So guys, I have decided to track my 2005 C55 this coming year. After tracking motorcycles this past year and attending riding schools, I feel it will be very worthwhile in order to improve my driving ability and have a little fun at the same time. I am from the Northeast US (Connecticut) and the club I will join mostly runs at Lime Rock.

Some questions:
1. As a novice, will I need to do anything to the car to get it ready for the track (i.e. brake pads, wheels, tires, suspension, etc.).
2. How much is the automatic transmission a detriment? The manu-matic shifts are slow as hell.
3. Can anyone recommend a tuning shop in the NY/CT area that will be able to help in case I decide to do some suspension or brake mods.

I plan on taking either the skip barber high performance driving school, or the one offered by Porsche at Barber.

Thanks.

 

Definately keep me posted on what you find out about Lime Rock, etc. I'm in the Westchester area and may very well do the same. From what I have learned on this and other boards the following upgrades are important: 1) racing brake pads -- Portfield, etc. 2) tires -- Michelien Pilot Cup; and 3) a Quaife LSD for our car (the right model no. is listed on this board, do a search). I've heard going to the track with extra pads and rotors is also important and it is better to change out street tires and rims with dedicated racing tires and rims at the track.

 

You bet.
Here is a link to the driving club:
http://www.scda1.com/

 

Take tools to tighten/change wheels
tire pressure gauge...a set of tools just in case...take extra pads/brake fluid/some engine oil/tranny oil...check after every session... and have fun !

 

I'm in Westchester as well. I've found a great mechanic at MB who also does work at his own shop on weekends. Let me know if you want his contact info.

 

whereabouts are you in CT? i'm in Milford. Minimum you need are front brake pads. then better rubber. search my past threads also there's some great historic threads but i don't think those folks are around anymore.

i very nearly attended the last new hampshire scda event but opted out last min. hope to run with them next year. would like to get onto watkins glen.

may i recommend http://www.cartct.com open track at pocono (3 events) and 2 events at lime rock. Sometimes the other benz besides mine is a c55, pads, rims and tires only. fun bunch of guys.....they even have "wintercross" - autocross on the snow covered parking lot!

i drive up to the track early am, changing tires (sometimes pads) before tech inspection. usually a mad scramble to get everything done in time.

anucci, trump....pm me if you have any questions, i'd be happy to share whatever i know. too much info to type!

 

AWDman, I'm in Stamford, CT.
I have done motorcycle track days at Pocono, but not on the FUSA course. The wintercross sounds like a crapload of fun!!!
I have aftermarket 19" rims on my car, so I can use the stock rims for the track. Naturally, I also have 17" rims that house winter tires.

 

cool. I work in stamford. financial center on e main. i've seen the bikers ripping it up on pocono east. very cool.
for a dedicated track tire the move is hoosier r6 in 245/35-18. they will last 12-15 heat cycles. the pilot sport cup offers a bit less grip but will be more durable and last 40+ heat cycles. the neg about the cups is that you can't flip them on rim to even out the shoulder wear.

pads are no worries. i've changed 4 tires and pads in 20 mins. i've responded to your pm.

 

Yep, Pocono East is the track I have run with the bike. Very short, tight track. I would love to get on the FUSA track. Maybe next year. Anyway, thanks for the info. I have also been debating wheather it is even worth it to track the C55. It seems like tires, pads, etc would be expensive for the car and maybe I would be better off buying a used Miata or S2000. The thing is, I want to be able to improve my skills on my daily driver.
One more question, would I run the 245/35-18 all around?

 

Depends on your mission. If you're not planning on making this a major hobby and inve$tment, then here's my advice (as someone who does a couple of two-day track events each year):

1. Get good brake pads (Porterfield or EBC Red Stuff Ceramics). I've had great luck with the EBC Red Stuff, and they're fine for the street too. I've gotten 4 track days plus 10,000 street miles out of them.

2. Flush with very good brake fluid.

3. Any good tire will survive a track day. Don't necessarily put more pressure in them. Under hard use, they will build up heat and pressure for you! An all season tire will squirm and give up faster than a summer-only tire. As a learning tool, I think there is some benefit to having tires that give up grip. Better to discover lift-throttle oversteer at 70MPH than at 100MPH.

4. The auto trans is not great, but I follow one general rule. I manually downshift when entering turns, but I let the car upshift by itself at redline.

