Mercedes benz kompressor convertible manual#
Nevertheless, even in a manual car, the SLK’s power delivery is unlikely to feel as energetic as that of an Audi TT from the same era. Admittedly, this momentary lag is partly due to the car’s auto-box, which doesn’t particularly like to be rushed into a downshift. Indeed, if you were hoping to read that the SLK comes across as a proper driver’s car like the Mazda MX-5, then I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news.Even with the V6 at its disposal, the SLK doesn’t blow you away until you really mash your foot down on the loud pedal. And in truth, that’s probably the option that suits this car best. The car that I’d be driving, however, was equipped with Mercedes’ ‘5G-Tronic’ automatic transmission instead. Prior to 2001, those powertrains would have been accompanied by a five-speed manual gearbox, whereas later models got a six-speed. The supercharged SLK 200 and SLK 230 Kompressor models are a little livelier though, producing between 160bhp and 195bhp respectively, but still aren’t in the same ballpark as the V6. By comparison, an early SLK 200 churns out just 134hp. Now, although it is a tad heavier than the more common four-cylinder cars, it makes up for the slight extra heft with a claimed 215hp. In this guise, the Merc comes with a 3.2-litre normally aspirated V6. To find out, I got behind the wheel of an SLK 320, which was positioned at the top of the trim level tree. All the right attributes were there on paper, but what about in practice? The SLK was built atop a shrunken version of the C-Class platform, weighed between 11kg depending upon spec, and had an engine range which suggested it could be quite a sporty proposition. The name might be rather unimaginative but, on the surface at least, it certainly seems to be accurate. Naturally, Mercedes also wanted a slice of the pie and the R170 SLK, or ‘ Sportlich Leicht Kurz’ – Sporty Lightweight Short, to you and me – was what they came up with. Models like the Mazda MX-5, MGF and BMW Z3 all performed well on showroom forecourts far better than their modern-day counterparts do. Once upon a time, small convertible sports cars were the rising niche in the automotive market. The Mercedes SLK was part of a mid-90s flurry of convertible sports cars but has a very different personality to most of its peers
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