Thanks to a promotional video, that was more than likely leaked onto the web, the 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK has been fully unveiled.
The YouTube video has already been pulled, (UPDATE: A new video was found by another one of our readers, thanks Ben. Watch the video below.) but our faithful reader Borwin sent us several screen shots that allow you an in depth look at the all new Mercedes SLK. On the exterior, we can see the SLS AMG styling with integrated trunk-lid spoiler and LED taillights, front quarter vents and adaptive headlights with LED daytime running lights. If adding on the AMG package, you can have a revised front fascia with LED fog lights and AMG wheels with cross-drilled brakes.
Like the SLS, the 2012 SLK has a prominent center console and round air vents. Additnional interior features include sun reflective seasts, draft guard system with is integrated into the roll bars and last but not least, a dash-mounted clock.
As we reported earlier, orders for the new Mercedes-Benz SLK are expected to start with three engine options available to choose from. To start, the SLK 200 BlueEFFICIENCY with 184 hp and 270Nm available (€ 38,650 base price, 6.4 liters / 100), the SLK 250 BlueEFFICIENCY with 204 hp (310Nm – € 44,200, 6.2 litres/100km) and the SLK 350 BlueEFFICIENCY with 306 PS (370 nm – € 52,200, 7.1 liters / 100km) to choose from.
We expect the options list to include the MAGIC SKY CONTRO roof, COMAND Online with internet access, Airscarf and Harman Kardon Audio.
With all the additional leaks of the new SLK, we continue to believe the first introduction will be in January at the North American International Auto Show.
The next generation 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK is scheduled to be introduced at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this January, ahead of the European Premiere in Geneva.
Orders for the new Mercedes-Benz SLK are reported to start on January 17, 2011 with the first three engine options available. To start, the SLK 200 BlueEFFICIENCY with 184 hp and 270Nm available (€ 38,650 base price, 6.4 liters / 100), the SLK 250 BlueEFFICIENCY with 204 hp (310Nm – € 44,200, 6.2 litres/100km) and the SLK 350 BlueEFFICIENCY with 306 PS (370 nm – € 52,200, 7.1 liters / 100km) to choose from.
The next generation SLK will then hit the dealer showrooms on March 26.
The AMG engine peak comes later. The SLK 55 AMG with 422 hp -310 kW, uses as an 8-cylinder with a displacement of 5439 cc. The SLK 200 BlueEFFICIENCY and SLK 250 BlueEFFICIENCY will feature a 6-speed manual transmission including ECO start / stop function. Optional is the automatic transmission 7G-TRONIC Plus with ECO start / stop function.
For the launch there will be a special “Edition 1”, as known from other series. The vehicle is then delivered with designo matt lacquer in glacial gray and features standard LED daytime running lights. We have yet to hear additonal details on this edition but will keep you posted as we hear more.
For additional information on the next generation 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK, visti Mercedes-Benz Passion.
Early next year, Mercedes-Benz will launch the all-new 2012 SLK-Class. The agile sports car will feature a bold, new design, exceptionally high levels of comfort, as well as plenty of open-air driving pleasure. At the same time, it will also set new safety standards for convertible sports cars. The third generation of this trend setting roadster will make use of a whole host of the latest assistance systems to support the driver, including the drowsiness detection system ATTENTION ASSIST, developed by Mercedes-Benz and fitted as standard equipment; available occupant protection system PRE-SAFE®, which is unique in the world; and the PRE-SAFE® Brake, which can apply the brakes autonomously in the event of an impending front-end collision. With the 2012 SLK-Class, Mercedes-Benz continues to set new standards of automotive safety.
The best or nothing – the safety experts at Mercedes-Benz have long adopted this motto, coined by Gottlieb Daimler, as their guiding principle. Far from chasing ratings targets, they work intensively on attaining a level of safety which far exceeds the standards stipulated by the world’s legislators. The most important component of their work is not in the laboratory or crash test facility, but real-world accident research. The result of this study is Real Life Safety, a concept which is based on research into thousands of accidents. Using this evidence, Mercedes-Benz engineers have created or refined most of today’s assistance systems which effectively support drivers and have been adopted by many of the company’s competitors.
