nmslk

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I just read the Swedish car magazine Teknikens Värld (Technical World) and they mention that MB is coming out with the following cars:

SLT class - an SLK with a kombi (station wagon) rear end
CLE - a little brother to the CLS
SLA class- smaller then SLK and sportier
CL convertible - ie S class cab
SLC - SLR replacement
B class - Vätgassdriven which i think might be hydrogen??


I hadn't heard of the SLT or SLA. Has anyone else

alroumi

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thanks for sharing, i guess the sla will compete against the 1 series bmw.

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Tummy

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SLT sounds like a bad idea. I always thought the "shooting brake" style cars as a very limited market and really ugly.

SLA might be good, but I don't think anything smaller would be very useful. I guess they could save trunk space and weight by going with a fabric roof.

slkluv

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Hmmm I should trade my SLK for an SLC! :P

Ikarus

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There have been rumors (and illustrations) about the SLT for 3 years now, e.g. here. I very much doubt that it will ever happen. Same with the SLA, for which the rumors date back even further, especially not one looking like this.

Dolebludger

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I have to question how much smaller than an SLK any new Mercedes sports car can get. The SLK is almost 6" shorter than my Honda S 2000, and is less than 3" longer than a Miata. Looks to me that they could maybe cut a little out of the front over-hang, and that's about it without making it look like a sub-compact convertible instead of a sports car.

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kungfudevil

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I think the A-class is even smaller than the SLK.........

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UK-C200

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Well, I can assure you that the A class is NOT a sports car! That said, I've had one as a loaner before, and it's actually not that bad a car as a daily-driver in the city, and the A-170 I had got excellent gas mileage. I actually ended up with it for a week due to a screw up on the dealers end. The interior left a lot to be desired, and I was very happy to have my C back.

Specs show that the SLK is 160 inches long and 70 inches wide. The A comes in at 151 long and 69 inches wide, so there's not really that much difference.

I don't see how (or why?!) you make an SLK any smaller than it already is!

B-Class is already out, and I've seen a hydrogen powered model running around in London - I'm assuming it's a prototype or something. I had a B-180 CDI last weekend when I was doing Service A on the C, and the damned thing got 39mpg running around in the city. Again, the interior trim is a lot like the A - tons of plastic - and it did feel and sound like a diesel, which actually surprised me. The other diesels I've ridden in felt more like petrol engines, but they've all been E classes now that I think about it...


Hmmm - I'm seeing a bad pattern to my loaner history! ;D

cyberdrakon

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Has anyone seen the Smart coupe? Perhaps something based on that chassis?

Dolebludger

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Perhaps (and hopefully so) what Mercedes intends to do is to make the SLK replacement lighter, not physically smaller. I see no way a new version of the SLK (by whatever name) could be much shorter and still retain sports car proportions. It is already the second shortest widely available sport car I know of. Any attempt at designing a sports car based on the Smart or A Class would result in a car that looked more like a turtle than a sports car. Such a car would also be plagued with FWD, and there are no FWD sports cars.

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The SLK -- What the SL was supposed to be.