Mercedes SLK rental car – Hire a Mercedes Convertible

In countries with low to moderate vehicle registration tax, Mercedes smallest convertible SLK is a popular hire car.

However, with room for only driver and one passenger, limited luggage space, metal folding roof and fairly high power output, the Mercedes SLK remains a niche car to the hire car companies.

Introduction of the Mercedes SLK
The first SLK, R170 in Mercedes lingo, was initially introduced in 1996.

When introduced, the automatic metal folding roof was revolutionary within the car industry. In German SLK is an abbreviation for “Sportlich Leicht Kompakt” (or Kurtz) which in English translates to Short, Light and Compact.

Hire car version of SLK
The SLK R170 is no longer in service as a hire car as its replacement called R171 was introduced in 2004. As a rental car the SLK mostly comes as the supercharged 4-cylider 200K, which is the smallest engine with either 163 BHP (2004-2008) or 184 BHP in the later face lifted versions from 2008 and onwards.

Mercedes SLK bears many visual resemblances from the £300,000+ Mercedes McLaren hyper car, which is probably no coincidence.

All SLKs now comes with double tail pipe exhaust systems, which makes it far more difficult to distinguish the basic less powerful versions from the 6-Cylinder engines, not least because many 4-cylinder versions is factory de badge, which means model designation is removed from the boot lid.

A nippy 2 seater convertible in Germany

Mercedes SLK is a full bread 2 seater rear wheel drive roadster, with plenty of power on tap and well balanced handling and comfort. However, engine sound on 4-cylinder versions does come across a bit tame. The Mercedes SLK comes with 6 speed gearbox and air-condition as standard and if it has factory upgraded alloy wheels (16” is standard) the rear tyres will be slightly wider than in the front.

A metal folding roof always ads weight to car and even with the smallest engine the compact two-seater Mercedes SLK weighs almost 1400 kilos. Still even with the smallest engine SLK show fairly impressive performance figures with 0-62 mph acceleration times close to 7 seconds flat.

What is just as impressive is the fuel economy of the SLK 200K. The latest version of the SLK does up to 53.3 mpg gallon which compares well with most diesel engines.

The Mercedes SLK metal roof folds away into the boot quickly, by pressing a single button in the car. There’s good separation between roof and luggage space in the SLK, but even when the roof isn’t folded down the boot luggage space is fairly limited.

If you’re in luck some SLK hire cars come with the “Airscarf” factory option in the seats. The “Airscarf” option offers driver and passenger subtle heating in the neck area blowing warm air onto the neck whilst the roof is down, making the journey more pleasant to with the roof down even in colder climates.

Rent a cheap SLK in Major German Airports

Germany is one of the few European countries where the SLK is broadly available as hire car. It is not unusual to find one weeks SLK car hire for less £450 in German airports such as Hamburg, Munich, Berlin, Cologne or Frankfurt.

If you are no more two people travelling light on holiday and want a bit more excitement from your car hire experience, the Mercedes SLK is a brilliant option which is fairly priced.

Facts about the Mercedes SLK Convertible hire car

Rental vehicle type: Sport, exotic, cabriolet, (XTMR)
Luggage capacity: 208 litres with folded roof and 300 litres with closed roof
Fuel economy extra urban SLK 200 K (2011 model 184 BHP): 53.3 mpg
Fuel economy mixed SLK 200 K (2011 model 184 BHP): 43.5 mpg
Euro NCAP safety level adults (max 5 stars): 4 stjerner
Available with 7 speed auto but mostly delivered with manual
Fuel capacity: 70 litre

Article: Mercedes SLK rental car – Hire a Mercedes Convertible
Topics: mercedes-slk,convertible,germany,cabriolet,luxury

Mercedes SLK rental car – Hire a Mercedes Convertible

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