Test Car Specifications
Model tested: Mercedes-AMG SLC 43
Pricing: SLC from £30,495; SLC 43 from £46,355
Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged V6 petrol
Transmission: nine-speed 9G-Tronic automatic, rear-wheel drive
Body style: two-door, two-seat roadster
CO2 emissions: 178g/km (VED Band I, £350 first 12 months, £225 annually thereafter)
Combined economy: 36.2mpg
Top speed: 155mph (limited)
0-62mph: 4.7 seconds
Power: 367hp at 5,500- 6,000rpm
Torque: 520Nm at 2,000- to 4,200rpm
What's this?
Affalterbach's take on Stuttgart's latest version of its compact two-seat roadster - thus, in absolutely correct nomenclature, this is the Mercedes-AMG SLC 43. And no, that's not a typo in the model name; after 20 years of service, the SLK nameplate is being retired for the foreseeable. SLC takes over to better tie the folding-hardtop convertible to the C-Class with which it shares so much hardware.
Hardware like a 3.0-litre, twin-turbo V6 petrol engine coupled to a nine-speed 9G-Tronic automatic gearbox. A lot of '43'-badged AMG products are on the way that will employ this drivetrain, including a C 43, but it's the SLC variant that launches first. Although the more clued-up among you might be scratching your heads at this point and thinking: 'Eh? I thought the old SLK 55 AMG had a V8?' Well, you'd be right - a massive 5.5-litre V8, no less, packing 421hp and 540Nm. So losing two cylinders, 20Nm and two-and-a-half litres of swept capacity, all while seeing 54 horses bolting out the stable door, doesn't exactly look like AMG has moved the performance SLK/SLC game on significantly. And if a Mercedes UK representative is to be believed, there is absolutely no chance of an SLC 63 (perhaps using the 476hp 4.0-litre V8 out of the C 63_ arriving to gazump the 43 in the future. This is it for outright power in the roadster's range.
Luckily, half the battle is won before you even get in the car and fire up the six-pot. Facelifted like all 'R172' third-generation SLKs... sorry, SLCs, the AMG 43 can be distinguished by some muscular lower body addenda that is surprisingly understated, by Affalterbach's standards. The A-wing front airdam design makes it through, but it's less obvious on the SLC than it is on other AMG products, while at the back there are four exhaust pipes and a boot lip spoiler. And that's it; no flared arches, no powerdome-straked bonnets, no ludicrous front splitters. It even comes on 18-inch wheels as standard, which are hardly huge diameter rims in 2016.
The interior is the best of all the SLCs, though, mainly because a wonderful, fat AMG sports steering wheel (featuring Alcantara grips at the quarter-to-three position and a red top dead centre marker) makes the grade, the paddle shifts are metallic and more pleasing to the fingertips than the slightly plastic items in regular SLC models, there is a pair of fabulous AMG bucket seats and the dash and door cards are swathed in carbon fibre trim. AMG chequered flag dials in the instrument cluster complete the look and as it's all excellent ergonomically, the cabin duly feels a cut above the rest of the range; you'll need £46,355 to sit in one, which makes it about the same price as a well-equipped AMG A 45 4Matic and a lot less than the £55,350 required for the old SLK 55 AMG.
How does it drive?
Any concerns that the SLC 43 might have gone soft are eradicated almost the instant you move off. Good grief, this thing has very, very firm AMG Sports suspension. The test cars were all fitted with the optional AMG Ride Control adaptive dampers, but even in Comfort mode they couldn't stop the AMG SLC from crunching about town like a shaven-headed football hooligan. We wouldn't go so far as to say the 43 was outright uncomfortable and unpleasant at urban speeds, yet it is akin to the sporty German cars of a few years back, all of which had unyielding shock absorbers. Strangely, the ride improves with speed whereupon it becomes less noticeable, but those of a sensitive disposition need not apply.
