I took my car out to the track last weekend for the first time. I was positively surprised with the C55s performance and track capabilities. The car is quite nimble. I must say, Mercedes has made enormous improvements to the C-class in that respect (I used to own a C43). However there are two areas that could definitely be improved upon, (i) the differential and the (ii) brakes. The obvious remedy for the ladder of the two is the Brembo GT kit (or Stoptech). However, to be quite frank, I think that there is probably a way of tremendously improving the performance of the stock setup without immediatley purchasing the said kit. One solution would potentially be a different brake fluid. This might make a difference, however it might not. The second solution that will definitely make a difference, would be cooling ducts. After reading an article on amg-owners-club.de about certain upgrades that AMG undertook to develop their C55 Nuerburgring Race Taxis and their C55 F-1 medical car, one of the mentioned upgrades was the installation of brake cooling ducts.

The great thing about this upgrade is that it is usually very effective and is also cheap. I have not looked underneath the C55 yet to determine how easy this would be. However it cannot be too complicated. Many Porsche owners who track their cars swear by this modification. Also, there is a number of vendors that sell this upgrade for M3s. I am surprised that none of the Mercedes tuners have thought of offering this yet. All that really is required is some heat resistant tubing, a duct connecting to the brake spindle, and some bracket ties.

Anyways, I going to look into this more. I will keep you all posted on results. Additionaly, if you have any thoughts, recommendation or ideas, please let me know.

 

For the track only, slap on a set of Porterfield R4 race pads. They squeal, so you wont want to run them on the street, but on the track will increase the brake torque & max temp limits. Fluid, just bleed them every time you change the pads back & forth with a Motul RBF 600.

Cooling ducts would be great, but there's a problem with our tanks... MBZ and AMG are obviously not serious about putting these things on the track or they would have done a better job at building in provisions for some type of cooling ducts like BMW does on almost all models. When I checked mine, the right side has room for a duct, and an open section in the grille currently. However, the left side would require removal of the windshield washer tank & bypassing the engine coolant line that runs throught it, and removal of the associated plumbing for the headlight washers. This tank completely blocks off the hope of any meaningful airflow from the front grille.

 

you can also buy stainless steel brake lines from 4myMerc SS Brakelines they are only $135 for a whole set... couple that with better pads & fluid anbd you are good to go...

 

Any chance you can post the article or the link to this article ?

 

I would, but it is in German. It was on the amg-owners-club.de website.

 

You will have to route the duct lines under the steering rack and around the sway bar and then attached to the back side of the hub with custom intakes. They will most likely be torn off from hitting things on the ground under full compression.