lamborghini Countach S

The new Aston Martin Vanquish

It was quite the show at the petrol station.

It was hard to choose just twelve of the 300 pictures I took. But fear not, I will put up more pictures because I want to. If there's someone who cares to comment, please feel free to do so.
And if you live somewhere near the planned route of this years Gumball 3000, I urge you to go and experience some of the most rear cars in the world.

Future classics (in my mind) part II

As in part I of future classics we're sticking with family cars. Fast and special family cars that is.

This time around I'm talking about the Mercedes Benz C36 AMG. It laid the groundwork for all the rest of the AMG Mercedes that have been build since, which obviously makes it really special. 

It was introduced in 1993, production began in 1994 and it lasted to 1997. During that time only a bit over 5000 AMG C36's were made. It has an AMG tuned 3.6 litre straight six engine developing 280 hp. And it was of course meant to compete with the then current BMW M3, of which BMW made around 70,000 of. If you want, you can think of the C36 as an underdog which is always appealing. 

In true high-end Mercedes fashion of course the C36 came with leather seats, automatic gearbox with a tiptronic function, cruise control, automatic air-con and many more things that we today think of as standard. But remember kids, this is in 1994 when it was luxury to have power-steering.

This is a car that when it goes wrong the parts will be expensive. But if you maintain your C36 AMG as you should it will run like any other Mercedes, until it runs out of the delicious petrol it enjoys so much.

Those alloy wheels were only available for the C36 AMG. You better get them.

Really no way of knowing that it's an AMG Merc.

TheSeatHeaters favourite new cars of 2012

When this car first came out in 2004 I thought it was one of the most useless cars ever made and that the manufacturer just had too much money on their hands. I'm obviously talking about the Mercedes-Benz CLS. It was just a more expensive and flashier E-class. But after that other big car manufacturers have copied the idea of a four-door coupé from Mercedes and made something that competes directly at it, e.g., the Audi A7. Then Mercedes decided that they'd had enough and produced the new and improved CLS in 2011 and in 2012 this: Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake. 
At first I thought they've made the same mistake again as with the original CLS, it's completely pointless. But when I saw it for real in a showroom and sat in it I completely understood the point. It was big, brash and in especially in matte silver it was pretty. The shooting brake isn't even much more expensive than the normal CLS. Which makes me wonder, why anyone would buy a normal Mercedes-Benz CLS when you could have something really special?

Normal CLS for comparison

Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake

Best supercar of the year in my mind was not the new Pagani or the imposing Lamborghini Aventador it is more mainstream. The Ferrari F12 Berlinetta.

The F12 has the same 6.3 litre V12 as the Ferrari FF developing 730 hp but without the awefully hideous body of the FF. The F12 has sometype of elegance to it I don't know what else to say of it's looks. It's the best Looking front-engined Ferrari since the 365 GTB or simply known as the Ferrari Daytona. That body combined with the most powerful engine Ferrari has ever made for a road legal car is a symphony of power, beauty and excellence.

Ferrari F12 Berlinetta

The Toyota GT86 and Subaru BRZ (if you didn't know they're the same car). As a powerplant they have a 2.0 liter, 200 horsepower boxer engine and rear wheel drive.
When I saw this car the first time I gasped and thought that's the best looking Toyota/Subaru ever. It looks like it's built with beauty in mind which is something I never thought I'd be saying about a car coming from Japan, the land of boring, cheap and reliable family hatchbacks. But hey! It's a new drift car from Japan. Something the Celica should have always been. 

Toyota GT86

 -tgmatti