My CLK is in for service, so as a loaner i was lucky enough to get a 2001 C320 as the loaner car. Well i know this belongs in Kill Stories, but i feel you guys should never underestimate the power of a good ol' 3.2 Liter Mercedes engine. This happened in Randolph, NJ.

On Millbrook at the intersection of Millbrook and Route 10, customized WRX going east on Route 10, these kids where your typical thugged out white high school kids, and of course gave us dirty looks because we were in a Benz and they had a nice WRX, and they sped up as they drove by, so that we could hear his exhaust. I must admit, it was a nice looking WRX. So, we take the right turn to catch up to the WRX, tons of slow minivans and pickups were blocking us, but we eventually passed them still on Route 10. We finally caught up to the WRX and blew past it at 75 MPH. Red light ahead, Riced out Red Civic in front, and WRX next to the Benz. The WRX starts revving his engine, and of course i could hear either his Blow-Off valve or NOS. I had no clue, but then goes foward to the Civic, trying to get a run out of him. C320 behind Civic in far right lane, WRX in left lane next to Civic. Light turns green and of course the WRX gets an okay lead on the Civic, mind you the traffic was still built up. I cut behind the WRX and hop into the far left lane, now making it the C320, WRX, and Civic from right to left . Civic is first one out because his car wasnt really modified, just a big wing and clear lights, a slow Camry blocks WRX letting me pass the WRX easily, All of a sudden i hear the WRX roar behind me, WRX cuts behind me and tailgates my ***. So I hop into far right lane with no one ahead, and WRX in far left lane with a couple cars far ahead, I thought I was going to get my *** whooped because you could hear his Blow-Off valve as he changed gears. I slam the accelerator trying to get faster and faster, and he is next to me, but i see him inching behind me, mind you my ESP is off. He tries to catch up, but there was a car in front of him, and slow Wrangler in the middle lane. I was well ahead of him by 3 car lengths, but i felt that was enough of my trusty loaner car. I got off Route 10 for the U-Turn, and the WRX kids gave us the dirtiest look, and the Civic kid just looked at us like "damn."

I kinda feel bad for him, he put a lot of money into his Turbo, Rims, and Exhaust, yet he still lost to a STOCK C320! I never knew that the C320 could beat a WRX. He had plenty of time and road to pass me for sure, I just dont know what happened. I feel so good right now. God knows how much I would of won by had i been driving a C32 or something!

I LOVE 3.2 LITER ENGINES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Vik

 

I agree 100% with your comments, esp. after the motor has been well broken in [25k miles]. I've "killed" alot of "faster" cars, because they usually don't know their sweet spots. If I'm not in my "sweet spot of 2800-3200 rpm", I will usually slow down, hoping that they will match me until I get there. It works best with the poser crowd and not the C32 or M3 types who are looking for real matches.

...my 2 cents...

 

I see a quite a few Imprezzas pretending to be WRX's. I think a real WRX probably would have been a little more competiton (it's lighter and has more HP), unless the guy was a real nimrod and actually hurt the stock performace by poor incorporation of the mods you mentioned (which happens).

Nice kill, though.

- BT

 

Maybe the weight of all the kids in the car...that would slow it down.

Also, WRX are known for the great 4 wheel drive starts and getting a good jump. I've read stories of much slower (0-60 wise) cars beating them on the highways. I think the new WRX has close to 300 HP...it's gonna need it, the way things are going (HP wars)

 

It could of been an Impreza, because it was debadged, yet the car was brand new, still had the dealer plate on it. Idk, it sounded more or less like a WRX. I could be wrong, either way, it should of beaten me, due to the mass amounts of modifications done to this car. Oh well, im happy! Shows them not to mess with the best! MERCEDES-BENZ BABY!

-Vik

 

What does nitrous sound like? I had it in my last car for over 2 years and it never made any sound....unless your talking about a purge valve...

Erik

 

btw, the 0-60 rating on a WRX, of 5.6 seconds, was reached by a 5000 rpm clutch drop, as per Car and Driver magazine, which is why the rolling start (5-60mph) gave them a number like 7.2 seconds. it's not all that blazingly fast, unless you launch it just right.

 

hummm... I lost to my friends WRX with basic performance upgrades, exhaust, up/down pipe, intake, lighter wheels... It was pretty close but I lost...

stock CLK430 with about 400 pounds of stereo stuff...