ATTENTION ASSIST and ADAPTIVE BRAKE as standard
The 2012 SLK-Class will feature a unique combination of driver assistance systems to help avoid accidents. These include the drowsiness detection system ATTENTION ASSIST, which helps monitor the level of attentiveness of the driver and can provide an early warning of overtiredness.
Also making up part of the standard equipment is the ADAPTIVE BRAKE. It comprises ABS, the acceleration skid control system ASR and also active yaw control. In addition, it features the following functions:
Emergency braking – detecting an acute risk of a front-end collision
Available as optional extras are the DISTRONIC PLUS proximity control as well as PRE-SAFE® Brake, already proven in other Mercedes-Benz models. Both systems work together and can initiate emergency braking automatically if there’s an acute risk of an accident. In normal driving conditions, the radar-based DISTRONIC PLUS proximity control adjusts the distance to the vehicle in front automatically. If necessary, it can apply the brakes, even bringing the SLK Roadster to a stop, and accelerate it again. This takes some of the strain off the driver, particularly in bumper-to-bumper driving conditions. If the distance starts to narrow too quickly, the system gives the driver visual and audible warnings, thereby prompting the driver to take action, at which point he is also supported by the Brake Assist System PLUS (BAS PLUS).
If the systems detect an acute risk of a front-end collision and the driver does not react, the electronic system activates the PRE-SAFE® Brake after visual and audible warnings. In the initial stage, partial autonomous braking is initiated. If the driver does not react to this, the second stage of PRE-SAFE® Brake provides full, autonomous emergency braking.
Safety and comfort
The following optional features will be available to enhance both safety and comfort:
Only available from Mercedes-Benz – the anticipatory occupant protection system PRE-SAFE®
An additional safety highlight which will be available in the new SLK (as part of the optional DISTRONIC PLUS system) is the anticipatory occupant protection system PRE-SAFE®. If the system detects an impending risk of an accident, it reflexively activates precautionary protective measures for the vehicle occupants, so that the seat belts and airbags can provide maximum protection during an impact. Mercedes-Benz developed PRE-SAFE® on the basis of research into actual accidents, and is the only manufacturer in the world to offer such a system.
In the 2012 SLK, additional post-crash measures will also supplement the PRESAFE® system to enable prompt assistance after an accident has occurred. Depending on the damage, the interior lighting can be switched on automatically, the side windows can be opened by two inches, to provide better ventilation in the interior, and in vehicles with memory seats the steering wheel can be moved upwards.
Taking into account all of the requirements of the rating institutes
In developing the new SLK, the requirements of Euro NCAP as well as all of the global consumer ratings have been taken into account. This has contributed to the development of the bodyshell structure of the vehicle, which follows established concepts and has been optimized in a number of detailed areas. These include, among other things, reinforced members, a new side impact structure and new fiber-reinforced roll-over bar.
In the event of an accident, front-mounted sensors and lateral satellite and rollover sensors help the central control unit to predict the nature and severity of the accident.
New headbag and crash-responsive head restraints
The restraint systems with two-stage driver and front passenger airbags have also been enhanced. A new feature is the headbag, which provides generous lateral protection for the head during an impact. An additional thorax airbag in the seat backrest protects the upper body in the event of a side impact. The seat belts, with belt buckle tensioners and speed sensitive belt force limiters are also hallmarks of the high Mercedes-Benz safety standards.
In the legendary Death Valley, on the border between California and Nevada, the thermometer soars to over 50 degrees Celsius during the summer. But the Mercedes-Benz test team considers these exceptional thermal conditions to be ideal.
In the middle of a rocky, scarcely frequented parking area, they have positioned three prototypes, one of which is the SLK, due to celebrate its world premiere next year. The next generation of the successful roadster is fitted with a glass roof which Mercedes-Benz will be offering – the world’s first automotive manufacturer to do so – as an optional extra in the new SLK. Known as the MAGIC SKY CONTROL panoramic vario-roof, this technical marvel boasts a unique level of versatility, as its name suggests: when open, it creates an intense feeling of being in touch with nature which is typical of a roadster, and being transparent it still provides an open-air feeling even in poorer weather. Yet it also features another unusual highlight: the transparent glass roof can be darkened on demand in a matter of seconds. As such, by optionally affording shade and a unique ambience, it helps to ensure a pleasant wellness atmosphere in the interior.
