[sgt brad]

i think ron summarizes it pretty well. it all comes down to what you want to do. you will sacrifice some comfort to have the porsche, but you'll gain an equal ratio of performance. the opposite is true of the merc imho. i do agree that the slk is a looker. ours was bright red with the biscuit interior. it was stunning. it only had 200 miles on it so it was brand new. even the valet at the hyatt commented on it and they always fought over the keys on who would go fetch it for us.

i'm a little less convinced of it's performance. it's well known that porsche usually under-rates figures while the japanese makers fudge well to the high side. i am wondering if some of the figures for the merc are off. it certainly didn't seem as fast as my boxster and i am an 02 3.2. the brakes seemed fine though. i had no complaints there.

oh yeah, i want to state on the record that i don't think the 2012 slk350 looks like a "chic" car. earlier renditions did absolutely. but, i for one think they hit a homerun with the shape and fascias of the new one.