Test drive Mercedes Benz Slk Class since 2011 Rogster
Destroyed by island
We catch the sun and drive the wind on the serpentines of Tenerife on the latest family Mercedes-Benz Slk
Fans of high -quality drinks will understand what I mean. To be clean, without additives, from natural raw materials. To taste noble, invigorating and fresh, like a sea breeze. That is why our product today has a taste not continental, but island with Spanish notes: Stuttgarts presented a new SLK class in Canaries, in Tenerife. They presented their main competitors later. And maybe that is why the car is so good.
Color
In our age of rapid technological progress, when the deadline for the release of the new model is reduced from year to year, the roadsters are still updated not so quickly. That the previous BMW Z4, that the Audi TT Roadster was produced for six years. Mercedesov SLK lasted not many more than 7 years. But it turned out so, just in ordinary chronology that it appeared two years later than the main rivals. Having absorbed many of their advantages, and some and improved, having gathered from possible drawbacks, trying on a smaller size and in their relative manner of costumes from the latest CLS and SLS, clumsy in the premium segment by electronic systems, making a low bow towards green , pressing the next fashionable original little thing (in the last generation Air Scarf, now Magic Sky Control), the new SLK is part of his native class of small premium relatives, chopping the door with his foot. And the color of SLK is very good. This is due to special fruit additives and good endurance. It is compact, with a characteristic short tail, tightened, in a fashionable aggressive and at the same time in German is strict and correct. It is tasty. Tasty even in your opinion. Let's try how it will be on the smell. We smell what it smells there in the cabin.
Smell
The cockpit relatives SLK does not constrain the driver of even a large physique. With my 1 m 83 cm of growth, there was still a serious supply for longitudinal adjustment of the seat
The flow of warm air from the Air Scarf deflectors located in the backs of the seats, carefully envelops the neck and shoulders, protecting from the cold in dank weather
Subtle aroma. For gourmets. A mixture of the new Mercedesovsky, only to them inherent in strict hi-tech, low landing, sports spirit of seats and a steering wheel with excellent quality skin, wood, carbonate, okay ergonomics, stylish watches, cool music and a whole bunch of electronic systems. Even when you get tired of indulging with the roof to open and close, do it transparent or impenetrable for ultraviolet radiation, something will do. Adaptive cruise control holds ahead of the running machine, slowing down and accelerating the car again. With too sharply going to turn (and, if with braking), the Pre -Safe system tightly attracts with belts to sports seats. Recognition of road signs will surprise with its clarity. Air Scarf will carefully blow warm air in the neck and shoulders do not catch a cold even with an open top in dank weather. But still, the leitmotif of the aroma is it, the same roof that can be quickly put into the trunk by pressing the key. This is the main meaning of SLK. The idea polished for years. Therefore, down the roof! On the street permanent Canary summer. Breathe and drive, drive and breathe. Accepting sunbathing on the go. This place is just for SLK. This is his island. Here he is at home.
In the walking rhythm of passengers, nothing is bothering, provided that the glass is raised and the wind screen is installed between the arcs of security. There are practically no twists in the cabin up to 120130 km/h. And even on the coasts of the highway, where 180 was enough, it was quite comfortable: the sun is warming, Slk rides, in the speakers of the Harman/Kardon audio systems, Jerry Mulligan is virtuoso virtuoso. Music is not for a quick relatives, will you say? I don’t know, but it is better to jazz for cars with an open top, in my opinion, nothing was invented.
Taste
But we continue the tasting: the most interesting taste remains. We will reiterate on the famous serpentines Tenerife. It’s better not to find a place. Rurking along the mountain slopes, like spaghetti on a plate, poured with a sharp sauce of the ideal and hot asphalt roads approached the SLK test drive as well as possible. But I had to try not by increasing, but by the descending one. At first, my colleague and I got the top SLK 350. As one of my friend Hans says. With the package of Handling Package. And there are many sweets in it: an active suspension, the active steering wheel, as well as the system of braking the inner wheel in the Torque Vectoring Brake.
