Track day with the 2012 C300
 

This weekend I went up to a track day to Calabogie Motorsport Park, in Ontario canada. (Amazing facilities)

Took the c300 for the day and see what my car could do.

The car in question:
2012 C300 4MATIC,
Post pics up shortly.

At the beginning of the day I had my doubts on how well my stock c300 would perform on the track, with big hair pin turns and long sweeping corners. Was I ever wrong, this thing blew my mind!
For a stock "family sedan" (apart from some SL55 AMG wheels with some good Dunlop tires) this car had some balls, it devoured corners!
The downfall I have to say sadly, yes the lack in power and the auto transmission didn't seem to pick the right gears sometimes coming out of the corners.

What I would like to do before I head back to the track is a quick tune by eurocharged which will sharpen my throws and make the car more responsive and sharper. As well as tighten up the suspension a little. Oh and new brakes lol. My pads are toast!

From the sounds of things, I believe I will be starting a track setup with this car! -_-

bye bye wallet!

Has anyone else taken your C-Class (250/300/350) to a race track?
If so what were your thoughts or complaints about the car?

Let's hear your feed back!

Sounds awesome! In for some pics!!!

Be careful. Most insurance companies will not cover you if you wreck on the track. If you want to blow your mind, buy a set of DOT-R race tires.

Do you think having paddle shifters would've made a difference to better control the gears without leaving your hands off the steering? I updated my 2010 c300 with new steering with paddles which enabled the paddles so might be something to look in to.

My friend does an event every year but it costs $350 to run so I've been hesitant to try my car out since I know it lacks power and would probably be wasting my time. But with the new paddles, I might give it a go. I also have a sprint booster which might help since I don't have to be heavy footed.

you aren't supposed to shift while turning anyway so paddles are nice to have but not needed

If you're to track days I wouldn't worry too much about paddle vs stick. You'll be focusing on corner entry points, brake points, etc. Plenty to keep your attention without worrying about picking up a few 1/10th of a second here and there.

Don't worry too much about car power either. If you're new everyone will be faster than you anyways. My first day out in my c5 corvette I was barely staying ahead of a honda civic who clearly had been around the track a few times. You can have tons of fun even in a really low power car.

Protip- Make sure you sign up for a place that had an instructor ride in the car with you for at least the first few laps. It'll help out immensely with seeing the right line. You brake and turn way later than you'd think. Also that turns it into a "school" Which makes insurance easier if thing go wrong. (Also no timing!)

Oh, of course I agree with you 100% I had little to no expectations regarding my car handling nor my driving skills.

And I got an instructor with me for the whole day teaching me the ins and outs of the track and my car! It turned out good, he was impressed not only in the car but also the driving level! I'll post up the pics as soon as I get them!

I've thought about doing the steering wheel swap but there was too many components to change in order to install the paddles correctly. and its an expensive mod.

jesus sorry for the delay guys hahaha! Finally got pics!

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I wish I can do that! Too bad there is not descent track here in Vancouver.

I'm jealous..."the stig" was your instructor?! :bow:

ohhhh man I wish

One of the things I will do when I win a lottery with at least $30 million on it is have my own race track somewhere and all MB owners in this forum will be free to use it any time any day as long as you bring something to barbeque and something to drink...won't that be nice!?

Sotgun_banjo

That was what I wanted to do..have my own track!!!

Avg people says mercedes is not sporty and its not for them since they want sporty bmw car....those people buy bmw without sports pkg...

Btw I really like 135i..

I have taken mine to a track a few times i must agree the auto is a little iffy out of the corners but it corners like a dream the track i was on was a 3.5 mile i did in 2:21 and again in 2:32 i beat my friends maxima by 4 seconds on the 2:21 cvts can't do very well in racing it seems.

Mine is stock and runs sport as3 Michelin tires