 

My last car was a 2000 model WRX auto with minimal mods, i.e. just exhaust and induction re-ducting.

Being the auto, it lost out to the manual off the line by about .75-1 sec, but rolling starts 60-160km/h it was dead even with the manual.

Yes, from 20km/h (specifically for the auto as that's what I had) to say 100-120km/h it was f__king quick! but from 80-140km/h it was on par with some of the local 5.0l & 5.7l V8's in Aust., still fast but not outstanding.

As for carrying passengers, if there were 4 guys in the car, it does have real effect on acceleration especially in the 80km/h+ zone as the car only weighs at most 1330kg (auto wagon, the heaviest of the mix). Put 4 guys in the car at 80kg each, there's an extra 360kg in the vehicle, approx 25% more weight.

Mind you, the only thing I miss about it is the 4WD, don't miss the very regular (expensive for what they are) services, the insurance and the unwanted attention from both idiots on the road wanting to race you at every set of lights and of course the boy's in blue.

OK, I've finished now.....

 

Agree. I had a C320 wagon loaner yesterday and it was IMPRESSIVE! Soild and fast! Its suspension is 5X better than the stock C240s and C230s.

 

This reminds me of that commercial for like KIA or Daewoo or something, where they "win" the "completely unbiased" race, but say, "well, it IS our commercial".

 

That's similar to an add here in Australia. The local car company Holden was promoting its latest V8 family car by setting it up in a computer game style of race when "you" choose the holden, and raced 3 other computer driven opponents. The laughable thing was that the 3 other cars it raced and of course beat, where a 911, M3 and can't recall the last one. This was the ONLY way the holden was going to win in this field, to be in a make believe computer game. As C230 S.C. alluded to, it's there add, be buggered if it's factual or not.

 

Good work but here's why you won:

1. Anymore than 1 passenger and that car is weighed down significantly, of course its going to perform worse.
2. Most high school kids don't know how to race, they are about hitting redlines, not shift points, so they over-cook their engines trying to look good.
3. The WRX is great off the line if you can do it right, otherwise its just about average considering the other cars coming out recently.
4. The WRX top end acceeration isn't great either, get it into 60-100 mph, or 100+ mph and you'll start to see. I was surprised one day speeding to work that an agressive WRX driver couldn't lose me in the straight from 60 mph.

So how do you like the loaner compared to your CLK? what's the biggest difference?

 

Racing in heavy traffic- shame shame. No wonder we get dirty looks from people.

 

I'd be interested in the results of your recounting of this idiotic event while in the company of either your insurance agent or the license examiner the next time you get you license renewed
Perhaps you'd rather share it with your teenage children (when or if you ever have any) while giving them driving lessons.

 

The WRX had a weight disadvantage; however, the WRX is still much slower 5-60 than 0-60. The C320 is very quick 5-60. Once the WRX's Turbo spools down, your are at least .5 to 1 full second trying to get power back up.

 

Yeah, you said you were in some traffic and a slow car was blocking the WRX. That's enough to cause him to lift and if he's not above 3000 rpm at the time, it's going to take a while to build up the boost pressure and get going at full speed again. Under these conditions, the C320 should easily pull on the WRX. To achieve its full potential, it needs to start with the revs up and take advantage of the 4-wheel drive on launch.

 

Viktorious....just to set things straight: :o
There's no such thing as a nice looking WRX!

To put a WRX in perspective with rice....it's kinda like throwing a twin turbo Supra engine in a Toyota Echo!

 

My neighbor's kid is always talking about doing wierd things to his echo. I'll have to pass that one along He told me the other day that he's going put NOS(naws! ) in, and get some phat rubber... I just sorta smiled and went back to washing my car.

 

The stock 320 engine is a very good and fast for sure, in a C or SLK.

We were going up hill and this blond woman in an SLK320 was weaving in and out, zipping pass me, so I stepped on it in my clunky looking E420 (booster chip). She really reved it up off the light, so at the next light I changed down to 1st gear and blew her off up the hill, but she stayed with me for almost 1/4 mile. I didn't expect it to be that fast.

BTW, does anyone shift down much with the auto box? and is that bad for the auto transmisson? I always shift down from D to accelerate, it seems ok with my E420, but I used to do the same in my Nissan 300Z and the auto transmission had to be replaced twice, I don't know if it's bad quality or as a result of too much manual shifting for an automatic. I just shift down and step gently on the pedal, I don't floor it.