Mercedes-Benz SLK to become SLC in spring
New look, new engines, new gearbox… and a new name for Merc's tin-top roadster
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Your support makes all the difference.All too often, mid-life facelifts faff about with trivia like door handles and grille trims. But it can’t be too often that a car gets a whole new name halfway through its life.
In the case of the Mercedes-Benz SLC, admittedly, a new name only means one new letter. Still, the revised SLK is different in various other ways too.
Its engines, for example, have been shaken up to add greater performance and efficiency alike. And a new gearbox means improved CO2 and fuel consumption figures across the entire range.
Needless to say, the SLC’s looks have been worked over inside and out. It has new bumpers, light clusters and a revised grille (there it is), as well as a funkier rear splitter.
In the cockpit, there’s a new 4” multimedia screen on a retrimmed dash with updated dials. The basic architecture stays the same, but there’s also a new steering wheel for you to get your hands on.
Should you be admiring all this a little more than is good, the SLC gains autonomous braking as standard. And its folding roof can be operated at up to 25mph – a welcome improvement over the SLK, on which it would only work when stationary.
Anyway, those engines. Starting at the foot of the range, the SLC200 gets a turbocharged 2.0 petrol unit with 181bhp and 221lb ft. This has a six-speed manual gearbox as standard; all other models will get Merc’s latest 9G-Tronic nine-speed auto.
These include the SLC300, in which the same 2.0-litre engine is tuned for 242bhp and 273lb ft.
Up top, the Mercedes-AMG SLC43 gets a twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 whose 362bhp and 384lb ft come on stream from deep down in the rev range at just 2000rpm. Not as hairy-chested as the big V8 in the old SLK, but it should be more usably fast – and that nine-speed box will help it leap from ratio to ratio with more agility than ever on the way.
It helps the SLC43 return 36.2mpg and 178g/km, too, which isn’t bad for a car capable of demolishing the 0-62 sprint in 4.7 seconds.
For efficiency, though, the real hero in the new SLC250d. Fitted with the same 2.0 CDI engine as the SLK model it replaces, this is whisked along on 201bhp and 369lb ft – all the while returning 64.2mpg and 114g/km.
The new SLC will be unveiled to the public at Detroit in January, with UK deliveries set to commence in the spring.
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