The fact that this car is at the top of the SLK model range is clear as soon as the first sounds of the heated release will affect the cliff flying by: the atmospheric V6 sounds powerful, solid, juicy, with dignity. The sound is quite consistent with the dynamics of acceleration of 100 km/h three hundred and fifth berets in just 5.6 s. Acceleration is the most important thing in its taste. But real taste is good not by force, but by a variety of shades and development. Adaptive suspension worthy of developing the initial dope of acceleration. Not in Maryedesov’s tough, she successfully fights with the rolls, pressing the wheels to the road, and Torque Vectoring Brake helps in corners, twisting the car into a turn, struggling with the inertia of a heavy motor in front. At the same time, SLK 350 in any of the situations does not lose its importance and seriousness. Reliability and stock are felt. An excellent, memorable taste, only slightly spoiled by a rather persistent aftertaste of the machine, which on such a machine could well have a Sport mode with faster switches.
Further less: SLK 250. The new Mercedes -Benz indices do not believe your eyes. If it were five years later, when the figure almost unequivocally pointed out the volume of the engine, we would have the right to expect 250 2.5 liters and six cylinders under the hood from SLK. But now it is only a four -cylinder 1.8 -turbo, albeit with a high degree of forcing. But did not hurry with the words just? 204 Very successful horses, of course, do not have the temperament of a 306 -horsepower favorite, but they do not give themselves offense: Slk only loses to a hundred in a second. And although the taste has lost the main component in the form of a self -sufficient V6 and the magnificent sound of the exhaust, it was partially replenished with sports, more rigid and low, but already mechanical suspension. This is a choice without compromises. There are no adaptations to the poor roads that the electronic suspension is capable of. There is no active steering wheel and Torque Vectoring Brake. But the 250th turned out to be very capable of Canary mother-in-law languages, and due to the lack of the above, it seemed even more honest to me. What to expect from the simplest SLK 200, and even on the handle?
And he turned out to be the most interesting! If the 350th was the basis of the taste of the engine, then there is lightness and responsiveness at the forefront. I will not call all potential buyers to choose this very simple modification: I understand that SLK 200 sold in Russia with a manual transmission, 16 wheels and with a conventional suspension can be counted on the fingers. This is not our education! And in vain. For those who are looking for a drive in SLK, and not pathos and developing hair blonde in a blonde, the two hundreds of the most cool option. The lack of power (is it?) With more than compensate for the clear work of the gearbox and simply lightning-fast for modern machines, clamped in strict environmental frames, gas reaction. How much he pressed, I received so much. Right here. Without mumbled a machine gun. Without delay. Without delay. Clack-Class box. Overcutation? Easily! The stock is given to the heat and suspension, but also very tenacious, even in combination with 16-inch wheels. And only brakes (front disks on SLK 200 by 5 cm less in diameter and 4 mm thinner than on SLK 350) on a serpentine with frequent and intense slowdown are still not infinite. Although the information content of the pedal is good even at the overheating boundary. Maybe Slk 200 is too swinging in corners and praise for a Mercedes, but for grab from the heart is the most correct SLK.
The new SLK is very good. Taste, color, smell cannot be held. The character and prescription of traditions are felt. And here it doesn’t even matter what excerpt, which motor is, which of the three types of suspension. He grew up, matured, adopted a lot of good CLS and SLS from elite varieties. In my opinion, it turned out exactly what the buyer wants from the modern sports family: stylish, impressive, powerful, with character. And on the islands he is in an insole. With this wonderful folding roof
Design The new SLK is larger than the previous generation model: 34 mm in length, 33 mm wide and 15 mm in height. The design uses a classic scheme: the motor and gearbox in front, the rear drive axis. The amusing is close to the ideal. A modern car, and even more so a relatives, nowhere without the use of high -strength and ultra -high steels. And they are naturally represented in the structure of the SLK body. For theematic lightness, the hood, the front wings and part of the parts of the back are made of aluminum. Additional wiping stiffness provides the back cross from carbon fiber. The Stuttgart believes that such decisions are the future. We have not forgotten about safety. Dugs behind the backs of the riders will not surprise anyone anymore for all for a long time. But besides this, the SLK has reinforced doors reinforced at the seat belts and in the lower part. But it was decided not to touch the elegant front racks: they implant oval pipes from ultra -grinding steel of hot molding, and the fastening to the body's sidewalls is reinforced.