The luggage compartment is almost fit to burst with electronic measuring equipment. Dozens of cables trail towards the front, beneath the bonnet, into the interior and onto the innovative roof. This is the last rigorous operational and endurance check, in the severest of environmental conditions which a future SLK driver is ever likely to encounter anywhere in the world. During its development, the MAGIC SKY CONTROL panoramic vario-roof has already successfully endured hundreds of test hours, including sessions in the sun simulation laboratory and on various test rigs. Last winter, the future SLK and the novel panoramic roof passed the test programme in the cold arctic conditions close to the polar circle with flying colours – and that was at temperatures below minus 30 degrees. Now it’s time to turn up the heat.
To ensure that verifiable and reliable measurements can be guaranteed, the measurement technicians gather their equipment from their black van and set everything up. Then they make their adjustments under the blazing sun. The centrepiece of their equipment is a so-called star pyranometer. It provides extremely accurate measurements of the energy generated by the sunlight to which the prototypes in this bleak parking area in Death Valley are being subjected, without any shade. At ten o’clock in the morning, with a clear sky, the device’s display is already showing a good 800 W. And it is climbing. Shortly after midday it will exceed the 1000 W mark. It’s almost impossible to go any higher. In the meantime, a light cloudy mist passes through briefly, barely discernible to the eye. Yet the intensity of the sunlight immediately drops a good 200 W. The test technicians have hardly noticed this change, yet the star pyranometer reacts immediately.
Of course clouds are something of a rarity in the height of summer in Death Valley. Generally the technicians allow the prototypes of the SLK to heat up in the blazing sun for four hours each day. They then continuously record the data from the unerring star pyranometer to gather base values, so that later the measurement results can be correctly compared against each other.
Their main attention is also turned to other measurements, however. Sensors are distributed throughout the entire vehicle. That morning, the technicians installed eight new sensors in the panoramic roof alone. These sensors painstakingly record every variation in temperature, make any possible stresses in the glass visible, and monitor the load values and responses of the electronic components. Everything has to work just as smoothly and reliably at temperatures above 50 degrees as it does at minus 40 degrees.
After four hours beneath the blazing sun, the test crew leaves Death Valley and heads off in the direction of Daylight Pass, travelling through a bizarre landscape which is constantly changing: solidified mud deposits form mountains which are then gnawed away by the powers of erosion.
A chain of mountains crumbles, and sandstone returns to sand. “Bleak, sterile mountains and blinding salt flats stare back at us”, noted Lewis Manly in 1849, when a Mormon trek had to wait 25 days on the valley floor for help to arrive. Later, an accompanying pastor’s wife wrote: “We have walked through the valley of death”, and with these words gave the valley its name.
On arrival at the test support centre in Beatty, located around 1200 metres higher up, it is comparatively cool: the thermometer here shows a moderate 40 degrees Celsius. And now it’s time to take stock of the day’s results. The collected data have to be sorted out and transferred to laptops. Today everyone is satisfied with the results. This means that the measurement results from each individual sensor have met all expectations. There were no surprises, as expected.
This has not always been the case. As with any innovative product, the new MAGIC SKY CONTROL panoramic vario-roof has also posed quite a number of challenges for the Mercedes-Benz engineers. Glass and foil have had to work perfectly together, and the control electronics have had to function in all imaginable circumstances. Sometimes the measurement data highlighted specific problems. This then resulted in the test technicians embarking on a flurry of hectic activity in their test workshop. What does this measurement tell us? How did it happen? What do we need to change in order to achieve an ideal result?
The technicians and engineers in Beatty were in constant contact with the development centre in Sindelfingen via the internet. Suggestions were made, then discarded, and new strategies were created and components changed. Often parts were exchanged and new sensors installed by early morning.
