The Mercedes-Benz SLK is wonderfully slick, but again from a performance standpoint hardly a match. At $55,950 its 192-hp supercharged 4-cylinder is taxed for sure, while the upgraded $61,950 SLK 320 offers only 215-hp - barely adequate to play in this league. The 349-hp SLK 32 AMG remedies this situation with authority, but at $77,500 it enters Porsche territory. And that leads in well to the $60,650 Boxster. While beautifully balanced its 217-hp horizontally-opposed 6-cylinder is underpowered when compared to the 287-hp Z. Even the $73,450 250-hp Boxster S leaves 27-hp on the table.
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| Remember all the 350Z coupe performance benefits and then add a fully automatic convertible top, complete with an all-season heated glass rear window for a base price of $52,900. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
But wait a minute? I'm comparing the price of coupe to convertibles. Everyone knows that a convertible offers a higher value proposition on today's market than a closed car. OK, let's be fair. Remember all the 350Z performance benefits? Now add a fully automatic convertible top complete with a glass rear window for all season driving, as well as pretty well every standard feature - less side curtain airbags - available on the top-line 350Z coupe for a base price of $52,900. Not bad, once again considering just how phenomenally quick and well refined the car is.
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| Dropping the roof takes only 20 seconds, and it tucks nicely away under an arcing double-bubble tonneau cover. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
Dropping or raising the top takes a mere 20 seconds from a tug on the single center latch to when the cloth top is stored conveniently under the racy double bubble tonneau cover, mirroring the arcing shape of the fixed asymmetric roll protection bars just ahead.
While the 350Z was initially designed and engineered with a convertible model in mind, the roadster still weighs a little more than its hard top sibling - 98 kg (216 lbs) to be exact. This is due to extensive stiffening of the A-pillar and windshield surround, beefier rocker panels that connect at four points to a rigid X-brace, a completely new rear bulkhead and dramatically reworked rear floor construction, etc, etc.