5. Slow in - Fast out. These cars understeer, but can out-power a lot of cars; so don't come into turns too fast.

============================================

Then, after you've tried it, you can start down the insane road of trying to turn your luxury boat into a track car (or not). The upgrades generally come in the following order:

1. Wheels & tires. Get 245s on all corners to reduce understeer. You can start with very sticky street tires (e.g. Falken 615s) or "R" compound tires, which will be track-only tires. R compounds make MUCH more grip; but that's not always a good thing. It's easier to learn a car's dynamics with tires that break away at lower speeds.

2. Limited slip differential. $1600+ for the part and few hundred labor. On tight-turning courses, this will help.

3. Suspension. Either sport springs or coilovers. A C55 should be OK for most uses; and the better you make it on the track, the less comfortable it is on the road.

4. Brakes. Some feel the need to go with a big brake kit ($3000+ installation). To me, the cars come with a big brake kit. I'd look at ducting first.

5. Harness? Your 3-point belt is not made to hold you in the seat. I'm going to buy a set of Schroth removable harnesses. They tie into the rear seat belts and create a 4-point system. You need to get two - one for your instructor. It lets you use your steering wheel to steer, rather than as a device to hold you in the seat during turns.

=============================================

I had lunch with a friend who is a "real" racer. He drives a spec RX7 and a Spec Ford Racer, and he finds it comical that people like me put our valuable, cushy family cars at risk on track days; and he thinks we're crazy to put thousands of dollars into making a fine street car into a marginal track car, when for the same or less money, you can have a safer, cheaper dedicated track car that you can beat on with impunity.

 

Thanks for the great advice. I certainly cannot afford to track both motorcycles and cars as a hobby (both time wise and monetarily). I am going to try it out with the C55 and with the driving school's cars. If I find I like it more than the bike, I am going to ditch the bike and buy a used car for the track (probably a Miata or S2000). If not, I will probably just take the C55 to the track a couple of times a year to improve my driving.

 

[QUOTE=Fifth Ring;1838685I had lunch with a friend who is a "real" racer. He drives a spec RX7 and a Spec Ford Racer, and he finds it comical that people like me put our valuable, cushy family cars at risk on track days; and he thinks we're crazy to put thousands of dollars into making a fine street car into a marginal track car, when for the same or less money, you can have a safer, cheaper dedicated track car that you can beat on with impunity.[/QUOTE]

not sure i agree with the the logic here 5th. as a track junkie i feel i ought to give my perspective.

it costs a pretty penny to convert a street car to track car. the track car may very well be unbearable to drive to the event. Then you start getting into trailering and all the hassles involved.

these types of cars (c32, m3, rs4, s4 )are built to handle a track day. In terms of mods, nothing should be done to ruin a perfectly good car. far as i have seen no one on the forum has done anything extreme in terms of road race mods. nothing wrong with track day tires (r comps) and a good suspension.

i think you can manage your risk exposure fairly decently for a track day. I often times start last, have plenty of running room and have the pleasure of passing a few slower cars as i pick up speed. stay away from nose to tail running in corners. late apex your corners a bit and be aware of the ones that can bite you. maybe it's good that you (we) track an "expensive" vehicle as it may be an incentive to not go gung ho /all out leading to loss of control/crash. it's certainly in my mind as i drive. plus the c32/55 is essentially a benign understeerer you would have to do something really foolish to get into trouble.

how did your racer friend get started??? time trialing is pretty good route to get racing licences. in your instance - doing 2 events per yr- would it be worthwhile to get involved with building a track car?

last but not least.....being able to drive on track has exorcised any desire to speed on the road. nothing i could do on a road could compare (without breaking the law or killing someone or myself) to the freedom and safety of the controlled environment of a track.

each has to evaluate their own personal situation before making the decision. but i reiterate the car can handle it, even better with the kinds of performance mods we chat about incessantly around here. run in your own space, solicit advice, take it easy and ultimately don't push too hard.

 

Hello, I did a track day at Lime Rock with SCDA this year with my stock 2005 C55. It was a blast! I ran stock tire pressure (PS2's) and the front left tire showed some wear on the sidewall at the end of the day, all turns are right except one (maybe should have put a few more pounds in). I pretty much left it in "manual" kept it in 3rd except for the front straight (4th), and it was fine. Ive done two AMG Challenges at Lime Rock but never until now turned a lap on the main track in a C55 there, it did great. If you have any track experience start in the Intermediate 1 class. Oh, and my front calipers did begin to turn gold after the fourth session. Great bunch of guys too.

 

I would stay away from Michelin Pilot sport cups....they're HARD as hell and take awhile to come up to temperature.

