Drive in the Alps: Mercedes-Benz SLC 200

When you travel to the alps for some ultimate driving pleasure one does not simply turn up in a diesel Renault Scénic. What the magnificent twisty roads of the largest mountain range in Europe deserve is not a boring and uninspiring family runabout. To conquer the Alps you need a car with less practicality and more excitement. Preferably a car with two seats and no roof, aka a roadster.
Enter the new Mercedes-Benz SLC.

Mercedes-Benz SLC 200 in iridium silver

The SLC is not a new type of roadster from Mercedes it is just the new re-branded name of the now 20 year old SLK. The original SLK was a huge success with over 300 000 units sold. This is partly down to the (then) groundbreaking metal folding roof which added stability and safety to the roadster. Fast forward 20 years and recipe is still the same, only now called the SLC. The recipe is very like the outgoing SLK in fact, as the SLC is only a facelift. The SLC gets only one new engine which goes to the top range AMG 43. Otherwise the SLC has to manage with the old engines from the SLK.

Or is it diamond silver, I'm not sure

This one had the 2.0 litre four cylinder turbo with and output of 184 horsepower through the rear wheels. Gone are the days of the Kompressor badge, which in my view has taken away some of the charm of the SLK/SLC. This new more efficient turbo unit is highly versatile. It revs happily up to 7000 rpm and the six speed manual this car had slotted nicely in to a higher gear ready for the engine to climb to 7000 again. In more docile driving the engine pulled surprisingly well from low revs. This is thanks to the peak torque of 300 newton meters coming in at a low 1200 rpm. With this versatility you're always in the right gear be it at the autobahn or 2000 meters high in the Swiss Alps. The SLC 200 is also available with the new 9-speed automatic. But who really wants an automatic in a roadster, really. Even though at low revs the engine sounded sometimes like a V6, it lacked character. It was versatile yes, but not trouser tingling or filled with eager like a puppy chasing leaves. In short it felt like a German machine, satisfied with any task you commanded it to do. Nothing more, nothing less.

If compered with the SLK, identical.

The AIRSCARF has three different power settings

The interior hasn't changed at all in the SLC. It's almost identical to the 2012 SLK. The interior is just as the engine very functional but boring. The seats are tight enough to keep you in during hard cornering but comfortable enough so that the trip over the mountains doesn't feel like you've done it on an ox. This also reflects on the quality of the ride. I was never tired after sitting in the car for 6 hours straight. I'm guessing the AMG Line sport suspension is harder but I don't think it will be an issue, that's how well sorted the car is. Also adding to the comfort was that this car was fitted with the optional AIRSCARF (yes it is actually marketed in all caps). It is a heating system with vents in the headrest that blow warm around the neck area. This is especially handy when you drive your SLC up in the mountains with the top down and suddenly notice that there's snow around your car.
 

The SLC 200 is a pleasant drive. It drives well, the engine is resourceful and it does feel at home on tight mountain roads. The steering is light and quick and it managed 225 km/h on the autobahn. It made the journey over the Alps a great experience, but even so the car never left me wanting more. Maybe I'd appreciate the SLC 200 more if I did the journey in a Renault Scénic diesel.

More is better (sometimes)

In the recent events or happenings - what ever you want to call them - I have spotted that even a "normal" super car isn't enough anymore for the filthy rich.

It has been a trend for a while now where tuning companies have taken an unbelievably expensive and powerful car and then fiddled around with it. Giving it even more power and a higher price tag. I don't understand this kind of tuning. I thought that just by buying a high performance car like an M-powered BMW or a Porsche was enough. But apparently I stand corrected. The filthy rich are actually buying these tuned super cars to make an impression on they're "average super car buying" friends. It seems a little tacky. I don't mean a little tacky do I, I mean a lot tacky.The cars are so vulgar, flashy and loud that I'd hate to be in the same room with the owner of the car. But the cars are also very impressive to look at. Even though I don't like what they represent. 

I'll give you an example. A Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG has 570 horsepower goes well over and beyond

300 kph and from 0-100 kph in 3.8 seconds. When it was new in 2010 the price was around 170 000€ (200 000$) without taxes. So not exactly a normal car if you'd say so. But obviously a tuning company said; 'Yes, very good. But we need something more.' So FAB Design - a Swiss tuning company - took hold of the SLS and created a bigger, louder, more powerful and a more expensive version of a car that already is big, loud, powerful and expensive. 

Here is the normal Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG.
Guess what car the driver is taking  a photo of.

Yes, this. The Mercede-Benz SLS AMG FAB Design.
That's a lot of capital letters.

FAB Design designing them air vents.

So there. The FAB SLS just has and is more than the normal SLS. I guess there's no point in searching for another reason for these cars than that it just has more of everything. In good and bad ways.

This - I guess - Mansory tuned beast made its appearance at the Gumball 3000  

As well as this Porsche Panamera. I'm not sure from which tuning house.
Maybe you fine people could tell me.

Future classics (in my mind) part II

As in part I of future classics we're sticking with family cars. Fast and special family cars that is.

This time around I'm talking about the Mercedes Benz C36 AMG. It laid the groundwork for all the rest of the AMG Mercedes that have been build since, which obviously makes it really special. 

It was introduced in 1993, production began in 1994 and it lasted to 1997. During that time only a bit over 5000 AMG C36's were made. It has an AMG tuned 3.6 litre straight six engine developing 280 hp. And it was of course meant to compete with the then current BMW M3, of which BMW made around 70,000 of. If you want, you can think of the C36 as an underdog which is always appealing. 

In true high-end Mercedes fashion of course the C36 came with leather seats, automatic gearbox with a tiptronic function, cruise control, automatic air-con and many more things that we today think of as standard. But remember kids, this is in 1994 when it was luxury to have power-steering.

This is a car that when it goes wrong the parts will be expensive. But if you maintain your C36 AMG as you should it will run like any other Mercedes, until it runs out of the delicious petrol it enjoys so much.

Those alloy wheels were only available for the C36 AMG. You better get them.

Really no way of knowing that it's an AMG Merc.

German hot hatches

German hot hatches are the best kind of hot hatches and now there are going to be two more. Last year Mercedes-Benz launched the new A-class and already then there was a rumor going around that the people at AMG would be going to get their hands on it. And they have. So welcome everyone to the cheapest, and in my oppinion the oddest, AMG Merc yet. The Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG.
And directly to the numbers beacuse that's the thing AMG always impresses with. The A45 has a 2.0-litre turbocharged engine developing an astounding 360 horesepower. All that power is going to all four wheels with Merc's 4matic system. And that's why i think it's an odd AMG. No massive V8. No wheel spinning action beacuse of the four wheel drive. It almost seems grown up, until you notice all the traditional AMG aerodymaic lunacy.

The other new german pocket rocket is the new Audi S3. It shares the same body as the new generation Audi A3 but obviously with some flared wheel arches and alot of S3 badges. As for the engine it's also 2.0-litre and turbocharged. But with 300 HP it's obviously a bit less powerful than the hottest small Audi the RS3 but let us not call it slow as it gets from 0-100 kph in a bit over 5 seconds. It also has Audi's Quattro four wheel drive system which is a given. And what about the styling? It hasn't changed much in appearence to the outgoing A3 so it still looks boring and conservitive as a german mid-ranged car should look.

So these two cars are quite evenly matched. The S3 is less expensive than the mad Mercedes but it still packs alot of punch. So? Which one do you want? The accountant or the accountants dog?

Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG

Audi S3