As anamuse-boucheto their 125th Anniversary Party, Mercedes-Benz had Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg and David Coulthard pull the wraps off their new 2012 SLK hardtop convertible roadster. While it's no revolution, and just barely qualifying as an evolution, the new SLK is newsworthy. First, the bad bits. It's bigger and heavier than before. Three inches longer (all of that new length is in the nose), three inches wider and about 90 pounds heavier, the growth is what it is. And now, the good news:
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Firstly, the engines. Specifically, what's coming to America. Come June you will be able to get your driving glove ensconced mitts on the SLK350. While the 3.5-liter V-6 sounds like a carryover, MB claims it's 25% more efficient, largely due to the addition of direct injection. The power has been bumped from 300 to 302 horsepower, and the torque climbs from 265 lb-ft to 273 compared to the old model.
There will of course be an all-conquering AMG model. No official word on the engine, but we expect the naturally aspirated 6.2-liter V-8 found in the C63 AMG. Either that, or the downsized and upcoming 5.5-liter N/A motor that AMG is working on.
The big engine news, however, especially if you're a tech-geek, is the upcoming SLK250. Replacing the SLK300 and displacing only 1.8-liters, the mini-motor is capable of 201 hp and 229 lb-ft of torque. How? Direct injection plus a little-bitty turbocharger. You can expect to see the SLK250 and the AMG version in showrooms about 12 months from now.
Mercedes-Benz didn't have an example of the SLK's new variable wind deflector on hand, but they did show us a picture. Essentially, there are situations where one passenger wants the wind in their hair and the other doesn't. Called the "Steckrahemwindschott," or Air Guard, there are two clear pieces of plastic - one in each head rest - that can rotate into each other to form a wind deflector, or one by one block the wind for either passenger. We'll call this innovation partially interesting, at best.
But the very coolest part of the SLK is without question the ridiculously named Vario-Roof with Magic Sky Control. Essentially, at the press of a button, the glass-roof goes from kinda opaque to nearly clear. In an instant! It's very cool to play with. It takes about three seconds for the roof to go from clear to opaque.
How's it work? Nano-particles, or as engineer Uwe Renz told us, "Polyiodides." We have no clue what that means, but when you send an electric charge through a layer of them between two pieces of laminated glass, they line up and the roof appears see-through. Remove that charge and they disperse, turning the roof dark. Amazing stuff, really.
But that's not all. Assuming that the sun puts out 1,000 watts of light through a normal sunroof, the clear setting of the UV-filtered Vario-Roof with Magic Sky Control lets just 200 watts in. Turn the roof to dark and only 40 watts leak through. Once again, amazing stuff and without question the highlight of the new SLK. And even though Mr. Renz wouldn't say yes (or no!), you can expect to see this technology on the upcoming SL replacement, as well as a bunch of other Mercedes-Benz products.
When I was just one-year-old and newly walking, I managed to paint a white racing stripe down the side of my father’s Datsun 280Z. It’s been downhill ever since then. Moral of the story? Painting the garage leads to petrolheads. I’ve always loved writing, and I’ve always had strong opinions about cars.
One day I realized that I should combine two of my biggest passions and see what happened. Turns out that some people liked what I had to say and within a few years Angus MacKenzie came calling. I regularly come to the realization that I have the best job in the entire world. My father is the one most responsible for my car obsession. While driving, he would never fail to regale me with tales of my grandfather’s 1950 Cadillac 60 Special and 1953 Buick Roadmaster. He’d also try to impart driving wisdom, explaining how the younger you learn to drive, the safer driver you’ll be. “I learned to drive when I was 12 and I’ve never been in an accident.” He also, at least once per month warned, “No matter how good you drive, someday, somewhere, a drunk’s going to come out of nowhere and plow into you.”
When I was very young my dad would strap my car seat into the front of his Datsun 280Z and we’d go flying around the hills above Malibu, near where I grew up. The same roads, in fact, that we now use for the majority of our comparison tests. I believe these weekend runs are part of the reason why I’ve never developed motion sickness, a trait that comes in handy when my “job” requires me to sit in the passenger seats for repeated hot laps of the Nurburgring. Outside of cars and writing, my great passions include beer — brewing and judging as well as tasting — and tournament poker. I also like collecting cactus, because they’re tough to kill. My amazing wife Amy is an actress here in Los Angeles and we have a wonderful son, Richard.Read More
