Quickburn7

So I took my C450 to Willow Springs yesterday for a HPDE. Here are my impressions after my first track day with the C450.

Mods on my car are:
- Michelin Pilot super sport ( 19" OEM set up)
- OE Tuning
- H & R sport springs

Conditions were amazing with a 65 degree outside temps.

I was lucky to attend a track day where the C450 was maybe the least powerful car with many 488s, McLarens, maybe 10 GT3RS, numerous E92 M3s, M4 and even one M4 GTS and all I can say is that everyone was impressed with the C450.
I even brought my E92 M3 with the stage 2 dinan tune running 510 HP to compare the two cars.
So first off the tires make this car drivable on the track. The michelins are sticky, predictable and work great with the chassis. I was able to make the car understeer and oversteer at will by adjusting the pressure. I was running 29 Psi front and 31 rear cold and that seemed to work best.

They just bite on turn in and hold grip like no other street tire I've had. Best mod for the money by far!!

The brakes on the car are decent but after about 5 laps I would feel the pedal getting soft and would have to cool them down. If the outside temps were closer to 80 degrees like it usually is at Willow springs this time of year than I would have needed track pads and high temp brake fluid to feel safe. However for a stock, non full amg car they are pretty good. I mean the car weighs 3800 lbs!

So overall the car was great. The steering was lazy on turn in and the electronic steering acted very weird. It would all of a sudden require huge amounts of effort like there was no power steering in a few corners. Sometimes just in the middle of the corners which was pretty scare the first time it happened.

I had the car in sport + all day it's the suspension on full stiff and with the H& r springs and the car was very bouncy. Almost like in comfort mode I had to look down a few times to make sure I didn't change settings on me. The traction control wasn't too intrusive but it did just come on a few times. Like it was just switched to regular mode not off.

The speed of this car was amazing on the fast Willow springs. Not sure what the guys at OE tuning did but I was FASTER on the straight between turn 9 and turn 1 than any stock M3 or M4 competition package or not. The only M3 faster was my own which pulled on me like hell on the straights or the M4 GTS. Even the GT3 RS drivers thought I had a modded C63s because of how close I was getting. The couple of Z06s that were there kept flying by like I was standing still!! All in I kept getting compliments on how fast the car was.

The biggest annoyance of this car is that with a helmet and my AMG sport seats my head kept being push forward. The headrests are formed so that with a helmet for some reason it won't let you sit straight. Very weird.

My lap times Just to compare were 1.38s in the C450 and 1.36.5 in my M3.
It's a great car and overall very happy with how it behaved at the track and a lot of fun!!

mo11

Very cool and thanks for the write up. I noticed you have it tuned. I just wonder how it would do stock without the tune, but with the same super sport tires and h&r springs. Did you get a chance to track the car before the tune was done?

z28lt1

Thanks very much for posting. We have limited information on how this car does at the track, so every little bit helps.

Odd with the steering, wonder if that is something wonky with the variable assist program.

The C450 doesn't have a real off for traction/stability control, off is really "sport", so I'm sure you'll hit it occasionally like you did.

Thanks again, and keep us posted if you get it out there again. Mine is the "backup" (read "rain") HPDE car, so not sure that I'll ever get it out there, but all the data helps if I do.

Quickburn7

Sorry I meant I would turn the traction control off by pressing the button on the console and the light on the dash saying off would come on but after about 2 laps the light would turn off and the traction control would go back to its default on setting until I pushed the console mounted button again and turned it off.

thank you!

Quickburn7

I never tracked it without the Tune however I think the tune is good for about 2 seconds a lap?. honestly not sure but I was pretty fast in the straights and coming out of corners and you really feel that Tune!

alexasa

iTrader: (1)

hmmm, that's odd.

Awesome review though. Driving the car on the street I would assume it's decent on track for what it is.

Shame that the AMG seats didn't give you the room you needed for your helmet.

mo11

sorry, i just have a follow up question, i hope you don't mind. I'm not sure if the c450 and c43 have the same function. On my c43, when you press the center console button, it puts it in sport and it says it on the instrument panel. If you press and hold the same button for 5 sec. it'll say off with that "wiggley" icon on the opposite side of the instrument panel. Are you saying you were on "off" and it went beck on without any of the icons at all, after a few laps?

Quickburn7

it's different in the C450. I don't think we have a full off mode. If you press the traction control button it goes into what the C43 calls its "sport" mode and the icon with the wiggly lines on the instrument panel comes on.

I turned it the traction control off and after 2 laps it turns back on and then would stay off after I pressed the console mounted button. This happened on 3 runs.

mo11

Oh, wow! That's really interesting... thanks again!

cenzo86

Traction control seems to go back on if you were caught having too much fun. I noticed it would turn back on when driving in the snow. After a good drift it turns on again.

Quickburn7

Dinan stage 2 M3 and the C450

Darrington

Sweet. Thanks for sharing your experience. Good stuff!

Graycat305

Next up downpipes and air box!

Quickburn7

air box? That sounds fun. Any links for the C450?

Graycat305

AWE has this on their website:

http://www.awe-tuning.com/mercedes-b...-carbon-intake

Don't know when to expect it to actually be released.

Lin Wei

great stuff!

Looks like you had alot of fun! Nice picture and nice car!

uptownman

Great revue!
I know mine's only a C400, but my bro in law has been trying to convince me to take it up to Mt.Tremblant (he has a GTR)... I have the OE Tune also.
The 4matic must have really helped getting the power down early while exiting those curves!