Short Take Road Test
When Mercedes-Benz launched its little SLK roadster back in 1997 with an innovative folding hardtop, it was met with much enthusiasm, albeit more from executive secretaries than boy racers, the latter group having already fallen for the brilliant Porsche Boxster and the tail-wagging BMW Z3 the very same year. A radical redesign of the SLK in 2005 butched things up a bit, but by then, the SLK’s image as arguably the least sporting roadster among the three Germans—which by then included the Z3 replacement, the BMW Z4—was sealed.
With its 2009 refresh, the SLK continues its march toward macho with styling and engineering changes that turn it into a far more sporting—and thus, likable—proposition.
Aesthetic Enhancement Advice: Get the AMG Sport Package
Heretofore, since ‘05 the SLK’s styling had stuck close to a “son of SL-class” theme, with a bit of SLR McLaren laid, um, suggestively down the hood. This year’s refresh tones down the SLR-inspired, uh, “member” somewhat and takes the SLK in a somewhat new direction with a split lower air intake, a new rear bumper with trapezoidal exhaust tips, and new wheel packages.
This latest look earns mixed reviews here at C/D, but one thing is clear: The car’s visual appeal varies widely depending on color and trim. For example, in spite of its new nose, the standard SLK350 can still be quite underwhelming in a dull color such as pewter or burgundy, especially with the base 17-inch wheels. Rendered, however, in a sexier color—as was the deep blue metallic SLK350 we sampled in California (but, unfortunately, did not photograph)—it has far more appeal, to both sexes. That California car also wore the aggressive black-mesh-covered front intakes and gleaming turbine-style 18-inch wheels of the optional AMG sport package; it snapped onlookers to attention as if it were an Aston Martin V8 Vantage.
Subtle Interior Modifications
You’ll have to look a little harder to notice the changes inside, which mainly involve new graphics within the gauge pots and the installation of a family of freshly revised audio systems. Our Michigan test car was fitted with the optional new COMAND audio/navigation system, which dressed up the interior to a level befitting a $50,000 vehicle.
Still, in some areas, certain staffers thought the interior materials to be on the cheap side. “The headliner looks as if it were made out of recycled lunch trays,” said production editor Jon Yanca. Without COMAND, as was the case with our West Coast test car, the interior really does look a bit déclassé, its big vents and sparkly painted plastic buttons conveying more base-model C-class character than aspiring SL-class. That said, with the top up, the cabin is coupe quiet and secure regardless of climate conditions.
One top-related gripe, however, annoyed drivers of both test cars. Yanca put it best: “There is a serious flaw in that when the top goes up, none of the windows goes up with it so you have to put them up manually and then hit the buttons a second time [finding the second up-click]. Otherwise, the rear quarter-windows will get left down, which is easily done.” One tester forgot to raise the rear windows at least five times in a week.
