TurkAlhajeri

Hey guys

I was hoping i could get some help on how i can activate Race Start. I have read the manual over a dozen times trying to figure out how to do it.. but im not sure what im doing wrong. I made sure that I did all the requirements which includes putting the car in Sport mode then making sure the doors are all closed and locked the temp is above 80 and in Drive.

I hold down the breaks and turn the wheel clock wise trying to put it on RS. however, every time i do that the RS lights up for a second then i get a massage saying race start is unavailable or something along those lines and it gets canceled. i have only once got it to ask me to confirm by peddling up with the shifter i got to exited and messed it up

thanks in advance

Jycke

Is the car properly broken in (1000 miles /1500 km)? Could have something to do with it. Race start can severely damage your engine if you do it without the break in.

TurkAlhajeri

honestly most people are telling me that all modern engines dont need to be broken in and that its a myth. however, i made sure i would take it slow the first few hundred kilometers and not over do it. its almost 1000 at the moment.

justpetef

My car had a sticker on it telling me to keep the car under 4500 rpms for the first 1500kms... so you're saying that you ignored the break-in period set by the guys that hand-built the engine?

Merc63

Here we go!!!

Don't break your engine now...

propain

The breakin is for the tranny and rear. Not the engine. The 6.2l is put through its paces at the factory.


I agree using race start can mess up your tranny before the breakin period is done. Seems like a good idea from MB to limit its function until that period has passed.

TurkAlhajeri

ill take it slow then and wait a week or two before attempting it. dont want to do anything stupid. thanks for all the help

justpetef

Correct.

propain

Just pointing out it wasn't set by the guys who "hand built" the engines as stated.

justpetef

Bravo! The medium was the message.

propain

Marshall McLuhan. IS the message however.

justpetef

mmmm... indeed.

Jono12345

Let us know how it goes

Djovovic63

You arent really being dead serious that it can severely damage the engine? i mean I m sure its not good in the long run but I also think it would not do anything drastic to the engine.

Djovovic63

Like he said its something that is not as important as some of you guys think. just because the guys that HAND BUILT (LOL) the engine set the break in period it doesnt mean you ll damage the engine if you ignore it

Wolvesq

Another possibility -- I believe the oil has to be above a certain temperature before it will work. The break in period should not prevent you from using RS. My dealer turned it on in my car today and it had fewer than 15 miles on the odometer.

87C63

What is Race start? Does all C63 have it? How does it work?

justthebest

RS does not require the full 1,000 mile break-in period to be completed. Believe me. As far as activating it, make sure you FULLY depress the brake pedal with your left foot prior to trying to roll into RS - this has tripped me up once or twice. And remember once it's activated, you only have a certain number of seconds before it will automatically cancel out.

SMP

The engine has to be warmed up before you can engage race start, because it will red line every gear as long as you keep your foot in it. But it's not hard on the engine. It's hard on motor mounts, clutch, transmission, diff and axles.

SonnyakaPig

What can an aggressive launch do to motor mounts? Just trying to learn.

SMP

If you apply maximum torque (as much as the tires can handle before losing traction) from a standing start, the engine will twist, thus being hard on the motor mounts.

SonnyakaPig

Ah... I see. Thanks.

Probably a hard thing to diagnose unless you really know what you're looking for or it's your car and you know what you've done to it.

But, what about a lot of the cars that get launched on sticky tires and nicely prepped tracks? You rarely hear about loose motor mounts?

Exacc

+1 on the above question...

Jycke

All 2012--> C63's have it. Race start is the same as launch control found in many other cars. Basically what happens is that the engine revs to around 2500-3500 (?) RPM before start, and when you press the pedal to the metal it launches fast as hell..at least theoretically. What i found in my M5 was that getting proper traction was difficult also on new roads. Maybe i did something wrong..

SMP

It's really easy. If you know someone at Mercedes (service dep.) ...... the downside of sophisticated engine control units: They leave a trail of information. Like how many times the car was red lined in what gear, banged off the rev limiter, how many "race starts" or "launch controls" ........ in other words everything.