If Wonder Woman is the ultimate chick, then the 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK350 may be the ultimate chick car. Just like the super heroine’s jet, the new SLK has the ability to become invisible. At least part of it does.It’s a very cool piece of tech, and should be for $2,500. Like many Mercedes-Benz innovations, you can expect to see it spread throughout the lineup and automotive industry in the coming years, especially in light of our growing fascination with enormous panoramic roofs.that Mercedes-Benz should choose a convertible roadster to debut it on. But, hey, rainy days need the most brightening, right?The rest of the third-generation SLK gets a full makeover, whichno offense to Ms. Princeaims to make it appear even less feminine than previous editions. Out is the cutesy F1-inspired snub nose for one that apes that of the $200,000 SLS, along with mini-me versions of its hood and fender vents and pretty projector beam headlights that can still sell the contact lenses.The interior has been redone in the same aircraft cabin motif as its supercar sis, as well, with rotary vents and a center console smattered with lots of buttons and knobs. Material quality is through the retractable hardtop roof, and just right for a car with a base price of $55,675. Befitting its German heritage, legroom is ample and sure to please even those hailing from Paradise Island.Up front is a reworked version of the tried and true 3.5-liter V6 found in your Mercedes-Benz SUV, so there’s plenty of power to move this little scooter around. Zero to 60 mph takes a scant 5.4 seconds, and the 7-speed automatic transmission will get it up to a limited top speed of 155 mph. Fuel economy comes in at 29 mpg highway, an 11 percent improvement over 2011 – love that numerology.The motor sounds great, too, with a nice peppery exhaust note. If the ML350 sang a song like this the parking lots of high end shopping malls across America would be much more appealing destinationsThe transmission has three modesnormal and sport paddles behind the wheel to shift gears manually. I suggest leaving it in sport and to its own devices. It’s slow to react to inputs and does a good job set on automatic.With a softy suspensionthe SLK is more of a little luxury tourer than autocross toythe upcominghigh-performance SLK55 AMG better fits that bill.There’s plenty of body motionwhich I personally likebecause it enhances the feeling of speed even when you’re not going very fast.search for the car’s limits and you will find that they reside much further away than you’d expect.the SLK does shake a bit more than is acceptable for a car from Mercedes-Benz, to thepoint that it can be upset by the lack of stiffnessHit a bump in the middle of a tight corner and you’ll know what I mean. But dial things back a notch or two, drop the top and it won’t bother you at all.on the highway, and is barely there at all with the windows up. You can block outeven more of the breeze with the addition of simple for $350. The clear Plexiglas triangles rotate down from the roll bars to fill the space between you and your passenger’s heads and keep the air from sneaking in the rear. Mercedes-Benz’ unique Airscarf system, which blowshot air down on you from the headrest is also on the options list, making this a potential weekend runabout for the cast
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