This phase has now been completed. The last heat tests in Death Valley have now confirmed this – and they have also once again demonstrated, to impressive effect, the efficiency of the newly developed roof. After taking to the driver’s seat – following the vehicle’s exposure to the torturing heat for four hours – and switching the roof to darkened mode, the test technicians immediately noticed significant relief from the heat. Thermal images showed that the temperature in the region of the head and shoulders was reduced. Measurements using the star pyranometer located on the centre stowage compartment clearly demonstrated why this was the case. With an open roof, the sun load in the heat of Death Valley reached 1000 to 1100 W per square metre. With the transparent glass roof it dropped to 200 W, and when the roof was switched to darkened mode with MAGIC SKY CONTROL, it dropped to 40 to 50 W – just one 20th of the original value.
The unique MAGIC SKY CONTROL glass roof will now be able to celebrate its world premiere next year.
As we previously brought you, Mercedes-Benz is enhancing the vario-roof of the SLK with innovative technology boasting entirely new features. As a result, a totally unique glass roof will be celebrating its world premiere in the new SLK next year: at the touch of a button it can be made either transparent or darkened. In transparent mode it will offer an open-air experience during cold weather, while in darkened mode it will afford a haven of shade and prevent the interior from heating up in direct sunlight.
Mercedes-Benz will be the first automotive manufacturer to offer the new glass roof – called the panoramic vario-roof with MAGIC SKY CONTROL – as an optional extra in the new SLK next year. Thanks to this new development, the transparent glass roof can be darkened on demand in a matter of seconds. By affording shade and a unique ambience, it helps to ensure a pleasant wellness atmosphere in the vehicle interior.
Since the innovative glass also shields against the sun’s rays far more effectively than conventional thermal insulation glass or sunblinds, the occupants of the new SLK will also enjoy the highest level of climatic comfort at the same time. When driving with the roof open would be unpleasant due to intense heat, the driver and front passenger are able to remain composed under the MAGIC SKY CONTROL roof – an important contribution towards feeling comfortable and driver-fitness safety, a concept typically promoted by Mercedes. Even when the vehicle is at a standstill the interior does not overheat, since the roof is switched to darkened mode when powered off.
The operating principle is based on the physics of a plate condenser: if the glass structure is subjected to an electrical voltage, particles in the structure position themselves so that light is able to pass through the glass. If the voltage remains switched off, however, the particles position themselves randomly. This partially blocks the light, and the glass remains dark. The control unit and converter are integrated into the front section of the roof, and the switch is in the overhead control console.
In addition to the unique panoramic effect and transparency at the touch of a button, MAGIC SKY CONTROL also provides a top-class wellness atmosphere. UV and infrared light are also effectively blocked in transparent mode, while insulation increases even more significantly and noticeably in darkened mode, thereby helping to keep the temperature on interior parts such as armrests cooler by up to 10 degrees Celsius compared with conventional green glass.
The demanding Mercedes-Benz endurance test programme which prototypes fitted with the switchable glass roof had to pass around the globe included harsh practical tests conducted in Death Valley in the USA – one of the hottest places on earth. Under the heat of the baking sun, summer temperatures there regularly hit over 50 degrees Celsius in the shade. The test engineers made the most of these conditions to heat up the SLK prototypes with transparent roofs for four hours around midday, for example. They then switched the roofs to non-transparent mode and immediately noticed significant relief from the torturing heat. Thermal images showed that temperatures in the region of the head were reduced.
Measurements using a device called a star pyranometer revealed why this was the case. This device measures the intensity of exposure to sunlight. With an open roof, the load from the sun in the heat of Death Valley reached 1000 to 1100 W per square metre. With the transparent glass roof it dropped to 200 W, and when the roof was switched to darkened mode with MAGIC SKY CONTROL, it dropped to 40 to 50 W – one 20th of the original value.
But MAGIC SKY CONTROL not only benefits passengers. Some of the strain is also taken off the air-conditioning system, thereby in turn saving on CO2 emissions.
The panoramic vario-roof with MAGIC SKY CONTROL will be available to order as an optional extra for less than 2000 euros.