Aerodynamics
Merecedes-Benz engineers carefully worked out the aerodynamics of the new SLK. The body panels are improved, air flows under the bottom of the car are organized in a special way, the radiator grille is closed from the inside with a special damper, when the engine does not rub a lot of air for cooling, the shape of the mirrors is optimized so that the side windows are not polluted, a special spoiler is located on the edge of the trunk. As a result, despite the fact that the Midel area even increased compared to the previous model from 1.93 to 1.98 m2, the level of aerodynamic resistance decreased from 0.32 to 0.30.
Engines
Currently, SLKs are offered three gasoline engines: two 1.8 -litrous 4 -cylinder 16 -valve turbo engine with varying degrees of force (SLK 200 184 hp and SLK 250 204 hp) and a 6 -cylinder atmospheric six (SLK 350 306 hp.). All engines have a BlueEfficincy prefix in the name: they are equipped with direct injection, piezoforms, Start-Stop system, correspond to Euro 5 and throw into the atmosphere no more than 167 g of CO2 per kilometer of run. All cars have a special Environment Friendly Eco mode. In the fall of this year, the Germans will offer a turbodiesel for SLK, and next year the AMG version with a new V8 engine will appear.
Transmission
Two types are provided: a 6-speed pen and 7G-Tronic in the updated version of Plus. Both with a number of optimization improvements. The mechanics are still available (in the basic configuration) only for SLK 200. 7G - Tronic is on SLK 250 and 350 in the standard. A little later, Stuttgarts promise the ability to order SLK 250 with a mechanical KP. But the senior modification happens only with an automaton. If you liked the handle unconditionally, especially given the magnificent reaction to gas c 200, then there were still questions to the machine: perhaps this is what you need for Mercedes, but not enough for a sports car. Even in Sport mode, I want faster switches, greater traction to hold the transmission and the best reaction to pressing the accelerator.
Steering
When ordering a Dynamic Handling sportspack, Direct Steer is equipped, which changes the force on the steering wheel depending on the speed of movement, and also varies sensitivity and gear ratio. The system works unobtrusively, predictable and almost imperceptibly, unlike the Bavarian analogue. The Dynamic Handling package includes the Torque Vectoring Brake system, branding the inner wheel in the bend, which ensures the screw under the traction.
Suspension
Three types of suspension are offered to choose from the SLK owner: ordinary with standard springs and shock absorbers (two -pipe in front and single -pipe behind); Sportivated by 10 mm sports with more short springs, more rigid shock absorbers and a thickened reptile stabilizer; The Dynamic Handling package has an electronically controlled suspension (below 10 mm, thicker stabilizer) with a sports regime.
Design
It so happened: the style and design of the company Mercedes-Benz throughout the more than more than more than the centuries of the brand’s history have been aristocratically conservative. It seemed that the bright outbreaks of innovative breakthroughs of design thoughts were choked in traditions and obligations in relation to the consumer and only confirmed the existing image. The revolution was brewing several times. For example, in the 90s, innovations were embodied in the image of a second-generation SLK sports family. Traditionally used in the style of those years, the type of governing body of a protective perimeter of plastic for the image of a sports car was poorly suitable for its utilitarianism reduced the dynamics and grounded the sports and romantic principle. The orientation of the style has undergone changes in the late 90s, when a young designer Gorden Wagener appeared in the Zingelfingen studio. To load the work of a beginner, he was entrusted with a large project of the SLR sports compartment. The new foundations of the style reflected the characteristic features of the image of the Bolid F1: the narrow and predatory nose of the hood, the absence in the design of traditionally emphasized bumper and horizontal grilles of the radiator. Wager offered lovers of a three -beam star a bright and dynamic sculpture, all the molding of which was subordinate to an unlimited throw forward, to victory: Down with the attributes of everyday life, all kinds of bumper and facing radiator there, resembling a dull diesel sedan. The old became finally inappropriate
Type of body rubber. Models: Spring 1996, the main plastic idea of \u200b\u200bdesign was developed under the leadership of Steve Mattine and the chief designer Mercedes-Benz Bruno Sacco, 2000 Restyling, 2004 New Design, developed under the leadership of proud Wagener (GORDEN WAGENER) and Mercedes-Benz chief designer Peter Pfaifer (Peter Pfaifer). Restyling 2008, 2011, a new design, developed under the leadership of the chief designer Mercedes-Benz, proud of Vagener.
Source: Cars
