Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition

The Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition (often abbreviated as SLK SE) is a fictional tuned version of the Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG, with aftermarket customizations.

Description
The Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition has the following upgrades:
 * Upgraded 5.5 L V8 engine with twin-turbochargers
 * Custom body kit and spoiler
 * Gold-rimmed wheels (resembling BBS rims)
 * Vanity license plate
 * Custom livery
 * Black and Gold stripes
 * The zodiacal sign of the Chinese year of the car's release: the Rooster

Summary
The Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition was added in the Lunar New Year 2017 Update as a high-end Class A Elite car.

Intended to be a replacement for the pre-release Championship Update 1967 Chevrolet Impala, the Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition retains almost all of the Impala's original performance traits, such as a huge rank difference between its stock and MAX+PRO ranks, extreme top speed, and Elite status.

The Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition has the following rank statistics:


 * Starting rank: 885
 * MAX rank: 1513 (+628)
 * MAX+PRO rank: 1776 (+263)
 * Tuning Kit bonus: +77
 * 0808 Elite Tuning rank: 1828 (+52)
 * Stock to MAX+PRO rank difference: 891
 * Upgrade rank percentages: 10/40/10/40
 * Nitro Efficiency: 9/14/18

Performance
The Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition has an extreme top speed offset by poor nitro efficiency (which is actually worse than the regular SLK 55 AMG's 8/13/18), as well as sluggish acceleration, a wide drifting radius and ponderous handling; the latter three are comparable to the Chevrolet 2016 Camaro SS. Its handling and drifting capabilities become worse as the car gets faster. Despite these drawbacks, the SLK SE more than makes up for this with its top speed. At MAX+PRO rank with an Elite tuning of 0808 and a Tuning Kit applied, the SLK SE reaches a phenomenal top speed of 335.5 mph (539.8 km/h), the fastest in the game by a margin of more than 9.9 mph (16 km/h), and a record that it has held since its debut.

The Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition generally excels on long and simple tracks such as Tokyo, but not on short/technical tracks such as Sector 8 or Dubai.

Usage
With its maximum top speed hampered by its other crippling performance traits, the Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition can be considered to be a Class A, upgraded version of the Devel Sixteen Prototype.

Due to its poor handling and drift at higher speeds, a strategy known as "wall-riding" is recommended when using the Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition. This method allows the car to handle corners without "drift-boosting" by riding against the outside wall of the corner. The effectiveness of this method varies by track as there are corners that will scrub too much speed than simply drifting. Notable sections where wall-riding is less effective are:
 * The S-bends of Azure Coast
 * The statue corner of San Diego Harbor
 * The spiral of Sector 8
 * The cannon fort corner of Ice Cave (Going too fast will cause the SLK SE to jump over the wall and go out of bounds)

In addition to wall-riding, taking longer routes that are less technical or do not prohibit acceleration/top speed (i.e. the cliff jump of Tenerife and starting jumps on San Diego Harbor) are also recommended as the Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition's top speed is more than sufficient to make up for the time lost on route choice.

Even though the Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition is formidable in almost every Multiplayer bracket due to its extreme speed, it is only recommended for very skilled players as a high level of skill is required to maneuver the car effectively at its top speed and around corners.

Multiplayer
The Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition is a deadly car for Multiplayer given its low starting rank and high speed-to-rank ratio, allowing it to reach an extremely high top speed at lower ranks. Although the Audi R8 e-tron Special Edition has replaced it as the king of low-tier multiplayer due to its much better acceleration, handling and nitro performance, the SLK SE still retains its formidability at rank 1248 and higher. The SLK SE's poor acceleration and subpar handling becomes an occasional problem from rank 1390 onwards as it is easy prey for the McLaren Mercedes MP4-25, Rezvani Beast Alpha, Aston Martin Vulcan, 2018 McLaren X2, and Apollo Intensa Emozione on short or twisty tracks. Using boosters at higher ranks is necessary to compensate for the SLK SE's shortcomings while still making it more competitive than most other vehicles.

The Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition does well on most tracks, but it performs best on long, simple tracks such as Tokyo, Barcelona, and Azure Coast. Due to its weak handling and very wide drifting radius, using this car on Venice, Dubai, San Diego Harbor, Tenerife, Munich Subway is not recommended unless its driver is very skilled. Its lower acceleration also makes it prone to knockdowns at the start of most races. For these reasons, it is still possible for slower but faster-accelerating vehicles to beat the SLK SE. On longer tracks and races, knockdowns and wrecks are less of a problem due to the SLK SE's extreme top speed (and, at MAX+PRO, its slightly better acceleration) allowing it to catch up to and overtake the competition, although races with more than 1 lap will also degrade the SLK SE's performance more due to its Elite status.

Maxing out only the Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition's top speed, which translates to a MAX+PRO Elite tune of 0500 5050 0800, allows it to reach 320 mph (517 km/h) at a rank of 1285, something no other vehicle can do below rank 1800. This tune allows the SLK SE to outrun a similarly ranked BMW M2 and Shelby Cobra 427 with ease, both of which are commonly found in the 1200 rank bracket. Faster than both by a whopping 60 mph (97 km/h) at this rank, the SLK SE replaces the Cobra as king of mid-tier Multiplayer.

At MAX+PRO with an Elite tune of 0808 and a Tuning Kit active, it can easily beat the former dominating multiplayer king at this rank, the Aston Martin Vulcan, as it is around 20.5 mph (33 km/h) faster.

Some other popular Multiplayer tunings include:
 * 0400 5050 0800 (Rank 1248): Real speed= 313 mph (504 km/h)
 * 0500 5555 0800 (Rank 1390): Real speed= 324 mph (522 km/h)

The prototype matchmaking system used during the Fifth Anniversary Update's Heatwave Season, which matched vehicles based on their speed rather than their rank, greatly reduced the Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition's usefulness as it was often pitted against vehicles that have similar top speed but much better acceleration, like the McLaren MP4/8, Apollo Intensa Emozione and 2018 McLaren X2.

Other
The Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition is the ideal choice for events featuring Class A vehicles that involve long and simple tracks, where it dominates all other Class A vehicles except for the Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport, which is slightly slower but has better acceleration, nitro efficiency (6/10/15) and handling. Likewise, it is also ideal for Mercedes-Benz-only events except on short, twisty tracks, where cars with better handling are more suitable.

The Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition gives and a Champion Kit Box as rewards from its Mastery Challenges 5 and 10 respectively, but the latter was changed to Blueprints in the Asphalt Moments Update.

The Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition is not suitable for as it lacks effective races and the car's Elite status prevents it from being used at its normal performance many times before requiring a tune-up.

Price
The Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition costs to buy during its initial limited-time offer spanning 19 days. Following the Car Blueprints Update, it can be assembled with 18 Legendary-rarity Blueprints. Assembly takes 8 hours to complete but can be skipped for up to .

Upgrades require, while Pro Kits require , as well as 14 of each Class A Part, 12 Forced-Induction V8, 6 Initial & Common Tech, 12 Mid-Tech and 8 Advanced Tech cards. Tune-ups cost and take 2h 30min to finish.

The Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition was featured in the Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition Multiplayer Cup between December 18-22, 2017, where the top 25 players received all 18 blueprints to assemble the car.