North City includes Germany, so we’re about to spend a lot of cash on autobahn cruisers. The first manufacturer we head to is Mercedes. I’ve driven a few luxury German cars in the past, but I’ve never driven a Merc.
The only one make here is the SLK Trophy. So we need to buy an SLK and get out there! The only available SLK is the SLK 230 Kompressor. I always liked the obscene KOMPRESSOR badge they put on the side of this car.
I always think of black and silver when I think of Mercedes, so we go with Yellowstone! I had a neighbor a few years back who had a black SLK. Her name was Kim. She was going through a bad divorce and rented the house next to mine. In honor of Kim, this car will be called Kim. I hope Kim is doing well these days!
So it’s SLK Trophy normal style time! The field is nicely populated with colorful SLKs. This is not at all what I picture when I think of Mercedes! Kim drives how I would expect a “lightweight” Merc to drive. Very drama free, a bit of understeer, and a very linear powerband despite having a small boosted four. The car feels like it delivers the same amount of torque from fairly down low all the way to redline. I’m sure this would be very comfy on the autobahn.
In some ways I love this car because it’s so planted. So confident. In other ways I am a bit annoyed at how sterile the Germans have managed to make a small roadster with a supercharged engine feel.
We finish first at Special Stage Route 5! I forget to take a picture of the results, but the name of the car is SO LONG that it obscures the times anyway. We’ll see that in the next race 
Racing style time! We get the three weight reductions and a racing modification. There is a yellow livery, so we keep the color we started with!
We end up at SSR5 again. I have no idea how Kim will compete with no modifications outside of the weight reductions and racing modification. The answer ends up being… pretty well! First place on the first try! Removing all this weight has made Kim a bit less planted, less confident, and more twitchy. Maybe this was better as a road car. Maybe the Merc formula shouldn’t be messed with.
Hilarious German long names result screen:
After this race we sell Kim. Like a temporary neighbor, Kim was very nice, but it’s time to move on!
That’s enough German engineering for one session! We’re headed to Aston Martin next.
The only one make here is the DB-7 Trophy. So we have to buy an expensive DB-7. There is the Volante which is a convertible that weighs over four thousand pounds and costs more than the Coupe, and the Coupe. We go with the Coupe in a lovely Derwent Green. We name the car James.
The DB-7 Trophy’s normal race ends up being at Trial Mountain. This course is very good at finding shortcomings in very fast cars. It’s bumpy, and it has fairly long straights that go into pretty tight corners.
James isn’t quite TVR-crazy, but the car is raucous. It’s actually pretty controllable, but a lot more throttle steering is needed than I expected. Do DB-7s make good drift machines? I certainly drifted a lot in this race. Drifted right into first place!
Up next is the racing style DB-7 Trophy race. This one is at Red Rock Valley Speedway. Again, we go in with the required racing modification and weight reductions and nothing else. We’re on a stock engine and street tires. I’m glad we get to keep the green color with the racing mod!
This more relaxed high-speed course is long but easy aside from a couple of tricky chicanes. James has the stuff to get ahead of the pack and stay there. We win first!
I love the way the sky looks on this course!
That’s all for tonight!
