The Mercedes-Benz SLK is a red-hot road star that’s ready to conquer the German roadster segment.
Since the 1990s, the two most significant names in the world of two-seater roadsters have been “MX-5” and “SLK”. Both models, now in their third generation, changed the game when they entered the scene – the Mazda with its retrospective appeal, the Mercedes with its innovative vario-roof.
Ironically enough, a decade after the first SLK was launched, Mazda released its MX-5 Roadster Coupe which sports a space-efficient, retractable steel roof.
Today, 15 years and 1.5 model changes after the SLK broke new roadster ground for the first time, the game is no longer the same.
Mercedes-Benz SLK’s cockpit options include shift paddles, ambient lighting, an analogue clock, red trimmings and various woods; brushed aluminium is standard.
Hard-top convertibles are a dime a dozen these days and cover the whole spectrum of motoring – everything from popular two-plus-two French CCs to chop-top “saloons” (e.g. BMW 3 Series and Lexus IS), thoroughbred supercars (such as the Ferrari California) and compact oddities (mostly Japanese supermini spinoffs).
Within the Mercedes line-up, the iconic SL switched to a folding hard-top in 2001, after soldiering on for five years with a fabric hood that looked decidedly downmarket beside the exotic roof of the lower-ranking SLK.
With this new third-generation model, the SLK is more than ever a “kompact” SL in performance, refinement and equipment. The single most important item is still the vario-roof, of course. It now takes 20 seconds to perform its electro-hydraulic ballet – down from the predecessor’s 22 seconds and the original model’s 25 seconds.
The roof action is not only quicker but also a little quieter, with reduced noise from the motors and actuators. There also seems to be less bodyshell vibration when the “reverse-opening” boot lid reaches its rearmost position and when the “dismantled” roof is parked inside the boot.
Remote operation of the top is also possible, but you need to aim the key’s infra-red transmitter at either door handle for the duration of the exercise. On the move, there is not a single creak from the “foldable” joints.
The new SLK’s party trick is Magic Sky Control. Not some catchy sun dance track built into the stereo system, this is a special glass for the panoramic roof panel that darkens or turns transparent at the touch of a button.
Compared to ordinary thermal glass, this option keeps the cabin cooler (in more ways than one) under direct sunlight. The technical principle is similar to that of the fancy skylight in the Maybach 62 uber-limousine, although an SLK project manager at the press launch event said that the two systems are not related.
Non-magical control of the SLK sky is also available, with the vario-roof in either standard “covered” steel or tinted see-through polycarbonate. The latter managed heat and glare well in the sub-tropical Canary Islands, but it would face a greater challenge in Singapore’s hot and humid climate.
The overhead window won’t be fighting the equatorial weather alone, of course, thanks to the chillingly effective Thermotronic air-con system. The leather upholstery can also be factory-treated with a coating that reflects the rays of the sun, reducing the temperature of the seats by some 10 deg C when the car is parked in the sun. Burnt bums no more.
The SLK’s “climate control” extends to optional Airscarf, the neck-level heating system introduced on the previous model and specified by 80 per cent of European and American customers.
Using dedicated vents nestled in the headrests to generate a flow of warm air around the neck and shoulder areas of the occupants, this innovation makes top-down cruising in late autumn, winter or early spring more comfortable.
In places with perpetual summers, Airscarf is a lot less useful and thus unlikely to be made available. Something like an “Airconscarf” might be more marketable in Singapore, where it can help a sun-blessed boulevard couple look cool.
Thanks to the car’s clean aerodynamics, said occupants can also hold a pleasant conversation with the roof down and windows up – even at 120km/h. The SLK’s draught-stop (essentially a plastic net between the head restraints) makes this possible.
Perhaps less effective at cutting wind turbulence at speed but more attractive is Airguide, Mercedes’ proprietary windstopper that consists of pivoting transparent plastic flaps attached to the reverse of the roll-over bars.
This option requires no installation, unlike the manual draught-stop which is removed and stowed in the boot when not required, and it also looks classier than the plasticky tray.
A picture of classiness is the cockpit, whose look was inspired by the SLS supercar (check out those galvanised round air vents). It is a massive improvement over the earlier, hit-and-miss interior.
There is noticeably more space than before, especially width-wise, with the headroom in closed coupe configuration being almost generous now. The pair of seats are nice to sit in, and strapping into them feels like putting on an expensive leather jacket.
Order the AMG sports package and you get red seatbelts, complemented by GTI-ish red stitching on the steering wheel, gearbox gaiter and doors. (Have you ever seen a Mercedes with red seatbelts?)
