However many words you were permitted to describe the Mercedes-AMG SLC 43, the German marque's new range-topping drop-top, it could comfortably be summed up in three letters: F-U-N.
The SLC supersedes the popular SLK, and some purists have been grumbling about the downsizing that has accompanied that transition – from V8 to V6.
But disregard what anybody else tells you. Unless you’re planning on running up speeding fines as if money is going out of fashion or hitting the Nürburgring to test out the electronically limited top speed of 250kph, it’s not going to matter a jot. Realistically, the 3.0L mill is still plenty of engine for a car of this size, and the mini Merc now gives you the best of both worlds: added fuel efficiency versus 0 to 100 in 4.6 seconds (only 0.1 seconds slower than its corresponding predecessor, the SLK 55).
A true roadster in the corners, with its tight turning circle and precise steering, yet a competent cruiser on the highway, it always remains willing to give you a bit of yap when you need to push on. It positively hares through its nine-speed gearbox in auto, with a flappy-paddle manual mode should you so desire, and its exhaust pops and purrs fittingly for a genuine little tiger. The suspension is probably a tad stiff for some, but it’s nice to be occasionally reminded that you’re in a sporty two-seater and not wallowing around in a larger incarnation of Mercedes luxury.
The styling, to these eyes, is an extremely smart update to its SLK forebear, particularly the aggressive bonnet air intakes, while it’s a looker with top up or down. The three-part hydraulic “varioroof” hardtop takes up only a third of the rear luggage space when it’s retracted – a process that takes less than 20 seconds via one pull of a lever hidden inside a small flip-top compartment next to the generously proportioned central storage cubbyhole. It’s almost like an ejector-seat handle, which accentuates the feeling of piloting a pint-size fighter jet on wheels – as do the propeller-esque air-conditioning vents.
Elsewhere inside, there’s a lot packed into such a small package, though you feel cocooned rather than squashed. Toys are plentiful – active brake assist, lane-departure warning, reversing camera. The instrument cluster is kept pleasingly analogue where you want to see it most: namely the checkered-pattern-decorated speedometer and rev-counter dials.
The laughably grandiosely titled Magic Sky Control can’t control the weather, sadly, but its one-touch tinting of the glass roof panel is a clever innovation. Connectivity is tip-top, meanwhile, with two USB ports and a memory-card slot, plus Bluetooth, CarPlay compatibility and Wi-Fi capability.
The blind-spot alerts will scare the wits out of you with urgent bleeps if you attempt an overtaking manoeuvre that involves zipping between traffic, though. And that should be part of that aforementioned fun with the SLC 43: it’s like effortlessly threading a needle when most of your fellow motorists are attempting the task with a proverbial sledgehammer.
The bad? Well, despite Mercedes’ claims that you can operate the roof at up to 40kph, travelling at walking pace while attempting to do so still gave me an error warning to reduce my speed. That front splitter looks fantastic, but might well cause expensive grief parking near UAE kerbs. And although the in-seat air-conditioning vents, at neck level, are a smart idea, I found that the flow was so localised that it oddly made the rest of my head seem comparatively sweatier, with the top up, at least.
With the top down, however, you will be too busy grinning and giving your right foot a workout with the wind in your hair to let such trivialities as a bit of sweat bother you.
aworkman@thenational.ae
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