I think the best bang for the buck tires are the Nitto nt01, toyo ra1 and kumho V700 or maybe the new hankooks (never tried them).

Have fun!

 

Thanks for info. This is great to know. Thank you all for the advice. I think for starters I will put on better bads and new rubber on my stock wheels.

 

we should have a "gold caliper club" mine became deep gold but have since painted silver with hi heat and works great.

another guy i know has just joined forum, he ran his c55 in june at lime rock as well.......i love that track. did 3 events there this year. can't get enough!

as i keep saying. c32, c55 work well on track considering their primary mission.

my 1st track day pocono east last yr, i near ruined my front ps2. the tire has a soft sidewall and rolls in. even with the low profile 235/35 fronts.

the yoke dor r comps i run a048 are set 26 psi cold and wear is ok. very stiff sidewalls. just flip on rim to even out wear. 26 psi gets to 30-31 hot and the sidewall hold up great. i personally don't think it's agood idea to run street tires on the track. they heat up, get greasy and the sliding begins...friction = wear and that is what will destroy the tire.

 

I was just passing on this guy's point of view. I don't (can't) really agree with him though! Here are my counterpoints:

1. My C32 is expensive, but to me it is free (already paid for). So it's cheaper out of pocket than buying a track car. Could I wreck it? Yeah. But the only passing I do on-track is with permission. I'd have to wreck it all on my own. Some day, though, I'll be at a track event, and maybe it's raining or maybe I have a tire go down, and maybe I'm in a tight part of the racetrack (think Armco barriers at Watkins Glen), and I might total my car AND not have insurance to cover it. $30,000 loss ($45,000 replacement cost). That's about $20,000 more than a track car costs. That's not even going into the enhanced safety (roll cage, harnesses) that a track car gives you.

2. I do not have room for a track car, trailer, and I don't want to own a truck to tow the trailer to events. If I had all those things, maybe I'd have a different attitude.

3. For occasional HPDEs, owning a track car would be a waste of money. Maybe later in life, when I could actually get an SCCA license and run some races, it will make sense.

4. The C32 / C55 is a good enough track car to give us a thrill and surprise some track junkies.

He was just giving me the "real" racer's point of view of us weekend warriors. This guy has run a lot of SCCA races and has run the 24 hours at Daytona. He has offered me use of his full-race RX-7 if I want to get my racing license. I think that will be a few years off.

 

I've been told that the silver paint used on our 4 pot calipers is heat sensitive and it turns gold when the brakes are used excessively. In other words, it's Mercedes' way of denying any warranty brake work if they see you've taken the car to the track (where it's pretty much the only place you'll generate enough heat to turn the calipers gold).

I've taken my C55 to the track once, and I don't see any gold colouring (yet). Being a relative track newbie, I probably didn't drive/brake the car hard enough.

For those of you that have seen your calipers turning yellow, where do you see it exactly? The whole caliper? A certain part of the caliper?

Pics would be nice....

 

see here, do a search as well there may be more- https://mbworld.org/forums/c32-amg-c55-amg-w203/147609-took-my-c32-real-racetrack-lots-fun.html

 

Mercedes Club SPONSORS track events, so I seriously doubt that they would deny a warranty claim for brakes just because they have seen track use.

I've got 4 track days on my calipers and so far no yellowing.

 

anucci... Whats up, im from new canaan but own a resturant in westport and norwalk... A good local shop is Speedtechnik in norwalk on westport ave. Ask for Mitch, he was just tuning up a c32 last week when i was by the shop.

www.speedtechnik.com

 

ps they are not the type of shop that dose oil changes one day, then drops your car the next... they are fully devoted to what your looking for.

 

uuuhhhhh i wonder who's car that was??? :-)

 

Don't tell me you are the owner of Via Sforza!!
If so, that happens to be my all-time favorite italian restaurant, and with a name like Anthony Antonucci, I know Italian food!

Oh, and thanks for the shop advice.

 

food talk....ahhhhh...must pitch in.

i recently ate at biagio's osteria in ryder's landing / shelton ct. was very impressed. any you guys know this joint????

funny thing. i bought my f355 from the owner's brother - a dealer. at the time he told me his lil bro was a chef had a great restaurant but i dismissed the whole deal. thought he was just drumming up biz for his bro.......then went on a biz trip to virginia when the restaurant name came up. i checked it out last week...had the shrimp del gio and loved it...reasonable...$18. house merlot was decent.