Mercedes Benz has officially confirmed plans to release a special edition of its
SLK 55 AMG sports vehicle. The new
SLK will lack some comfort and 'excessive' safety features, but will be lighter and feature a more powerful powerplant.
Posted by: nektotigra on 10/06/06 In its
press release,
Mercedes reports that the special edition SLK 55 AMG will come with a more powerful 5.5-liter V8 petrol engine, which is able to produce some 400 horsepower and 520Nm of torque. The engine is mated with the AMG SPEEDSHIFT 7G-TRONIC transmission with manual drive program and
AMG aluminum shift paddles on the steering wheel.
Weighing just 1495 kilograms, which is 45kg lighter than the original version, the new
SLK 55 AMG will be able to reach 100 km/h in 4.5 seconds and 200 km/h in 15.5 seconds. That is respectively 0.4 and 2 seconds faster than the more civilized version is capable to accelerate.
To make the car lighter,
AMG decided to get rid of Vario automatic roof system, which is substituted with a carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CRP), and side airbags. The special series
SLK 55 AMG has ultra-light
AMG forged light alloy-wheels with mixed-size tires in sizes 235/35 ZR 19 (front) and 265/30 ZR 19 (rear) – as an alternative, optional special sports tires are available without extra charge.
The new
Special Edition SLK 55 AMG is expected to be available this July at about 107,000 euros (including 16% VAT).
See also: Mercedes-Benz ready to debut its CLS 63 AMG and CLK 63 AMG in Geneva
