c32AMG-DTM

Went to a private track rental @ NJMP recently (couple weeks ago), and it was an eye-opening experience (first time on a road course). You really don't realize how high the handling and braking limits of the car are, until pushing it 'round a track... awe-inspiring. Some amazing hardware was on site, including JT55's beautiful CLK63BS, an F430 Scud, two S/C'd R8's, a slant-nose 930 turbo, 993 RSR, etc... you get the idea.

Wanted to share some pictures of the C32 from the event - I have a metric ton of photos, so here's just a few highlights. FWIW, did a search first, and don't believe that a "track day media thread" exists... so please feel free to share your own pictures of C32's and C55's on the track, if you like.





Beginnings of "gold-caliper-mod"...?








My personal favorite, as it could be misconstrued that I knew what I was doing:





Some "after-event" carnage... suffice it to say, Akebono Euro-Ceramic pads are not really dual-purpose pads. FYI - wheel was squeaky clean that morning... finger-swipe to demonstrate just how much ceramic dust is on the wheels




This was IMHO...




Guess my tips were getting a little warm...





Hope you enjoy 'em - as mentioned, please share your own if you want.

DarkXerox

Great photos! I've never seen the stock muffler do that before

c32AMG-DTM

Thanks!

Yeah - I think it was mainly situational... on NJMP Lightning, the lightbulb turn leading into the main straight is long, with a good bit of camber - so it's a fast turn, with the suspension load being sent to the left rear as you accellerate around it, and the g-forces pulling the muffler left also... that's the only rationale that made sense to me, anyway.

splinter

Your car looks great, c32AMG-DTM. Good to know you’re out there getting after it.
NJMP seems a first class venue.

Showing that Ferrari the quick way around huh?!

c32AMG-DTM

NJMP is indeed a great facility - unfortunately is not a public one, though... more like a country club with a track in place of the links. Hoping the shop I work with picks up a corporate membership, which would mean I could frequent it on an occassional basis; last I heard, they were "looking into it" with their GM being pretty strongly in favor of it - we'll see.

What track(s) have you done HPDE at, splinter? Laguna Seca? Willow Springs? Nurburgring?

c32used

c32AMG-DTM

Thanks, c32used! You tracked those R888's yet? Very interested to hear your feedback on 'em...

c32used

Yes I did track the R888 but unfortunately I managed to catch a flat so I say maybe 10 runs with it...I definitely felt the difference between the Nitto DRs and these R888s with the winner by a noticeable difference being the R888s...track conditions and pretty hot day made the 12 sec club elude me yet once again so I am waiting for a very cool evening and taking a few runs at Byron Dragway about 45 minutes west of me. I definitely recommend these tires for track use The car feels so stuck to the ground even around corners its amazing I highly recommend them for track or drag racing there grip and traction especially in dry is excellent...even in wet I noticed I didn't spin as much before those tire caught grip

PC Valkyrie

Nice pictures. Good to see another W203 C-AMG car at the track. In my opinion, you don't know anything about high performance driving until you actual try it on a track.......nothing on the street or drag strip can compare. What tires were you using?

That pic of your front rotors close up with tons of brake dust in the holes reminds of exactly how my rotors look like after a track day on slower tracks with heavy braking zones......any brake judder afterwards when you drove home? My C55 with stock brake pads and brake fluid always resulted in some brake judder for a few weeks afterwards because of uneven deposit of brake pad materials on the rotors.

Also, that picture of your rear bumper "melting" because of escessive heat from your muffler tips (presumeably) is scary......never seen that before.

My youtube channel has some in-car videos from some of my track days:
http://www.youtube.com/user/PCValkyrie

Some of my better looking track pictures can be seen in my album here on mbworld.
https://mbworld.org/forums/members/p...5-c55-amg.html

Here are a few more showing how the stock suspension really compresses at a high speed track (Mosport)....... Overall handling grip is quite good though.

hooleyboy

As soon as my suspension is done I'm going road racing. great pics! I was just thinking about road racing and entering the Silver State classic, a 90 mile race though Nevada.

JonMBZ

Looks like fun. I really want to track my car too, but I have crap tires on it. So I kinda want to track it to wear them out, but I am afraid they will be too dangerous for track use.

c32AMG-DTM

PC - great info and pics, thanks for sharing!

As most of the safe media-areas around the track were inside the corners, I have quite a few pics that look like your third attachment... showing a ton of wheel gap due to the lean.

Tires used were Nitto Invos - they handled themselves well, certainly at least matching my abilities as a beginner. Didn't fiddle much with pressures - maybe next time.

Brakes - didn't get any uneven deposits, but the Euro Ceramics faded pretty easily, and I wouldn't be surprised if 50%+ of the Akebono pad material was toasted off during the session; I'm thinking of "guinea pigging" the EBC Yellowstuffs the next time I go... will post up a review if I do.

