Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition

The Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition (often abbreviated as SLK SE) is a Special Edition car appearing as a fictional tuned version of the Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG, with aftermarket customization.
==Description==
The Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition has the following modifications:
*Upgraded 5.5 L V8 engine with forced induction
*Custom widebody kit and spoiler
*Gold-rimmed wheels (resembles BBS CH-R, Rays Volk G27, or HRE P40SC rims)
*Vanity license plate
*Custom livery
**Black and Gold stripes
**The Chinese New Year zodiac sign of the car's release: the Rooster
== Asphalt 8: Airborne ==
===Summary===
The Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition was added in the Lunar New Year 2017 Update as a high 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 the Impala's original performance traits; huge rank difference between stock and MAX+PRO, extreme top speed, and Elite status.
The Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition has the following statistics:
*Starting rank: 885
*MAX rank: 1513 (+628)
*MAX+PRO rank: 1776 (+263)
**This was changed to 1801 in the Fast Lane Update
*Tuning Kit bonus: +77
*0808 Elite Tuning rank: 1828 (+52)
**This was changed to 1910 (+109) in the Fast Lane Update
**The car's Elite status was removed in the Sixth Anniversary Update
*Stock to MAX+PRO rank difference: 891
*Upgrade rank percentages: 10/40/10/40
*Nitro Efficiency: 9/14/18
Between the Fifteenth Anniversary Update and 2021 Spring Update, the SLK 55 AMG Special Edition was a low Class S car.
As of the 2021 Summer Update, the SLK 55 AMG Special Edition is now a high Class D car with the following statistics:
* Starting rank: 1026
*MAX rank: 1179 (+153)
**This was removed in the Gangstar Season Update
*MAX+PRO rank: 1322 (+143)
*Tuning Kit bonus: +39
*Nitro Efficiency: 7.5/9.5/12
===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), sluggish acceleration, a wide drifting radius, and ponderous handling; the latter three traits 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 made up for this with its very high top speed. At MAX+PRO rank with an Elite tuning of 0808 and a Tuning Kit applied, the SLK SE reached 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). However, because of the recent updates, it can only reach a top speed of 305 mph or 491 km/h with nitro at max with a tuning kit.
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, 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 ineffective are:
*The S-bends of Azure Coast
*The statue corner of San Diego Harbor
*The spirals of Sector 8 and Munich Subway
*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)
*The long turns of Transylvania (Going too fast may push the car onto its side while airborne and cause a Wreck)
In addition to wall-riding, taking longer routes that are less technical or do not impede sustained 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 experienced players as a high level of skill is required to maneuver the car effectively at its top speed and around corners.
====Multiplayer====
<tabber> 
v4.1 onwards=
As of the Fast Lane Update, the SLK SE is now virtually useless for multiplayer with its rank change. At lower ranks, it will be beaten by the McLaren M14A, ED Design Torq, and even the Ariel Atom V8 and Porsche 959 due to its sluggish acceleration, horrible handling/drifting and short nitro. Upgrading to higher ranks will not help either.
|-|
Pre-v4.1=
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 duration, 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, Lamborghini Centenario LP 770-4, Apollo Intensa Emozione, and even the Porsche Carrera GT 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 excels on long, simple tracks such as Tokyo, Barcelona, and Azure Coast. Due to its weak handling and very wide drifting radius, racing on Venice, Dubai, San Diego Harbor, Sector 8, Tenerife, Rio de Janeiro, Munich Subway and Transylvania is not recommended unless its driver is very skilled. Its slow acceleration also makes it prone to knockdowns at the start of most races. As such, 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 321 mph (517 km/h) at a rank of 1285, . 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, the Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition 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.
</tabber>
====Other====
The Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Special Edition was 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 was also ideal for sprints and Mercedes-Benz-only events except on short, twisty tracks, where cars with better handling are more suitable. In Tag Racing cups where it was featured, the SLK SE was best placed as the second or third car on the list to offset its poor acceleration.
The Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG 'Special Edition gives and, formerly, 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 grinding 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 .
The SLK 55 AMG SE was on sale for a limited-time during the following periods:
*February 22 - 28, 2021: (40% off)
*July 17 - ?, 2021: 
*January 18 - February 1, 2023: (50% off)
*April 18 - 22, 2024: (10% off)
*May 25 - June 1, 2024: or (50% off)
As of the Sixth Anniversary Mini Update, the car no longer requires Blueprints to be assembled and has a full purchase price of . It was also turned into a time-limited car.
As of the Gangstar Season Update, upgrades require 55 of each , , , and , 160 and .
Tune-ups cost and take 2h 30min to finish. The Sixth Anniversary Update removed the car's Elite status.
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.
Blueprints for the SLK 55 AMG Special Edition were available in the 5th Anniversary event as a possible reward in the Specialist Bundles, and in the February 2019 rerun of the Snowflurry Festival, with each Extra Snowflurry Bundle awarding 1 BP.
The SLK 55 AMG SE is obtainable in the New Year Festival by reaching tier 1 in the Premium Pass. Players who already own the car would get 15x instead.
The SLK 55 AMG SE was made obtainable for a second time in the Lunar Festival (2021) by reaching tier 1 in the Premium Pass. Players who already own the SLK 55 AMG SE would get 10x instead.
The SLK 55 AMG SE was made obtainable for a third time in the Lunar Festival (2022) by reaching Tier 8. Players who already own the car would get 8x instead.
The SLK 55 AMG SE was made obtainable for a fourth time by reaching Tier 50 in the Acura NSX GT3 Evo Car Hunt. Players who already own the car would get 8x instead.
Category:Lunar New Year 2017 Update
Category:Elite Cars
Category:Single Color Car
Category:Colors Only Cars
Category:Tokens cars
Category:Blueprint-unlockable Cars