On Wheels by Brooks Peterson

Saturday, November 4, 2000

Slick V-6 punches M-B SLK320 up a notch

MERCEDES-BENZ, which just a while back gobbled up Chrysler Corporation without so much as a genteel burp, doesn't have to prove anything to anybody. Supreme self-confidence, tinged with a hint of arrogance, has been standard issue virtually since the three-pointed star made its debut a hundred years ago.
   At one time or another, M-B (yes, yes: it's Daimler-Chrysler now, but to the faithful the American Johann-come-lately will ever be an unlovely, and unloved adoptive child) has done it all.
   Count the ways: grand prix racing, Le Mans, autobahn-burning super-sedans, even taxicabs . . . No sooner has an opportunity, or challenge, arisen than Mercedes-Benz has set its elves scurrying into the gap, armed with micrometers and taking copious notes. Sooner rather than later, a vehicle bearing the three-pointed star will roll down the ramp, intent - like its ancestors - on conquest.
   If anything in all this has inspired misgivings, it is a certain, well . . . grimness that has accompanied the proceedings. There has always been this off-putting seriousness that I suspect may have kept a few well-heeled party animals away from the Mercedes compound.
   And of course Mercedes knows this. Thus, a few years back, M-B officially launched itself into new, alien and slightly scary terrain: The company, in other words, built the first vehicle in its glittering history that could with justice be described as . . . whimsical.
   That would be the zippy little SLK sportster. With a decent but not blazing turn of speed, the petite two-seater was a far cry from such exotica as the 300SL coupes and roadsters of the '50s and early '60s. Its contours were chunky and cheeky, not voluptuous. In layout and dimensions (though certainly not at the bottom of the price sticker), the SLK was more in the Mazda Miata genre, except . . .

2001 Mercedes-Benz SLK320 Two-passenger rear-drive retractable-hardtop convertible Base price: $43,900 Price as tested: $47,040 Drivetrain: Dual-overhead-cam 18-valve fuel-injected 3.2-liter V-6, 215 hp; five-speed automatic-overdrive transmission Brakes: Front and rear discs with standard antilock (ABS) EPA mileage: 21 city/27 highway Web site: www.mercedes-benz.com

   Except for the fact that those merry tricksters in Stuttgart decided to fit the SLK not with the usual fabric top, but with a retractable hardtop!
   Was there a clamor for such a thing? Not at all - if only because it had not even occurred to most of the players in (and observers of) the automotive world. But the Mercedes-Benz warlords knew they could do it. And because they could, they did.
   Apart from a short-lived retracto-top version of the now-deceased Mitsubishi 3000 GT, the SLK is the first volume-produced vehicle in this genre since Ford bailed out of the business after having built retractables on its '57 through '59 coupe platforms.
   From the outset, the SLK was a cheeky little devil: Indeed, it flirted with (dare one say it?) cuteness. But since no Mercedes-Benz will ever be cute, "whimsical" will have to do: Its chunky look, the lines that simply exude an eagerness to leap forward and take a big ol' bite out of the road, are like nothing seen hitherto behind a three-pointed star.
   But . . . there was, oh, call it a gnat in the yogurt. From its introduction here until the 2001 model year, the SLK has been motivated by a supercharged version of M-B's 2.3-liter four. (Hence the mouth-filling sobriquet "SLK230 Kompressor.")
   This was not a dog of an engine by any means: In its most recent iteration, it made a very respectable 180 horsepower. But, alas, it was a little coarse, just a shade thrashy - and, considering the bread you were laying out, and considering the more muscular competition available from BMW and Porsche, there was a need to pop the hood and engage in some deep thinking.
   The thinking paid off: Though the supercharged four remains in the entry-level model (with five more horses, boosting output to 190 hp), you now have the option of laying out more bread and getting a lot more engine: Stuttgart's abundantly well-proven and totally bodacious 3.2-liter V-6, delivering 215 horses.
   This new engine does not turn the SLK into a drag-strip demon. It does, however, transform the SLK driving experience. Where the four is a bit (just a bit) rowdy, the V-6 is the very essence of smoothness and sophistication, delivering an endlessly satisfying punch in the lumbar region when you pour on the coals.
   That's the big news. You should also know that, this year, you can pick between a five-speed automatic or six-speed manual transmission. Our tester came with the AT, and while it was entirely adequate, the six-speed has to be the way to go.
   Handling, as before, is more in the GT mode than in the road-rocket tradition - but it's precise, predictable and unerringly accurate. Brakes? Need you ask? The usual M-B excellence shines here, too.
   Just by the way, I should point out there seems to be a tad more headroom in the SLK this year - enough to make all the difference to a moderately tall individual. Not once did I find myself in one of those head-meets-headliner situations that can take all the fun out of a quick trip, and turn a long one into a misery.
   For the rest, the SLK experience remains essentially unchanged. The passenger compartment is snug, but misses - just by a whisper - being cramped.
   Unchanged, too - alas - is the irritating cruise-control stalk, which you will find yourself activating darn near every time you go for the turn-signal stalk until you learn to compensate for it. The same arrangement prevails in every Mercedes I've driven in recent years. That raises a question: Why?
   Lotta bucks for a little car? Well, yeah. Consider, however, that you're really getting two cars: a romantic roadster open to all the seductive beauties of nature, and a rock-solid hardtop with the granitic structural integrity you'd get from one of M-B's immense, S-series panzers.
   And it only takes up one (small) space in the garage. Is that a deal, or what?
  
  

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