Car: Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG
Prices: £51,592 – on the road [est]
Insurance Group: 20
Emissions: 288g/km
Performance: Max Speed 155mph / 0-60mph 4.7s
Fuel Consumption: (average) 23.5mpg
Safety: Twin front and side airbags / ABS / ESP
Dimensions: Length/Width/Height, 160/70/52" 8th February 2008
THE FORCE IS STRONG
Our Rating: 7.1 / 10
Massively powerful Mercedes models have, in the past, promised much but delivered little in the way of driver satisfaction. The muscle-bound SLK55 AMG aims to make amends. Andy Enright reports.
You have to take your hat off to Mercedes’ AMG division. When it comes to fettling obscenely powerful engines, they have no peers. Even Audi’s RS models and BMW’s M cars usually have to cede the top spot on the power podium to the crew from Affalterbach. If straight line speed was everything, the market would be sewn up, but while AMG models could render you light-headed with their acceleration, straight line grunt doesn’t make a completely convincing sportster. The latest generation of AMG models look set to rectify that.
The current generation SLK raised many eyebrows when it was launched, few expecting it to drive so well. The SLK55 AMG remains a bit of a hot rod, albeit one with a very engaging personality.
Perhaps the SLK55 AMG suffers a little in comparison to the Porsche Boxster and the BMW Z4 in the handling stakes, but then its brief is subtly different, offering more of a GT focus than either of these models. This is exemplified by its choice of gearbox. Where the Porsche and BMW work best with a manual gearbox, the SLK55 AMG instead uses a seven-speed automatic. The 7G-TRONIC transmission system can be controlled via wheel-mounted buttons and is a very capable unit. It’s not as if you can even begrudge the torque converter sapping a few horsepower when you’ve got this rampant excess to play with in the first instance.
Power is rated at 360bhp and torque to 510Nm and the SLK never feels anything less than sledgehammer quick. The car will bludgeon its way to 60mph in 4.7seconds on the way to a limited top speed of 155mph. With the limiter removed and with a favourable tail wind, there’s little doubt this car would knock on the door of 200mph. The direct steering system with variable steering assistance takes a little getting used to but it’s undeniably effective. As is the traction control system which will get a regular workout when the road surface is anything other than bone dry.
Mercedes has revised the engine line up in the SLK range but has left the SLK55 AMG’s powerplant alone. Instead, the car has received some cosmetic tweaking along the lines of a revised front apron with a black painted cross strut, side outlets and darkened headlamp clusters to give it a more aggressive front end. The nose now features an even more defined arrow shape while the back end gets an F1-style diffuser to help plant the car to the tarmac. Trapezoid exhaust tailpipes and arrow-shaped LED indicators in the door mirror housings also feature. The SLK always has been probably the neatest shape of any folding hard top car and the latest modifications just sharpen the look a touch further.
Inside, quality has improved with particular attention paid to materials. A revised three-spoke multifunction steering wheel and a dial cluster designed with better visibility in mind both feature. Of all the premium roadster models, the SLK feels the best built and the easiest to operate. Space in the boot is at a premium when the vario roof is folded but interior room is fine for two.
What price this level of power and presence? A decent negotiator will be able to get the price of the SLK55 AMG down to just under £50,000 which doesn’t look too bad now that a comparatively quick performance car, say a BMW M3, now costs more. There’s little doubt which of the two feels more special, the SLK’s sportier profile and open top roof giving it a more purist appeal. Yes, the BMW is the more polished all-round sportser and has the edge in terms of practicality, but at this price point we move from the realms of the purely objective into a more nuanced notion of relative desirability.
Equipment levels are strong and an enhanced audio and telematics system features Bluetooth hands free integration, an iPod connection in the glove box and even the option of LINGUATRONIC voice operation. Other notable gear on offer includes a Harmon Kardon sound system and the Airscarf neck heating syste
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