05C55

I saw this guy filling up at the gas station the other night, turns out he lives in the development just south of mine and we played a little tag on the freeway. He was able to gap me a bit as we went through a couple of interchanges but I kept within 5-600ft and was able to keep up with him. I don't know how hard he was pushing but it was fun. Two Ferrari's in less than a week. Time to get a 997S.

vraa

C55 > 997 :d

05C55

997S > C55

vraa

C55 > 997 :p

BlackC230Coupe

:p

vraa

Man, you C55 owners must really hate your cars!

mick1

a fast driver in a fast car will always win and a slow driver in a fast car will always lose

caliboy

No offense dude, but in the real world I'd take a modena any day over a c55. Even if mercedes makes a c63 that rocks.....Given the choice I'd still take the modena. Exclusivity, speed, and true performance if that is what you want. On the other hand, in reality I'd love to settle for your car right now and is probably what i would be able to afford in the near future. lol!
Nice to hear that the baby amg can hang with 200,000 dollar car. W203 rocks

Childish///AMG

Thats "Cute" baby AMG :p :p

viper

The Modena would leave you in the dust if the driver wanted to. He was just playing with you.

05C55

Actually...not. But nice try. Modenas ain't that fast. It would kill you in the corners but in a straight line its not much faster than the C55.

BlackC230Coupe

SoulBladeZA

Modena is E55 league, and it's faster than an E55 most of the time.

HOWEVER, on the road there are lots of variables.

Jakpro1

0-60

360 Modena.......4.3

C55..................4.8

E55...................4.3

Wouldn't say leave in the dust.....just slowly pull away at best. IF the Modena could keep it from kicking out (anyone seen the famous Ferrari into the wall drag video)....our little German friends make our cars so friggin easy to launch, it helps a lot.

Modena would only prove it's greatness against an E55 when we hit the twisties.....then I would die....literally.

05C55

Thats why I say in the real world, on a track this is a waste of bandwidth.

SpencerSepang

Chances are the Modena owner also has a Mercedes-Benz, every performance car has it's highs and lows, just my $.02.

SoulBladeZA

I was referring more to highway speeds. I've tried a Modena in the SLK 55. The gearbox was in sport mode, doing about 140km/h when I saw it. Red beauty.

I floored and passed him. 10 seconds later he passed me at quite some pace. Maybe it's wrong of me to form an opinion based on one event, but that's what happened.

Atleast it factored the drivers out here. He was giving it all she had, so was I. Flat straight road. Requires no skill at all, atleast in the SLK.

05C55

I just talked to the guy, its a 2000 360 w/F1 and he says he was giving it all he had. He did gap me through an interchange but we came on some traffic and I backed off.

Anyway, funny guy, told me he got own'd by a guy in modded EVO and he was so embarrased he exited the freeway. He's a dealer and said to drop by next week to take it out for a spin. What should I do.

SoulBladeZA

Hmmm maybe the one I took on was modded. I could hardly hear the AMG V8 over that loud exhaust!

After downloading the M3 vs 360 Modena video on www.racingflix.com, I'm now sure you could've stayed with him. They aren't as fast as I thought they were

It beat the M3 by 1.5 - 2 car lengths, which isn't all that impressive. The new M5 was camera car btw.

The other video also hosted there was fking cool though. M5 as camera car taping Ferrari 550 vs 911 turbo. And the camera car overtakes them! Man I love the new M5. Pity ours only has 200kms on

dmzz

Being realistic is not the same as hating your car. If you think the C55 is the best car in the world than you are just fooling yourself.

viper

You guys are funny. Any Ferrari outclasses the C55. The lack of a limited slip differential on the C55 means it is just a fast car not a sports car.

vraa

Best is very relative.

And I never said the C55 is the best car in the world.. ask Neal about that

PC Valkyrie

I agree that any Ferrari "outclasses the C55" because they are completely different car aimed at very different niches. There is the obvious price difference as well.

