From the inventors of the modern automotive oil-burner comes its latest creation – the top 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK250, a diesel-powered, two-seater, convertible.
We’ve known about the SLK250 for a few months now. But today is the day customers (in Europe) can walk into a Benz dealer, sign the paperwork for a convertible, and drive away with the wind blowing in their hair for a very, very long distance before needing to refuel – about 800 miles to be exact. The SLK250 shares the same mill found in the C250, which is the BlueEfficiency, 2.2-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder that is rated at 204 hp and a whopping 369 lb-ft of torque. It’s mated to a seven-speed automatic, with a six-speed manual coming in spring 2012.
Mercedes-Benz says its diesel droptop will go from 0-62 mph in just 6.7 seconds and should “counter in impressive style the common misconception that diesel engines and sports cars are incompatible.” The press release also makes numerous comparisons to the company’s C111-II D and C111-III, claiming that the SLK250 is the “logical successor to these illustrious forbears.” The C111 was a gullwing-styled research vehicle that Mercedes created in the 1970s as a catalyst for high-performance, sports-oriented diesel engines. For example, the C111-III featured a diesel, exhaust gas turbocharged, four-cylinder engine that was rated at 230 hp and posted a record-setting 199 mph average speed while traveling for over an hour on a racetrack.
Fast forward to today and now we have a mass-produced car capable of posting numbers close to what the C111 achieved. There’s no word if Mercedes is planning (or even thinking) to bring the SLK diesel stateside. With the V6-powered SLK350 already on sale and the four-cylinder, gas-powered SLK250 on the horizon, do you believe there is room for a diesel-powered SLK in America?
