Review: Mercedes’ SLC300 gets your top-down attention
Two gents take in a game Mercedes-Benz style.
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Mercedes-Benz (actually Daimler AG) owns the tiny Smart Car, but Mercedes’ own products are pretty darn smart in their own right.
During warm weather stretches, I’ve been known to eschew sleep to get up early and get outside. One recent day I was up about 5:30 a.m. to do some gardening and go for a run before the heat of the day set in.
It was a normal day, one that might be capped by grilling outside or going downtown for dinner.
Then good friend Ken E called to propose driving up to Maine to catch a Portland Sea Dogs game.
You might be asking what baseball has to do with a Mercedes auto review, but be assured, it does.
I’d been anxious to see the Sea Dogs’ main Red Sox prospects Andrew Benintendi and Yoan Moncada in action. And both impressed, especially Benintendi, despite the Sea Dogs’ 15-4 loss.
We had a delightful trip north in today’s test car, a 2017 Mercedes-Benz SLC300 Roadster, the hardtop convertible that’s the successor to the brand’s successful SLK roadsters.
If there was a drawback, it was that the SLC300 was a tad small for us. Not so bad that we had to use my dad’s old line—“You need a shoehorn and pot of grease to get into that’’—but snug, especially for big guys to enter and exit.
Temperatures were in the mid-90s so we decided to drive with the hardtop in place. “Hey, I’m so big, my ‘do’ would stick up over the windshield and get all mussed up,’’ said Ken. (Side note: Mrs. G was quite happy on several shorter local rides with the top dropped and hairdo adopting the windblown look.)
This SLC got some looks on the way up, partly because of its AMG-like edgy styling and partly because of its Mars Red paint job. Technically, the paint color isn’t supposed to be part of the story, but it would be obvious from the accompanying photo anyway.
The 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine is amazingly smooth and competent. We found ourselves averaging 31.9 miles per gallon, according to the onboard computer. It puts out 241 horsepower and 273 lb.-ft. of torque.
That’s in comparison to the SLC’s AMG SLC43 variant with a 3.0-liter bi-turbo that produces 362 hp and 384 lb.-ft. That’s great for the performance enthusiast, but we found the 4-cylinder did just fine, especially with the SLC300’s comparative light weight of 3,246 pounds.
Both versions send the power to the rear wheels via the same 9-speed automatic transmission that we found well calibrated. Around town, it would hold in a middle gear; on the highway, it moved up to ninth gear, keeping engine revs well below 2,000 rpm even at highway speeds.
Base price for our SLC300 was $48,875 (including destination and delivery). Our test model, thankfully, had a desirable package of options.
On the interior, black leather ($770) and black ash wood trim ($325) made for first-class cabin feelings.
Magic Sky Control ($2,500) is a technology that allows the driver to adjust the amount of sunlight (from transparent to dark) coming through the clear hardtop on sunny days.
A Sport Package ($2,175) adds the AMG’s body-styling package and replaces the already attractive black diamond grill with chrome.
INSIDE STORY: Larger drivers may find the interior a bit snug, but they won’t find a lack of controls and high-tech options.
The big add-on, however, is a $10,500 Premium3 package with all sorts of comfort, technical, and safety goodies. Some are: navigation with three years of free updates, heated seats, remote roof operation, keyless entry, active LED headlamps with auto high beams, lane-keeping assist, adaptive cruise control with autobraking, adjustable suspension settings, and parking assist.
It all brought the bottom line to a hefty $65,445 for the loaded version that competes with the Audi TT, BMW Z4, and Porsche Boxster.
Mercedes clearly has done a nice job in evolving the SLC, which began as the SLK in 1996 and was redesigned in 2004. In recent years, the SLC has shared much of its technology with the C-Class, giving it a refined feel.
To complete our trip, we had to make the late-night drive home from Portland. Those 15-4 games take a long time.
Kudos to the Mercedes engineers for equipping the SLC300 with outstanding LED headlights (and the automatic high beams). We drove past a Maine highway crew painting lane lines on Rte. 295 in Portland and enjoyed freshly done lines most of the way home.
That made the driving easy, especially with the cruise control engaged.
But now it’s time to get back to one of the smart features of this car. Mercedes has a system called Attention Assist, otherwise known as drowsy driver alert.
The system takes note of an array of your driving parameters at the start of a drive, then looks for signs that you’re losing concentration on your trip.
As we traversed a construction area with lots of cones denoting new lanes, the system decided it didn’t like my driving and starting posting an audible alert and Attention Assist light on the instrument display, urging me to rest and asking if I wanted the GPS to find the nearest rest top.
“Just get me home in one piece,’’ growled Ken. “I’m watching you, too, and believe me, you won’t be falling asleep on my watch.’’
As we said, a Smart car … and a smart aleck passenger.
2017 MERCEDES BENZ SLC300 ROADSTER
THE BASICS
Price, base/as tested (with destination): $48,875/$65,445. Fuel economy, EPA estimated: 25 town/32 highway. Fuel economy, Globe observed: 31.3 mpg. Drivetrain: 2.0-liter 4 cylinder, 9-speed automatic, rear-wheel-drive. Body: 2-passenger hardtop convertible.
THE SPECIFICS
Horsepower: 241. Torque: 273 lb.-ft. Overall length: 162.8 in. Wheelbase: 95.7 in. Height: 51.3 in. Width: 71.5 in. Curb weight: 3,296 lbs.
THE GOOD
Build quality, cabin luxury, refined powertrain.
THE BAD
Some will find cabin a tight fit, ride can be a bit rough, limited cargo space, especially with the top down.
THE BOTTOM LINE
A worthy successor to the SLK roadster line.
ALSO CONSIDER
Audi TT, BMW Z4, Porsche Boxster.
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