It's a heavy car, too, at nigh-on 1,600kg. That's only 140kg lighter than the larger, grander SL 400 using the same drivetrain, which doesn't seem like enough given the SLC is just over four metres long (4,142mm). And while we like a chassis that commands respect, there are occasions where the SLC 43 will try and thump its back end out in second, third and even fourth gear. On a dry road. With traction control engaged. Turn off the electronic safety systems and we reckon this will be, if you'll pardon the vernacular, a right spiky little sod in less-than-perfect conditions. We've criticised the BMW M4 over the same thing, and that's no dinky two-seat roadster with an image that some people still find a bit too salon.
But the noise. Oh, sweet mother, the noise. How on Earth Mercedes-AMG got something this loud through the various road car regulations is quite beyond our ken. From start-up in Comfort mode, it sounds angry and brutish, the V6 snarling away and the exhaust roaring from 2,000rpm onwards. Switch it up into Sport+, though, and it goes all Wagner's Ride Of The Valkyries on us. The racket it makes is absolutely tremendous, all-encompassing and thoroughly dirty. Yes, induction is now totally dominated by the maniacal exhaust, but there's no way the SLC's disgracefully decadent tune couldn't put a smile on your face. Knowing one of its key competitors (hint: from a company also based in Stuttgart) has taken the decision to kill off its six-cylinder motors for its mid-engine roadster, we're sure the Mercedes-AMG will pick up sales as a result because nothing else in its class sounds anything like it. Case in point: running line astern with two more SLC 43s in a tunnel, it's a wonder the resulting din from three childish drivers (who should really know better) all needlessly accelerating and braking and accelerating again, just to make the Mercs bellow furiously, didn't end up fracturing the concrete walls.
Thankfully, the SLC 43 is not all colossal mouth and no trousers. Dismiss it all you like on your preconceptions of the previous SLKs being slightly effete, but the SLC has a remarkably excellent chassis. Even if the on-paper stats suggest a few variants of SLK AMG were more accelerative than the SLC 43, it has the least amount of weight over its nose and so it's far keener to turn in than ever before. You'll be able to sling that long conk into corners with ease and precision, too, as the steering is peachy, possessing the holy trinity of good weighting, linear responses and - praise be! - some genuine feel. The brakes are epic, the body control iron-fisted, the 9G-Tronic transmission largely beyond criticism; it responds to paddle inputs far more faithfully than it did when we tried it last time out in the SL 400. And we have no negatives whatsoever to level at that glorious 3.0-litre V6 engine. It's indecently responsive at any revs, sounds great from idle to the redline and has a complete lack of discernible turbo lag. No one could need more power in this particular SLC package.
If it weren't for that unruly rear axle, this would be the least hot-roddish compact roadster to issue forth from AMG yet. As it is, the best approach to driving the SLC 43 quickly is to just stay within its grip envelope and use its prodigious torque to make up lost fractions of a second on the straights. So it's not as cohesive as some rivals, but by way of compensation it is a terrific amount of fun instead.
Verdict
Objectively, the Mercedes-AMG SLC 43 has a few flaws and therefore has to be awarded four out of five stars. It's too heavy, it's too hard-riding and its skittish rear axle feels like it could surprise the unwitting driver. It's also equipped with a torque-converter automatic transmission, which is not the driving enthusiast's favourite type of gearbox, brilliant though the 9G-Tronic is. Subjectively though, we absolutely adore it. It has none of the precision of a Porsche Boxster S nor Lotus Exige, and none of the finesse of something much cheaper like the Mazda MX-5 Mk4. Yet it's about our favourite roadster of the moment, courtesy of one of the great drivetrains of our time, an apocalyptic voice and a price tag that actually seems reasonable value for this sort of all-round panache. Our critical professionalism might not allow us to give this car full marks, but our hearts are completely taken - the SLC 43 is riotously enjoyable and an absolute cracker.
Exterior Design
Interior Ambience
Passenger Space
Luggage Space
Safety
Comfort
Driving Dynamics
Powertrain
