Wednesday, May 22, 2013
First Drive 2012 Mercedes Benz SLK350 Review and Pricing
First Drive: 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK350 - Review and Concept
The 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK still may be the least honed, least intense of the trio of pricey German roadsters, but its ripened over its 15 years and three generations. New for 2012, the latest SLK has pretty much steamrolled over any trace of its dainty past and hot-paved it with real, substantial, and sometimes intoxicating sports-car urgency.
Argue if you want in favor of the Porsche Boxsters no-compromises chassis, or the BMW Z4s now-outed closet speed freak. The SLK holds its own: it grips and grunts with its own visceral pulse--and hot-lapping the volcanoes and valleys of Spains Tenerife Island proves that its still a three-way arms race. And still a very small, very exclusive club.
Driving the length of the Canary Island of Tenerife is roughly equivalent to leaving my driveway in Huntington Beach and motoring up the California coast to Malibu. Driving up the California coast I see beaches, a bit of low-altitude forest, and miles of urban sprawl. If Im lucky the drive culminates in a parking spot leading to pancakes and good coffee. Traversing Tenerife means starting on a tropical beach, climbing through lush jungle, eventually finding a high desert that gives way to forest, and finally culminating in a volcanic wasteland that looks more like the surface of Mars than a tourist trap for Europeans. Luckily, the 2012 Mercedes SLK350 is not only great for all-season touring, but all ecospheres as well.
Forget what you know about SLKs of the past. You might think of them as hairdressers cars or beach cruisers for 20-something trophy wives, and you would be correct. For 2012, Mercedes has refined the entry-level roadster into something entirely different, something you might even be able to call a sports car while keeping a straight face.