The very first photos of the new SLK, which will be celebrated at the Geneva Motor Show 2011, made their debut today. While the photos released are only a teaser of what the new SLK will look like, they do give an insight to the SLK’s latest and greatest feature.
The Magic Sky Control roof takes advantage of a new innovative technology that allows the roof to be either transparent or darkened. Whether in cold, rainy or just overcast weather, the transparent option gives passengers and drivers an open air experience while remaining shielded from the elements. The dark state helps prevent the interior from being overheated and shields the occupents from intense sunlight.
The Magic Sky Control is set to be an option on the new SLK for just under 2,000 Euro additional. Advantages of the roof include: the glass more effectively shields solar radiation over conventional heat-resistant glass or shutters., when driving becomes uncomfortable with the roof open because of excessive heat, the transparent roof would remain comfortable and still give the open air feeling driver and passenger.
The varying roof makes use of a plate condenser to alter the transparency: when an electrical voltage is applied to the glass structure, the particles align on the structure of glass so that light can penetrate the glass. If the current is off, the particles are oriented randomly. Thus, the light is partially blocked and the screen is dark. The controller and converter are integrated in the front part of the roof and the switch can be found in the roof console. UV and infrared light are also blocked, even in the transparent state.
A special thanks to Markus Jordan for sharing the information and photos with us.
We’ve been bringing you spy photos of the next-generation 2011 Mercedes SLK-Class for quite some time now, and today we’ve finally gotten our hands on spy shots showcasing the 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLK AMG. Tell-tale signs this is the AMG variant of the 2011 SLK include the monstrous quad exhaust and larger brakes. We have yet to receive confirmation on the engine Mercedes-Benz will choose to use to power the future SLK AMG, but it will likely be Mercedes’ new 5.5-litre twin-turbo V8. If the speculation turns out ot be correct, expect power output of around 400-450 horsepower – about 90 horsepower more than the current SLK55 AMG which uses a naturally aspirated 5.5-litre V8.
Based on earlier spy photos of the standard SLK-Class, we can expect the interior to take design cues from the Mercedes-Benz SLS, with the typical AMG enhancements – sport steering wheel, sport seats, carbon fiber accents, etc.
As always, we will keep updated as soon as we know more about the AMG variant of the 2011 Mercedes SLK-Class; in the meantime, you can check out more 2011 SLK AMG spy photos in the gallery below, and then head over to Car Advice for the full article.
A new series of next-generation Mercedes SLK spy photos have emerged that depict the new roadster traveling on the outskirts of Paris. Unfortunately, false paneling hides much of the model’s design, revealing even less of the model’s design than we’ve seen in the past. Nevertheless, we thought the photos would serve as a good reminder the next SLK is right around the corner. Look for the 2011 Mercedes SLK-Class to make its debut as early as September at the Paris Auto Show. We’ll keep you posted as new details regarding the 2011 SLK are revealed; in the meantime, check out the lastest SLK spy photos in the gallery below. Thanks to Carscoop for the pics.
If you’ve been patiently awaiting the arrival of the next-generation Mercedes SLK-Class, we’ve got your latest look at the new roadster, with the camouflage minimal enough to give a relatively clear view of what we can expect. Up front, the new grille has clearly been inspired by the SLS AMG, while the headlights, hood and front bumper have all been re-worked to match the new design. In the rear, the changes are a little more subtle, with noticeable differences including a now fluid trunk line (the current SLK’s trunk link bends around the tail lights) as well as smaller tail lights overall. Under the hood, rumors are still indicating that one of the ways power will be supplied is by Mercedes’ 2.2-litre BlueEfficiency four-cylinder twin-turbo diesel (which develops 152kW and 500Nm of torque). Of course, power will also come from a variety of petrol engines, including a possible 3.5 litre twin-turbo V6 developing somewhere in the 220 to 260kW range.
As always, we’ll keep you posted as new details of the 2011 Mercedes SLK are revealed; in the meantime, check out more 2011 SLK spy photos in the gallery below. Thanks to Autojunk.nl and TheMotorReport.com.au for the pictures.