Mercedes SLK 200 AMG Review
The formula is simple, and the Mercedes SLK has been milking it – in sales terms, at least – since it brought a folding hard-top to the class. Start with the right image, add a posh cabin and make it easy to live with. Being fast helps, too, but these days a fashion-led roadster should arguably be leaning towards economy as much as excitement.
Mercedes SLK 200 AMG Pictures
Mercedes SLK 200 AMG Performance
By these rules, the new SLK200 should have about as broad an appeal as a compact roadster can muster. With a 181bhp, turbocharged 1.8-litre engine, this four-cylinder model forms the entry point for the SLK range, at just under £30k in its base trim. Our test car came rather more lavishly specified in AMG Sport trim, which raises the list price to £33,980 – still almost £6k cheaper than the equivalent SLK250 (a 201bhp version of the same 1.8 motor), and over £10k less than the 3.5-litre V6 SLK350.
The SLK200 has the most to prove. In this sub-£35k arena lies the broadest array of tough competition – some cheaper, some greener and some more powerful – and this will be the biggest-selling model. We’re here to find out if it can stand the pressure.
The SLK is a ground-up new model. The looks are fairly evolutionary, and very successful if the opinions of all our testers are to be believed. Its styling is a little fussy, but the SLK is well proportioned, particularly given the awkward engineering problems thrown up by folding hard-tops. It’s undoubtedly desirable enough for the image-conscious audience it targets.
Underneath the body of the front-engined, rear-wheel-drive SLK, the new platform gets multi-link suspension all round, with passive dampers and coil springs as standard. Our test car came fitted with a £1010 ‘dynamic handling pack’, which brings with it active dampers that can also be adjusted for firmer response via a Sport setting on the dashboard, as well as sharper steering responses and a torque vectoring system that allows the car to activate any of the brakes individually to aid cornering. Because our test car is in AMG Sport trim, its suspension is also 10mm lower.
The 1.8-litre SLK200 is the only model in the range that comes as standard with a six-speed manual ’box, as tested here, although the seven-speed auto that’s a standard fitment on the 250 and 350 models is available as a £1520 option on this entry-level car.
While not exceptional, the headline claimed figures for this model are very competitive. At 181bhp, 184lb ft, 0-62mph in 7.3sec, 41.5mpg and 158g/km, the significant numbers are all very acceptable for a 1.8-litre turbo motor propelling a 1435kg car, although it seems less impressive when you think that the manual SLK200 is the least efficient model in the range apart from the 3.5-litre V6 SLK350, which is only slightly off at 167g/km and 39.8mpg. The auto ’box is key here, and adding it to the SLK200 improves the pertinent figures noticeably, at 151g/km and 43.5mpg.
The baby roadster’s headline figures should change later this year when the first diesel SLK ever – a 250 CDI model – joins the line-up, followed closely on the other end of the economy scale by a naturally aspirated 5.5-litre AMG.
Source: http://www.autocar.co.uk
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