Use this classy lever to open the vario-roof.
Elsewhere in the cabin, the glovebox is a good size, there is a rubber strap to secure a large bottle on the passenger side of the lower console, and a sizeable armrest resides between the seats, with storage inside along with ports for multimedia connectivity and 12-volt power supply.
This compartment was made possible by the electronic parking brake (operated by a dashboard switch and with automatic release), which has replaced the conventional handbrake in the defunct SLK.
“Extending” from the armrest is a palm-sized leather pad, which houses the controller for the vario-roof, together with a master button to work the windows. A similar setup is employed in the E-Class Cabriolet. (The old SLK uses a tacky knob, which sits alongside an equally cheap contrivance that adjusts the wing mirrors.)
Specify the tyre inflator kit to get extra cargo room under the Mercedes-Benz SLK’s reversible floorboard; luggage cover is less flimsy now.
Another important controller on the new centre console is that for the Comand system. Made of metal like in other Mercedes cars, this gizmo (moveable in eight directions and can be rotated or pressed), as its name suggests, commands the infotainment system via logical, interconnected menus and sub-menus.
In the SLK, the standard head unit is a 5.8-inch TFT colour display with eight speakers, an MP3 CD player (or six-disc changer), aux-in and Bluetooth.
The “higher” head unit runs a 7-inch screen with double the resolution of the basic set, DAB radio reception, integrated satellite navigation, a 10GB hard disk for both maps and music, an SD memory card slot and voice-operated control.
The system has an Internet browser, too, but this feature is not supported in all countries. A Harman/Kardon surround sound option, with 11 loudspeakers squeezed into the roadster, is available for stereo freaks.
Another “audio accessory” is the so-called sound generator for the new SLK’s 4-cylinder engines. A plastic module attached to the front of the throttle flap, this device enriches the engine note with the intake noise and conducts the hubbub into the cabin via a pipe that leads to the bulkhead.
This makes the car joyfully louder to its driver and co-driver, yet still comply with joyless regulations on drive-by decibels. I heard a technical demonstration of the system (with and without “sound generation”) – the engine so equipped indeed has a bassier and consequently racier soundtrack.
Mercedes-Benz SLK’s signature vario-roof is streetside theatre that is lighter than before, thanks to a magnesium frame, and also slicker from start to finish.
Best of all, the attachment costs “just two-digit euros”, according to Alice Corinna Bruder, the lady in charge of Development Sound Concepts for Combustion Engines (I prefer to call her Miss Sound Generator).
The device is not fitted to the V6 in the new SLK350, probably because the flagship (until the V8 SLK55 AMG comes along next year) doesn’t need it.
A comprehensive overhaul of the previous 3.5-litre V6, this powerplant employs up-to-date direct injection technology (BlueDirect in Mercedes-speak), Eco start/stop (standard-fit in every SLK) and more energy-efficient ancillaries to improve mileage on the combined cycle by three kilometres per litre.
Its specific output is nothing special, but the Mercedes-Benz SLK’s 306bhp 3.5-litre V6 performs well regardless of driving demand and is surprisingly frugal.
Transmission duties are performed by 7G-Tronic Plus, a development of the existing 7-speeder with a new emphasis on efficiency, refinement and responsiveness.
We hit the road first in the SLK350. The test car comes complete with the optional Dynamic Handling package, which includes Direct-Steer and torque vectoring brakes.
Sitting 10mm lower than normal, the adaptive suspension can be set in Comfort or Sport, the latter mode making the ride unnecessarily jittery with no clear benefit in cornering composure. With the dampers set to Comfort, the SLK rides like a junior SL (with a 130mm shorter wheelbase), smoothing over the rougher patches of Tenerife tarmac.
At a fast cruise, the Mercedes-Benz SLK is almost as refined as the larger and more luxurious Mercedes-Benz SL.
The “torque vector”, an extension of the ESP (electronic stability programme), is also available in certain sportsters from other automakers and serves the same function in the SLK – to “override” any understeer and tighten the turn-in.
More beneficial to handling, more of the time, is Direct-Steer. A derivative of the speed-sensitive steering that equips many Mercedes models, this mechanical feature makes it easier to direct the SLK through winding roads by speeding up the rack after the initial few degrees of twirl.
It feels natural and helps me thread the Merc through the crazier corners of the road test route without working the wheel like mad. The steering also becomes slower and heavier on the highway to boost straight-line stability, and it reverts to light weight and low effort during carpark manoeuvres.
The SLK350 is the flagship model, but the SLK250 is more fun to drive.
