Mercedes-Benz SLK 250 2012 Review

The Mercedes-Benz SLK began life in 1997 as a retro-styled small sports car that brought Benz roadster looks, dynamic ability and driving satisfaction to a new field of buyers – those on a tighter budget.

In 2012, the SLK is not as blatant about its heritage styling cues – largely thanks to the fact the other models in the Benz range have adopted their own dose of retro. But even if the goalposts have shifted for the SLK's designers, the car itself does remain affordable – in prestige market terms.

And the new four-cylinder turbocharged petrol SLK 250 is an interesting blend of performance and affordability. The engine, a 1.8-litre unit developing 150kW/310Nm has been carefully finessed to contrive a sporty warble that suits the powerplant's torquey nature. There's pulling power right across the rev range and the engine is very refined, despite sounding (deliberately) something like an engine from an old rally car.

If there's is a problem with the engine, it suffers significant turbo lag, which is exacerbated by the auto-stop system. And with auto transmission holding higher gears longer, the SLK is slow to deliver performance when you want it – when exiting a bend, for example. Set the car up properly with the transmission set to manual mode, the right gear selected through the paddles and the Eco-stop system switched off – and the SLK will stump up the right level of grunt on demand.

Though strictly a two-seater, SLK is also a practical daily driver. It doesn't require too much contortion to enter and leave, plus it will negotiate driveways without scraping anything underneath.

Even boot space is not bad for such a small car, although that's with the roof raised. To lower the roof, a separator in the boot must be manually lowered before the roof will pack away. Once the separator is in position there's precious little volume left for much beyond a day or two's groceries or perhaps small items of luggage.

Inside the SLK's cabin feels a little claustrophobic, an impression compounded by the thick C pillars that support the roof and fold into the boot when the roof is not raised. Combined with the headrests and roll bars they obstruct the field of vision to the rear. Naturally the view behind is improved with the roof lowered, but backing the car is easier if you can do so using the exterior mirrors.

The seats are excellent. They are of a shape that cups the body to hold the occupant in place, but remain comfortable at the same time.

Getting in or out is easy because there's little of the angled bolstering found in other cars to hinder and hamper people as they're folding themselves up to get into such a small car. Drivers and passengers a little taller would be advised to set the seat height as low as possible, because the cant rail for the folding roof is quite close to the noggin otherwise.

The view of the instruments is very good and the Benz's ergonomic conventions don't take long to get to know, but the positioning of the indicator stalk and the stalk for the cruise control pose a minor conundrum. In the past we've complained about the cruise control stalk being placed above the indicator in different Benz models, but in the SLK it's the reverse, so you may find yourself flashing drivers when you think you're cancelling the cruise.

In practice on-coming drivers are unlikely to be blinded however, because of the excellent intelligent high-beam system, which is very responsive to on-coming traffic on country roads and provides an outstanding spread of light once the traffic has passed by. It adapts to the prevailing environment and, combined with the cornering lights, will ensure the road ahead is usually well lit – the only exceptions being bends in the road just after the car has passed under a street light or if the system is confused by a highly reflective advisory speed limit sign.

There's just one problem with the car in traffic, it's so small it gets little respect from drivers of larger cars in the 'might is right' strategist's guide to lane-changing or pulling into traffic from a side street.

The two-seater comes with acoustic parking guidance, which will go crazy in a narrow driveway, and is very sensitive to even straggly branches of bush or shrub overhanging the drive.

We felt compelled – in the interest of investigative journalism, of course – to explore the SLK's performance parameters, so fuel consumption averaged 11.2L/100km over the course of the week. Nothing special, considering the car covered about 100km of freeway cruising in addition to the dreadful commuter traffic experienced during the rest of the week. Careful cruisers should be able to trim that markedly.

The engine's character was subdued at open-road speeds and the noise entering the cabin came principally from the tyres on the bitumen. Even though the SLK's roof is metal and fully lined, there's still a noticeable level of noise from the road even on freeways, let alone on coarse-chip bitumen.

While the SLK offers direct steering that is very fast switching from one direction to the other, its turn-in is a little slower than expected and on-centre feel could be better. Once committed to a corner the steering provides enough feedback and the driver's confidence grows along with familiarity with the car.

Front-end grip is unimpeachable and if the SLK is to put a foot wrong at any stage, it will be in the form of oversteer. Even then, the little Benz takes some serious provoking (in the wet, in our experience), before the tail will step out. And when it does the car remains predictable and safe, with the stability control system finding a fair balance between the driver's wants and the driver's needs.

The body of the SLK is taut, and its long doors close securely and with that reassuring drum-like quality seldom encountered in two-door cars.

Over longer bumps at higher speeds the car feels well controlled and the bodyshell plays its part in that, but if the SLK's body feels tight and rigid, so does the suspension. The ride quality is firm indeed – although it should be noted that this car came with the 18-inch alloy wheels bundled with the optional AMG Sports Package, rather than the standard 17-inch alloys.

It's the ride, in fact, that ultimately sets this particular SLK 250 apart from the selection of so-called hairdresser's cars available to typical sports car buyers. While the SLK 250's demeanour and practicality might suit the aspirations of trophy wives in the suburbs, it's also a car that can be driven with more verve out on the open road, if that's how the mood takes you.

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