The SLK Is Dead: Say Hello To The New Mercedes SLC

A little while ago, I put together a guide to help people understand the bafflingly convoluted Mercedes range. The thing is, though, half of it now needs re-doing thanks to Stuttgart’s far-reaching renaming strategy. Remember the GLK? That’s now the GLC. The ML-Class? I think you mean the GLE. The full-fat GL hasn’t escaped either - it’s been re-christened as GLS. And now it’s the turn of the SLK, which you should now call SLC.

It’s not a new car, rather a facelift and a new name. So, what’s changed other than the expected exterior and interior fettle, and a different letter adorning the boot? Well, the engines are all either new or updated - there’s a 1.6-litre four-pot with 154bhp/184lb ft in the SLC180 and a 242bhp/273lb ft 2.0-litre in the SLC300, to name just a couple - while the old V8-powered SLK55 has been ditched.

Yep, the boisterous old 5.4-litre naturally-aspirated V8 model is gone, with the 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 SLC43 in its place. With 362bhp and 384lb ft of torque on offer, it’s down on poke compared to its predecessor, but should be superior in terms of handling - and not just because it doesn’t have a bloody great V8 nailed to the front.

The front and rear axles are new, the mountings for the engine and rear-axle gear unit stiffer, and the brakes larger. Sounds promising, and it’s quick, too: 0-62mph takes 4.7 seconds, only 0.1sec down on the old 55.

The new SLC range will be available to order in January, and will make its public debut at the Detroit Motor Show in the same month.