However, I think you (and many other people) are exagerating the benefits of a limited slip differential (LSD) for Mercedes AMG RWD cars.

A LSD provides 2 major advantages, compared to a simple open differential.

1) If one of the drive wheels has zero or limited traction, the LSD prevents all of the engine's torque from going to that spinning wheel so that the other wheel with traction can still accelerate the car from a stop. This is obviously advantageous in snow or gravel, when one drive wheel may have limited traction. For a performance car, a LSD optimizes the launch and can decrease acceleration times as it ensures both wheels will get power all the time, even if one of the drive wheels has less traction than the other.

2) When entering/accelerating out of a curve, the LSD will ensure that both drive wheels have optimal torque delivered to the ground to maximize acceleration out of a turn. By preventing the inside drive wheel (the one with the least traction because of weight transfer) from slipping excessively, the LSD ensures that the outer drive wheel is getting adequate power.

I may be incorrect, but I think only the 65 series cars (like the SL65) and the CLK DTM AMG come with a mechanical LSD from the factory.

To compensate for a lack of a true LSD, Mercedes relies on the ASR (electronic traction control system) and ESP in the C55. By braking any drive wheel which is slipping, it simulates a true LSD by sending more power to the drive wheel with more traction. It's a "reactive" system, meaning that the wheel has to slip before the car will brake that wheel, but it works pretty well in almost any situation on normal roads.

From a performance point of view, the C55 is already faster than the M3 and S4 in a straight line. 0-60mph comes in about 4.7-5.0 seconds. By adding a true LSD, you may be able knock off 0.2-0.3 seconds, at most.

In the twisties, the stock C55's handling prowess means it can match the M3's track time of 8:22 in Nurburgring, WITHOUT a true LSD. If it can hang with the benchmark E46 M3 on a challenging track like the "ring", there's not much left to say.

To be honest, very few people in the world will be able to exploit a benefit from a true LSD, compared to Mercedes' standard electronic traction control system. Yes, maybe you can shave a few tenths of a second from your acceleration times, and maybe you can accelerate a little bit faster out of a curve on a track. For everyday normal AND spirited driving on a track for the average driver, none of you will get any benefit from a mechanical LSD.

SoulBladeZA

Those times mean nothing if they aren't done by the same driver on the same day. Especially on a track like the nurburgring with it's highly variable temperatures. Who knows, on the same day the C55 might even be faster.

Just remember you are comparing two cars which weigh more or less the same. The one has a 5.4 V8, the other a 3.2 straight six. Says alot for the handling of the straight six car if it atleast matches the V8 car on the 'ring. The Ring is a very high speed track, which should in theory give an even greater advantage to the C55.

So my conclusion : The C55 really isn't as good a handler as the M3. Personal experience, tv shows and magazines all agree, as well as professional racing drivers. The C55 is biased more towards comfort, hence it's being GOOD on the track, but not as good as the M3.

PC Valkyrie

Despite the power advantage of the C55, the M3 is about 200 lbs lighter than the C55, which is why the straightline acceleration of the 2 cars is very similar. The M3 has a 50/50 weight distribution, which the nose heavy C55 definitely does NOT have. Yes, the C55 is more softly sprung compared to the M3. No one will argue that the M3 gives better feedback and inspires more confidence when taking curves at high speeds. Everyone car magazine review says the same thing, and I would agree as well, as I've driven both extensively when I was deciding which car to get. However, the difference in absolute grip and slalom times between the two cars is very little.

Road & Track data on North American spec cars:

M3 SMG
Skidpad: 0.87g
Slalom: 68.3mph

C55
Skidpad: 0.86g
Slalom: 67.6mph

Here is the point: just because a car FEELS better on a track does not mean you will go FASTER or have better grip aroud a curve. The fact that the more comfortable C55 can keep up with the M3 on the twisties is impressive enough given those points I listed above.