Excellent acceleration is a given with 306bhp, 370Nm and a positive power-to-weight figure (albeit lower than the last SLK350’s). The V6 engine revs without stress in all driving situations, while the transmission shuffles its seven forward gears in a timely fashion and connects the cogs without fuss. 180km/h is reached easily, 150km/h is even easier, and 100km/h is a doddle.
But the overall performance is less exciting than that of the BMW Z4 35i, a more urgent, turbocharged and almost strident 306bhp rival equipped with a rapid-fire dual-clutch gearbox. When not in a rush, however, the SLK350 is smooth as silk and almost as urbane as the top-of-the-line SL.
The mid-range SLK250 is 15 percent cheaper than the SLK350 in Europe, but it is nearly as capable and, believe it or not, more desirable at the end of the day. The turbocharged 1.8-litre 4-cylinder punches out over 200 horses, all of them at a happy gallop as they pull with gusto across the rev range. The stable sounds good, too, thanks partly to Miss Sound Generator from five paragraphs ago.
This four-pot powerplant is musical compared to the outgoing unit and downright magical compared to the gruff, supercharged SLK Kompressor of yore. It is also gentle on fuel, travelling over 15 kilometres on a litre of unleaded. That is the thrift of an A180, at least in theory.
With low-profile (front 35, rear 40) ContiSportContact 5 tyres on 18-inch wheels and the optional sports suspension (harder springs and dampers), the SLK250 is grippy and nimble through the curvy, slightly scary (every other bend is blind) mountain roads of the Spanish outpost.
More importantly, this car is fun. You stretch the eager engine to really get going, crack an imaginary whip over the snappy rear-drive chassis and want to handle the roadster resolutely. You ride the SLK250 like a powerful little German stallion, whereas in the SLK350, you’re just going along for the ride.
The Mercedes-Benz SLK is efficient rather than effervescent on serpentine roads, but it is definitely agile and quick.
The same goes for the two dummies in SLK crash test number “10 FD 99”. Their attire is a surprise in an otherwise no-nonsense product catalogue – Hawaiian shirts for both, with the “man” sporting a baseball cap and the “woman” wearing a summer hat.
The vehicular safeguards are serious though, with the new roadster protected by an array of active and passive safety features. These include multiple airbags, Attention Assist, Adaptive Brake, Intelligent Light, Neck-Pro and Pre-Safe.
Not everything is “free”, but the standard arsenal makes the SLK safe enough for most scenarios, including a roll-over. Even pedestrians who crash into the car enjoy some “protection”, with the bonnet popping up by 85mm on impact to create a bigger buffer between the hood and the hardpoints.
Mercedes-Benz SLK’s ride-and-handling behaviour is well resolved and easily accessed; best blend of speed and spirit is the SLK250, rather than the SLK350.
Life henceforth will be harder for the BMW Z4, strongest competitor to the new SLK.
Beautifully designed (even more so than the F1-nosed forerunner), expertly engineered and seriously entertaining, the latest Sportlich Leicht Kurz (sporty light short) Mercedes roadster is truly a road star that rocks.
Mercedes-Benz SLK200 1.8 (A)
ENGINE 1796cc, 16-valves, inline-4, turbocharged
MAX POWER 184bhp at 5250rpm
MAX TORQUE 270Nm at 1800-4600rpm
GEARBOX 7-speed automatic with manual select
0-100KM/H 7 seconds
TOP SPEED 237km/h
CONSUMPTION 15.4km/L (combined)
PRICE INCL. COE To be announced (as of May 2011)
Mercedes-Benz SLK250 1.8 (A)
ENGINE 1796cc, 16-valves, inline-4, turbocharged
MAX POWER 204bhp at 5500rpm
MAX TORQUE 310Nm at 2000-4300rpm
GEARBOX 7-speed automatic with manual select
0-100KM/H 6.6 seconds
TOP SPEED 243km/h
CONSUMPTION 15.2km/L (combined)
PRICE INCL. COE To be announced (as of May 2011)
Mercedes-Benz SLK350 3.5 (A)
ENGINE 3498cc, 24-valves, V6
MAX POWER 306bhp at 6500rpm
MAX TORQUE 370Nm at 3500rpm
GEARBOX 7-speed automatic with manual select
0-100KM/H 5.6 seconds
TOP SPEED 250km/h
CONSUMPTION 14.1km/L
PRICE INCL. COE To be announced (as of May 2011)
Check out the successor to the Mercedes-Benz SLK, the Mercedes-Benz SLC
BMW Concept Z4 previews the styling and cabin of the upcoming Bimmer roadster
