SLK55 Road Test from BBC Top Gear
11-18-2004, 02:47 PM
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SLK55 Road Test from BBC Top Gear
Not sure if this article was posted before either
BBC Top Gear Road Test
by Peter Grunert
[November 05 2004]
Mercedes SLK 55 AMG
Too girly. That's one accusation some have chosen to level at the sleek, tautly curved new-generation Mercedes SLK. Well now they've reason to reconsider. AMG have got to it, producing a version that's about as effeminate as a shaven-headed Sigourney Weaver, strapped with laser weaponry and on the offensive in Aliens.
This SLK 55 is quite blatant about its intentions. Extra cooling vents sliced into the sides of the front bumpers, heavily sinewed sills, a tiny spoiler peeking from the top of the boot and a quartet of chrome-tinged exhaust outlets all emphasise its bad attitude.
The first step in assessing whether the driving experience matches the visual impact is to electro-hydraulically origami the roof back into the boot. The scant 20 or so seconds required to do so allows a brief pause to tense arm, leg and neck muscles, in readiness for what's about to be unleashed.
The previous AMG-tuned SLK had a supercharged 3.2-litre V6 that produced 354bhp and made a noise like a malfunctioning Dyson. This was a car that would happily sit there spinning its back tyres until they'd welded to the tarmac, even if you were just trying to pull sedately out from a car park.
The SLK 55 is a rather different proposition. Instead of a V6 it has a socking great 5.4-litre V8 squeezed inside its beaky nose, equipped with lightweight cast aluminium pistons, composite camshafts and a variable intake manifold. It serves up 355bhp - a token 1bhp more than the SLK 32 managed - and a violent 376lb ft of torque. Brush against the throttle and the sound effects suggest you've let loose some woad-splattered pagan horde - the superb bellow follows along behind, even at a steady 40-50mph cruise.
It's an impressive enough fact that Mercedes - once arguably the world's most conservative car company - should sanction the existence of a car that sounds so brutal, or that such a car could even be legally offered for sale. The ability to flick the roof out of sight makes the aural impact all the more intimate, no longer just being reserved for ogling by-standers.
There's substance behind the racket. The SLK 55 launches just as aggressively as it looks and sounds like it should do. With the standard-fit traction and stability control systems switched out, the 245-width rear tyres still just about manage to remain attached to the 18-inch rims as the power is sent to the road. Leaving only the slightest tyre-smoke screen behind itself, the car surges viciously onwards. There's no interupting the flow of acceleration to gasp a breath, or for that matter to dip a clutch pedal - this is the first AMG to feature a '7 G-Tronic' automatic gearbox, slipping instantly and all but imperceptibly between each of its (yes, seven) closely-crowded ratios.
There's a manual mode too. Uncommonly, it's one that fully lets the driver take charge. Just tug slightly on the rubberised pads mounted behind each horizontal spoke of the steering wheel to change up or down a gear, while trying to avoid whacking the stereo up to full volume or calling out the emergency services on the car phone via the buttons on the front. Unlike most such gearboxes, press sharply on the accelerator or nudge up against the rev limiter and it won't intervene to select the ratio it assumes you should have chosen. You'll never be left confused as to which gear you're in - useful, when there's a vast artic to pass or a switchback fast approaching.
Given the ballistic forwards propulsion, corners loom up with a ********-tightening suddenness. Thankfully, the brakes are a match for the task. The discs are ventilated, cross-drilled and grooved, just to make sure. They're also matched to whopping six-piston front and four-piston rear calipers. The result is repeated stopping ability with a force that threatens to hurl the contents of your brain cavity (and your stomach) in the direction of the windscreen.
Most AMGs feel like cars built to corrupt the laws of physics on long, straight roads, if not through corners. Given that the majority are sold in the States, that's no great surprise. Remarkably enough then, and especially given the bulk of the V8 nestling over its front axle, the SLK 55 turns in sharply. Eagerly, almost. It reveals no early urge to push on, or to step wildly out at the rear - it's far more sophisticated than that. Again traction is healthy, there's a near-rigid resistance to body roll and steering responses are as well-weighted and linear as in the (£15,370 cheaper) SLK 350.
So the least powerful AMG is also the best car that AMG makes. Need a greater rush than this? Then you'll have to take up base jumping.
