Mercedes-Benz SLK 300 2010 Review
A six-cylinder luxury convertible for under $100K? Yes, but don't expect a Godzilla killerMercedes-Benz SLK 300
Daylesford, Victoria
What we liked
>> Ride and handling compromise
>> Brilliant Airscarf worth the option cost
>> Subtle exterior pimping
>> Open-top motoring or golf, but not both
>> Austere black interior; brittle plastics
Overall rating: 3.0/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 3.0/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 3.0/5.0
Safety: 3.5/5.0
Behind the wheel: 3.0/5.0
X-factor: 3.5/5.0
About our ratings
OVERVIEW
With this much lauded second incarnation the junior roadster nearing the end of its life, Benz has added a new, entry-level six-cylinder engine to the SLK line-up and given it a cosmetic touch-up. Neither hurts the car's appeal.
PRICE AND EQUIPMENT
At $98,600 plus on-road costs, the SLK300 fills the gap.
For the money, buyers fare reasonably well on equipment. The new engine comes with Benz's 7G-Tronic seven-speed auto transmission and paddle shifts. Inside, the wheel and seats are electrically adjustable, the latter with memory. The Airscarf system, designed to keep your neck warm with the top down on cold days, is a $988 option.
The standard COMAND integrated control system includes satnav, Bluetooth, voice recognition and a single disc CD/DVD player. You can upgrade the audio to a six-disc in-dash unit.
Benz has freshened up an already striking exterior with new 18-inch alloy wheels and an AMG sports bodykit comprising front and rear aprons, side skirts and bootlid spoiler to complement the new 18-inch alloys outside. Indoors it comes with red contrast stitching on the seats, wheel, shifter and armrests, and mock carbon-fibre plastic trim elements.
Notwithstanding this modest effort at adding a bit of pizzazz, the interior remains a bit downmarket for a $100K two-seater. A predominance of black, including the roof lining, downplays how roomy it is, while the hard facia plastics belie how well it's made.
Whether the exterior additions do anything for it is a matter of individual taste, but they'll likely go down well, since they hail from Benz's figures on the most popular options.
MECHANICAL
Even switched to Sports mode, it feels adequate if unspectacular. For this we can partly blame the transmission, which seems decidedly built for comfort, not for speed. A little work on the exhaust system might be nice, too – the engine note is more taxi than two-seat excitement machine.
Claimed combined cycle fuel consumption of 9.2L/100km and CO2 emissions of 211g/km are ordinary if not alarming for a machine of the SLK 300's size and performance specs.
Instead of the now common electrically assisted steering, the SLK uses a locally developed mechanical system. Benz claims it's simpler and provides superior steering feel and precision. The logic lies in dispensing with the associated matrix of sensors and actuators, each of which the company claims puts another tactile barrier between the road and the driver.
The roadster's three-link McPherson strut front suspension and multi-link rear end remain unchanged.
For roadster, it offers reasonable space for two adults, with decent leg- and headroom for a six footer. It's easy to find a suitable driving position – and to keep it, with the seating memory taking in the height and reach-adjustable wheel. The latter, for this driver anyway, might benefit from a little less girth.
The dash layout is simple, although the number of functions crammed into a relatively small space mean the ergonomics suffer the odd compromise. Benz's habit of placing the headlight switch on the facia – it's even further out of the way than normal in the SLK – and building the wiper switching into the indicator stalk takes a little getting used to.
Bootspace is limited, of course, particularly when the top's down. But that's a given with folding hardtops, and if boot space is suddenly an imperative, you simply drive with the top up.
COMPETITORS
For around the same money, Audi's TTS Roadster is an altogether more seat-of-the-trousers sporting proposition, albeit at the cost of relaxation at the wheel and ride comfort.
For those wanting more of that, Lexus's four(ish)-seat IS250C takes the opposite path. The full-spec Sports Luxury version costs around the same but makes no pretensions to uncompromising sportingness in the manner of the Benz and BMW roadsters. It turns all the normal Lexus qualities – build quality, equipment levels, smoothness – into an altogether more relaxed drive, in both the positive and negative sense.
Or, you can have two of Mazda's eternally fabulous MX-5...
The 7G-Tronic overrides your wishes at the paddles where there's any possibility of controversy. It is, after all, Teutonic, and thus goes its own way when it knows a better move than what the driver's suggesting. That said, kicking it down elicited the kind of protest that suggested it was dropping a cog too far.
Benz dynamics tend to understate what they're doing, and the SLK 300 is no exception. There's little in the way of visceral or aural support for the claims of 0-100 kays in 6.2 seconds. It did, however, handle with aplomb a run of ten or twelve roundabouts in quick succession on the last leg of the drive program. That, arguably, is where it's in its element – cruising urban streets where the odd bend in the road lets it prove it's not quite all flash, no dash.
A low centre of gravity and well sorted suspension make for reasonably lively handling, and the stability control gives you fair leeway to put it to the test in the bends. Middle-of-the-road damping keeps life bearable through the corrugations and potholes.
It is, in short, more a nice car to drive than a driver's car, despite the sports-feathers.
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