The bumper exhaust cutout "melting" was a surprise to me too - but was extremely easy to clean up with a sharp utility knife; the harder part was/is getting the plastic off of the tips... I've managed to get most of it removed so far, with various cleaners and 0000 wool.

c32AMG-DTM

Even with the stock suspension, you'd be amazed at the car's capabilities, I'd imagine. Let us know when you get on a track!

Safe tires, brakes, and other mechanical components are imperative to an enjoyable track-day experience IMHO. Not sure if any are still in stock, but for awhile Tire Rack had Hankook S1 evo tires at bargain-basement prices... might be a worthy replacement to your "crap" tires

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Sizes....=Ventus+S1+evo

What honestly surprised me the most was how much gas one goes through... "WOT, full brake, WOT, full brake, repeat as necessary" doesn't make for healthy MPGs. Unlike the drag strip, show up with a full tank - and if you're getting a lot of laps in, expect to use it all and maybe need to fill up some more @ the track.

MRAMG1

Hey c32AMG:

First thing first, did you notice your car plowing, aka understeering through the corners when you would push hard. If the answer is yes, which I bet it is, try pumping the fronts up to about 40 psi, and drop the rears to about 32. This will help ALOT with the understeering. My best tiems at beaverun were with 42 LF, 40 RF, 32 LR, and 30 RR. Note: My pressures are for reference ONLY here guys, as everyone's driving style WELL vary, aka different pressures for differnt tires and driving style.

Next with brakes, my stock pads DID fade on me at beaverun, my fault driving too hard chasing after a pisky vette After they cooled down, drove a little more conservative, but they would still get spongy at the end of a 20 minute session. Bought EBC Reds, and they NEVER faded. They bite MUCH harder and with very little dusting as they are ceramic. The yellows are more of a TRACK ONLY pad my friend. What I mean here is that they will NOT grip well until they have some heat in them. Not a good situation if you don't realize this every morning you go for a run, or cruising down the interstate for a few hours and then have to make a panic stop on cold pads. There was a guy here using the yellows for a daily driver, but I can factualy say that REDS can handle ANY abuse you throw at them. Heck, I changed to reds on my 300 SRT, a Fusion, and will have them on my S600 in the VERY near future.

Good luck, and nice shots

See yeah

PS: my mileage was around 7 on the track, but WELL worth it.

Chappy

Looks like you had fun - congrats! Careful, it can be addicting...

reserved

Never been there (yet!) but i have heard great things about NJMP.
Sounds like you had an awesome time!!!!!
Here is a track event listing if you are interested in signing up for any more events this year

http://www.trackschedule.com/sched.html

RES

Going to try the same with the Mercedes.

AnimC32

Anyone got any cockpit videos from the track?

c32AMG-DTM

No in-car video from me, sorry (actually, think I heard someone mention they weren't really allowing it that day? IDK). Pretty sure some video footage exists, though - just not from the cockpit vantage point. The S/C'd R8 had a few external wide-angle vid cam's suctioned to it, and several of the higher-profile cars were run for a few laps with a Cayenne Turbo for photographer/videographer usage.

mdncn2762

July 2009 German Race Wars....Accepting all Vendor stickers/ parts LOL

splinter

Certainly your marketing and retention department can justify the value in said membership.

Moi?
Driven or ridden along on Riverside, Laguna Seca, Portland, California Speedway, Phoenix, Buttonwillow, Ontario and Long Beach. Willow Springs, too.

Never actually had the skill, ***** or disposable income to be one of the fast guys. Have discovered that car folk tend to invariably be good people, regardless of their background or station in life. A tradesman and surgeon or investment banker can all relate while feeling the buzz in the paddock after a session. Had the good fortune to never put a wheel too wrong or cause another entrant to be caught up in one of my incidents – or drive home feeling like a schmuck.

Can’t implore enough those with any inclination to explore his car’s dynamic capabilities to enjoy at least one day on a road course. Just might want to experience the feeling again and again.

Been fiddling with cars since the early ‘70s. Clogged up the forum with too many pictures of my C.
From the college years-


Kindly forgive the tread jack. Looking forward to your next installment.

TemjinX2

wow super old school..lol.

rockjock

thats before I was born....

c32AMG-DTM

Good stuff, splinter - as always, appreciate the feedback. That's a nice collection of tracks under your belt... what was/is your favorite? BTW, from your response, I realized I didn't word my comment appropriately - by "the shop I work with" I meant "the shop I'm a client of" - not "the shop I work for." Just hoping that my gentle nudgings might help sway their decision, is all.

Didn't even occur to me to put a decade cut-off on the pics... j/k

c32AMG-DTM

Thanks for the link - great info, and wasn't aware of it.