Fact file:
17/20
# We say: Unusually, an AMG Merc with a chassis to match the potential of its engine. False beard not required
# Price: £49,640
# On your drive for: £1,216pcm
# Performance: 0-62mph in 4.9secs, max speed 155mph (ltd.), 23.7mpg
# Tech: 5439cc V8, RWD, 355bhp, 376lb ft, 1540kg, 288g/km CO2
BBC Top Gear Road Test
by Peter Grunert
[November 05 2004]
Mercedes SLK 55 AMG
Too girly. That's one accusation some have chosen to level at the sleek, tautly curved new-generation Mercedes SLK. Well now they've reason to reconsider. AMG have got to it, producing a version that's about as effeminate as a shaven-headed Sigourney Weaver, strapped with laser weaponry and on the offensive in Aliens.
This SLK 55 is quite blatant about its intentions. Extra cooling vents sliced into the sides of the front bumpers, heavily sinewed sills, a tiny spoiler peeking from the top of the boot and a quartet of chrome-tinged exhaust outlets all emphasise its bad attitude.
The first step in assessing whether the driving experience matches the visual impact is to electro-hydraulically origami the roof back into the boot. The scant 20 or so seconds required to do so allows a brief pause to tense arm, leg and neck muscles, in readiness for what's about to be unleashed.
The previous AMG-tuned SLK had a supercharged 3.2-litre V6 that produced 354bhp and made a noise like a malfunctioning Dyson. This was a car that would happily sit there spinning its back tyres until they'd welded to the tarmac, even if you were just trying to pull sedately out from a car park.
The SLK 55 is a rather different proposition. Instead of a V6 it has a socking great 5.4-litre V8 squeezed inside its beaky nose, equipped with lightweight cast aluminium pistons, composite camshafts and a variable intake manifold. It serves up 355bhp - a token 1bhp more than the SLK 32 managed - and a violent 376lb ft of torque. Brush against the throttle and the sound effects suggest you've let loose some woad-splattered pagan horde - the superb bellow follows along behind, even at a steady 40-50mph cruise.
It's an impressive enough fact that Mercedes - once arguably the world's most conservative car company - should sanction the existence of a car that sounds so brutal, or that such a car could even be legally offered for sale. The ability to flick the roof out of sight makes the aural impact all the more intimate, no longer just being reserved for ogling by-standers.
There's substance behind the racket. The SLK 55 launches just as aggressively as it looks and sounds like it should do. With the standard-fit traction and stability control systems switched out, the 245-width rear tyres still just about manage to remain attached to the 18-inch rims as the power is sent to the road. Leaving only the slightest tyre-smoke screen behind itself, the car surges viciously onwards. There's no interupting the flow of acceleration to gasp a breath, or for that matter to dip a clutch pedal - this is the first AMG to feature a '7 G-Tronic' automatic gearbox, slipping instantly and all but imperceptibly between each of its (yes, seven) closely-crowded ratios.
There's a manual mode too. Uncommonly, it's one that fully lets the driver take charge. Just tug slightly on the rubberised pads mounted behind each horizontal spoke of the steering wheel to change up or down a gear, while trying to avoid whacking the stereo up to full volume or calling out the emergency services on the car phone via the buttons on the front. Unlike most such gearboxes, press sharply on the accelerator or nudge up against the rev limiter and it won't intervene to select the ratio it assumes you should have chosen. You'll never be left confused as to which gear you're in - useful, when there's a vast artic to pass or a switchback fast approaching.
Given the ballistic forwards propulsion, corners loom up with a ********-tightening suddenness. Thankfully, the brakes are a match for the task. The discs are ventilated, cross-drilled and grooved, just to make sure. They're also matched to whopping six-piston front and four-piston rear calipers. The result is repeated stopping ability with a force that threatens to hurl the contents of your brain cavity (and your stomach) in the direction of the windscreen.
Most AMGs feel like cars built to corrupt the laws of physics on long, straight roads, if not through corners. Given that the majority are sold in the States, that's no great surprise. Remarkably enough then, and especially given the bulk of the V8 nestling over its front axle, the SLK 55 turns in sharply. Eagerly, almost. It reveals no early urge to push on, or to step wildly out at the rear - it's far more sophisticated than that. Again traction is healthy, there's a near-rigid resistance to body roll and steering responses are as well-weighted and linear as in the (£15,370 cheaper) SLK 350.
So the least powerful AMG is also the best car that AMG makes. Need a greater rush than this? Then you'll have to take up base jumping.
Fact file:
17/20
# We say: Unusually, an AMG Merc with a chassis to match the potential of its engine. False beard not required
# Price: £49,640
# On your drive for: £1,216pcm
# Performance: 0-62mph in 4.9secs, max speed 155mph (ltd.), 23.7mpg
# Tech: 5439cc V8, RWD, 355bhp, 376lb ft, 1540kg, 288g/km CO2
