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2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK350 (photos)

The SLK350 went through some changes for the 2012 model year, going from luxury cruiser to high-revving sports car.

Wayne Cunningham
Wayne Cunningham reviews cars and writes about automotive technology for CNET's Roadshow. Prior to the automotive beat, he covered spyware, Web building technologies, and computer hardware. He began covering technology and the Web in 1994 as an editor of The Net magazine.
Wayne Cunningham
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The SLK350 used to be a baby roadster, a lightweight open-top cruiser in Mercedes-Benz's lineup. But the 2012 model features a more aggressive design and engine.

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Vents in the hood and sides, along with a lower air intake, help give the SLK350 a performance look.

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The new engine uses direct injection to feed six cylinders, and makes 302 horsepower, plenty for this roadster.

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The SLK350 is strictly a two-seater, and although the cabin is compact, Mercedes-Benz includes useful ergonomic features such as putting the power seat controls on the doors.

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The SLK350 comes with a retractable hard top, standard, which folds up or down in just 20 seconds. When up, it creates a nicely curved roofline.

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Mercedes-Benz put nicely curved back glass in the roof, and CNET's car came with a panoramic roof option, another glass panel on top. The car can also be optioned with an electrochromatic roof that changes opacity at the touch of a button.

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Mercedes-Benz managed to keep air turbulence down to a minimum in the cabin, but there is still quite a bit of external noise when driving at speed with the top down.

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The roof folds up into the trunk, taking up some space. However, this trunk space is still very deep, and would easily fit a couple of roller bags.

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The SLK350's cabin is nicely appointed, as you would expect in a car that starts at $55K.

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Mercedes-Benz gave the SLK350 a sport steering wheel, with a flattened bottom and sculpted thumbholds over the spokes.

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The steering wheel holds buttons for voice command, stereo, and phone control.

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These white-faced gauges give a performance look to the instrument cluster. The center monochromatic screen shows trip information, plus a coffee cup icon representing the drowsy-driver detection feature.

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The SLK350's seven-speed automatic uses a lock-up clutch for tight gear shifts, which transmits power more directly than a torque converter to the rear wheels.

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The dial for the COMAND system, set in the console, controls all onscreen functions.

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The navigation system uses a hard drive for map storage, and can render buildings in 3D.

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The navigation system includes traffic data, which it uses to route around trouble spots.

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The Bluetooth phone system includes a full address book, automatically downloaded from a paired phone.

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The car recognizes a good number of audio sources. Music Register refers to the onboard hard drive, which has room for music storage.

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With both iPods and USB drives, the system organizes music by album, artist, and genre. It also displays album art.

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The Harman Kardon audio system uses 11 speakers and a 500-watt amp to produce excellent sound.

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