I've had my C55 now for almost 3 months. I upgraded from a C240, so the difference in performance was shocking. The driving experience is addictive. I'm always thinking about my car or other high performance cars whenever I'm free at work and at home. I go out at night (after the kids and wife are asleep) just to drive aimlessly around the city, as my daily commute to work is not a very long or fun drive. I especially like to burn up the on ramps onto highways (particularly curvy ones), as that is the safest and most legal way for me to take advantage of the awesome acceleration of this car. I reach insane speeds in a blink of an eye. I still get amazed how fast the speedometer goes up when I press the accelerator. Passing other cars is so effortless. I love this high torque at low rpm concept.

The bigger surprise is how well this car can take corners at speed. It feels so solid and well planted. I must admit that the car does not initially give me the most confident feeling when entering a curve at high speeds. But after I get through the curve, I'm surprised how stable it felt so now my confidence in the car has grown in the handling department. The absolute grip of the car is very high, and I'm sure I'm no where close to exceeding the limits of the car.

The AMG transmission in "S" mode is amazing. It downshifts so fast when you need it to. I was in awe during the first few weeks when I noticed that it automatically downshifts sometimes when I simply lift off the throttle during a turn such that it was ready to pounce the moment I was back on the gas. This transmission is nothing like the one from my old C240. I actually think there is almost no advantage in manually shifting the gears in the C55. When I put it in "C" mode, it feels less jerky in its shifts, doesn't downshift as much, and is perfect for a comfortable cruise or lazy drive around the town (it feels just like my old C240's transmission).

I am VERY grateful that I can drive a car like the C55. I can't get a 2 door manual transmission sports car because of family considerations, so the C55 is my sports car. The best part is I can haul my family around in it as well, just as the old C240 did. The only difference is that the C55 is much firmer and louder because of the AMG tuned chassis and exhaust, but that is a small price to pay, IMO.

For those of you who are considering upgrading to a C55 or any other AMG car and are having doubts as to whether it is worth the extra money over a non-AMG benz, let me tell you that it is DEFINITELY worth the extra cost. I have never felt like this before about any of my previous cars. I never understood this before, but now I realize how and why car enthusiasts spend so much time and energy on their car. Now I know what it feels like to drive an AMG!!

 

Congratulations and welcome to the addiction... It only gets more expensive from here on out.

 

PC - I am in the same boat. 2 kids, so this is my sports car.

Now if you can, imagine another 200 horsepower and 200 lbs of torque in the same car.

 

I noticed you are from Toronto....get ready for "Winter Withdrawl"

Very hard to drive that much horsepower in the snow and people look at you funny anyway driving that beautiful car in the muck, so those long snow bound weeks/months, you just kinda stare at it in the garage. You know it's at it's worst when you find yourself sitting in it and starting it just for fun, even though you can't take it out.

Glad to see others loving their Beasts as much as me.

 

I'm in the same boat with 2 kids as well...
And a nother 100 shot of NOS
I guess we're all crazy!

BennyZ

 

PC Val

What you have described IS EXACTLY WHY I BELIEVE C55 AMG and any of its upgraded verisons in future ; is the car for my life-time.

What I would like to add, is the W203 's windows views clearance is EXCELLENT for driving fast in the city ; that no any super sports car can have such a window clearance. Such clearance is indeed important to drive in dense city streets where ensuring maximum safety to people are crossing the roads, jammed highways..etc Thus, in some situations in crowded roads, I believe C55 can have an advantage over Porsche, Ferrari with poor window clearance.

Having driven a C55 , I can close another page of my life-time

cnt

 

hey, you live in toronto rite?! maybe we should meet up sometime and race ;P

 

I was delighted to see that I wasn't the only person who enjoyed going out at night in my C55 by myself. Regarding winters in T., move here to Burbank, Ca. and you can go out every night.

HPC55

 

I felt the same way with my car. The C55 doesn't feel as "predictable" when you're about to enter the curve as compared with other cars such as my Integra or an M3. I think the C55 has this "disconnected" feeling if you don't drive the car everyday, which was also mentioned in a car magazine article I read. I can't complain about anything else though.


LOL...trust me you're not the only one. Even at $3 a gallon of gas I still do it.

 

Man you do that too. We should meet up one night and just cruise around town. I love this car too and to think before I ordered it I was struggling between this and the E55.

 

One of these days, I would love to join you guys cruising nights . I do show up in West Coast once every ten years. By that time, I won't be with my C55, so the fast driver will take me on as a passenger; hope an extra 60kg does not make your car any slower

 

Hi,

My name is Mez and I am an addict!! I am very relieved that I am not the only one that turns a 5 minute drive to the store into a hours long joy ride. I like my fellow members often find myself sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night to cruise around. Like last night, had to destroy a wrx wagon!. Poor guy never knew what hit em.

Mez

 

when i come home from work, at least 3 days a week i drive right past my own driveway and just go cruise around for an hour or so. then i come back home and pass my driveway again.....

 

Yup, I've got 2 car seats at the back of the C55. Even though the A4 wagon is our official "family car", I can't help but take the family out on the weekends in the AMG.
And no, I actually can't imagine what your car feels like with the Kleeman supercharger....must be insane.....


Actually, I will be driving the C55 as my daily ride to work in the winter. I'm not too fearful, as there have been a number of members with the same car(on mbcanada.com) go through last winter with minimal problems. You just need decent winter tires, keep it in "C" mode, and be easy on the throttle when starting off in slippery conditions.

You coming to the mbcanada.com meet on Sept. 25? Looks like it's going to be a good turnout.

I'm also glad that I'm not too abnormal compared to other benz freaks on this board. My wife thinks I'm


Anyways, I'm very happy about my decision to get the C55. I was toying with the idea of supercharging the old C240 via Kleeman, but I'm glad I didn't take that route. Even with the supercharger, the claimed output would only have been 260-280HP, which is nowhere in the vicinity of the C55.

 

We are all obsessed. I find myself "drawn" to this car also. I wash it and take care of it like it was a living thing!

You could eat off my car that's how clean it is. I both kids at college and I consider this car the best yet!

I have a great commute to my office which is 3 exits and right off the highway with medium to low traffic. I notice the car is more "throaty" at 70-75 than at 80-100 so I like to punch it up there at least for some of that commute. Mind you the office is under 20 miles away so when I bring it up above 80, it feels like I kicked in the afterburners like at the end of Top Gun!

 

Tell me about addicted. I used to put on about 7000 or 8000 kms a year on my old car, because I live 4 blocks away from my office and hardly ever drove. I've put on 2000 kms in less than 3 weeks in the C32. Now, I'll just go driving around aimlessly. Like the other day when I wanted to get a gatorade and could've gone to the 7-11 three blocks away, but went across the city to get one.

A few days ago I went to the westend (I live downtown) to get a Blimpies sub, ended up racing a G35 coupe that cut me off ... put the G35 in it's place and ended up on the southside. Then had to go back to the westend to get the sub and go back downtown. Loved every minute of it.

The last time I felt like this was when I used to ride a sportbike.

I'm addicted and don't want to go into rehab.