The local police pointed out that my new baby has a traction problem. I noticed yesterday that if I am rolling along at 20 or 30mph and kick it down from 2nd into 1st it will just plain vaporize the tires. I also noticed that if I short-shift 2nd in M it will also annihilate the tires. Forget launching from a stop at anything off idle and forget WOT for a while too. So how are others getting their cars to hook up? I am currently thinking about a set of ultra-sticky DOT comp tires like the Toyo Proxes RA-1s? I know someone using them on their daily drive M5 and he says they stick like glue and not too much of a hassle to live with. I don't really care about tread life but I don't want a tire that will crack apart when it's 30 degrees out either. Has anyone tried the Proxes T1R?

Proxes RA-1 (best for track use but can it be a daily driver too)


Proxes T1R (a little more of a daily driver)

Dry rating: 4.6

racing compound would be overkill for a stock c55.. What kind of tires do you have right now?
I got BFG KDW2 (one with crazy thread) and I never had tractoin problem.. (well.. unless i want to have traction problem )


http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....Potenza+RE-01R

This should help ya

If you really want to help the traction issue pick up a Quaife LSD. They're about $1800 plus ~$800 for install.

That's a beefy looking tire! I have the stock Pirelli's PZero Rosso's on there and they are not even near 1/2 way yet, they're in great shape but they do not hook up well at all. What is the rear rim size? I wonder how wide a tire the stock rims can take? A 245/35/18 is 24.75" diameter overall and is recommended for a 8" to 9.5" rim size. A 265/35/18 is about 1/2" larger in diameter and needs at least a 9" rim.

Now that's an idea! That's only a little more than a new set of Michelin PS2s delivered from TireRack! The car currently seems to thrash both tires equally--at least the black marks left behind seem even and straight so the electronic traction control on the open diff (is that right?) does at least a decent job.

My friend uses that tired on some high HP cars without any problem.. he lovess it..
Stock tires on C55 suxs ballz man... you def need to upgrade..

hey, I have toyo T1-R's and they stick pretty well. I've had them for about six thousand miles and the tread is still more than half. After switching from the stock Pirelli's I notice only a slight change in road noise with the Toyo's but the traction seems great even when I mash it in 1st from a stand-still.

Sounds like a set of these T1R's and a Quaife is the hot setup. Add in the Kleeman headers and a custom ECU, maybe cats, and it should be good for some serious runs!

Bump up to a 255 in the rear. I run the new Pirelli P zero's and they still have problems from launch although cornering is much improved- I think the only way to combat the wheelspin problem or reduced it the most is to go up to 9.5" x 19's with 265's and a much softer compound.... that and an LSD

I have T1-R's too. very good tire

I might try 255/35/18s Proxes T1Rs out back and start saving for the Quaife LSD. I found one thing that wasn't helping. I checked the tire pressure cold all the way around with a digital gauge and some we way over inflated to 47psi. I set them to 36 out back and 33 up front.

I run 30psi all around
Drag rad is another option...

How are PS2's on the C55? I've always bought PS2's on my S60R's and loved them.

Cool, I think I'll drop them all by a few pounds and see how that feels.

I have PS2's and the Kleemann LSD. You can still light em up from a stand still, with the LSD, ESP no longer kicks in which is a +.

Well it's official: The Beast has a serious traction problem. I was trying some launches tonight on one of my favorite "deserted" roads. I was peddling it out of the hole just off idle with no brake torque just trying to get it to hook up. Once I got it to hook I would dig into the throttle. But then it starts breaking free again in 1st at about 4,000. I would get it moving and hooked and then after 4K it would break free again and just start roaring and flashing ESP until I let off. When I got it to hook back up AGAIN it would annihilate the tires as soon as it shifted into 2nd until I let off again. It's starting to seem like I can't go WOT until midway through 2nd. Who in Affalterbach decided these cars should wear tiny little 245mm shoes with an open diff?!?

hehe
i donno i kind of like the open diff, keeps me more involved and concentrated at times
regarding the tires though, how are Proxes? i keep seeing them on huge SUVs with 22's but not on performance cars

I run 17"X 9.5" and Kumho 275/40/17 and have also run Kumho Victoracers 275/40/17 in the rear on my C43/55. I also have the Kleemann LSD which helps a bunch and run 255/40/17 in the front.

With 18" wheels I would see if you could get the 285/30/18 to fit the newer C55.


Jeff

This is getting bad. I tried to make more bonzai runs tonight and could not keep the tires hooked up. My best was a 4.8 seconds 0 to 60 with a 2.2 60' time (which sucks) and that was with NO WOT at all AND letting off the throttle when it broke free at the top of 1st. You just can't go wide open until well into 2nd.

I'm not sure what you're realistically trying to achieve. If you look at car magazines which have tested the C55, the 0-60mph time is 4.7-5.0 seconds. Some used brake torquing, while others have not.

The fact that you're getting 0-60 sprint times in that range tells me that you're close to optimizing your launch already. I think it is unrealistic for a stock C55 to get 0-60 times into the mid 4's. Having said that, something is wrong if you have to let go of the throttle during your run......

To launch a C55, I do what most people here have said, gently squeeze the throttle and then floor it quickly but GRADUALLY. Our cars don't like rapid flooring of the throttle.

It's good to know this is in the ball park. But what I want is to make the most of the power it has. I am fine with a soft launch but I would like to get enough traction to go WOT at least midway in 1st. If I go WOT in 1st anywhere near 4,000 RPM it will start smoking the tires again until I back out of it. It just builds too much torque for its skimpy little footprint. So basically I am leaving a lot of potential acceleration on the table. I am going to try some very sticky DOT competition tires. If I can get those to stick I think a 4.5 and maybe even 12's is a very possible goal. That's where I would like to be at least.

Get a set of Drag rad.. Problem sOlved, case closed.

Yeah but I want to corner too, the DRs are good for launching but that's about it. I am thnking DOT comp autox tires.

I guess that's the crux of my rant here really, that [1] the M113 E55 motor makes some impressive torque (I had no idea) and that [2] I am shocked based on the torque that they would shod these things with 245mm shoes. I think these things should come with an option for 285/30 UTQG AA traction tires on them.

I went wider in rear with new wheels and ps2's it gets great traction. With the stock p-zeros it was like slip and slide on a banana when I got on it.