06CLK350

Hey Everyone,

I test drove a mars red c63 yesterday and i have to say that the power was incredible on that car. One thing that would completely stop me from purchasing that car is that the paddle shifters have a horrible lag. When we had a clk350, it lagged and i said it is because it is a 350, but a 63 is not supposed to lag. I have also test driven the isf and m3 and none of these cars have that problem. Why doesnt mercedes improve on the paddles?

Fantasm

you were in comfort mode probably. there is no lag.

06CLK350

No, i was in sports mode. Even my s550 and e350 have lags, but i couldnt believe that a amg would have lag while shifting.

bigbodybeeenz

Yes there is a lag, but it's not much worse than the m3 or the IS-F imo.

B.E.R.U.A.N.G

I second that thought for the IS-F...I test drove IS-F..and it was great! I Wish my C63 got the IS-F Shifting

paulGT3

There is a psuedo lag in the 1-2 gear shifts. The revs build up so fast AMG programmed the 1-2 shift to happen at 5000 RPMs to help from the motor hitting redline. All the other shifts happen at 6200. You probably felt that 1-2 gear lag. Its not a problem on the track as you wouldnt be shifting into 1st gear. I dont see how without some training that you could shift the car the way is supposed to be shifted on a test drive. You really need a owner or a GOOD driving salesman to show you how its supposed to work. THe M3 is easier to shift from a beginners stanpoint, but once you get the hang of it
in sport with ESP in SPorts its a hoot.

The downshifts are even better.
If you are REALLY in the market do some research on the AGM private lounge to see where people are shifting. I had my car for 4 weeks and was having problems (operator error) until I read what owners were doing for the most fun.

mthis

yes ther is a lag.BUT if you learn how to DRIVE your car it wont be a problen shifting perfect take a long time and alot of gas but i get my car to **** perfect everytime from 1to2. the first 50 times you ganna bounce off the limiter but its cool you hear it pop,

Q: how do you know if the shift is perfect?
A: your mufflers will make a diff noise the normal.


how do i know this?
b/c i drive my car in m mode about 99 percent of the time.

good luck and drive safe,

paulGT3

Mthis I agree with you 100%
There is no way to get it right on a test drive. With so many modes and the 1-2 gear change at 5000 Rpm its just not gonna happen
But 06CLK like I said get an owner near by if you are going to buy so they can show you the right way to see if that lessens your concern about that shifting issue.

06CLK350

Thanks for the replies everyone. Im not going to get the car, i just simply test drove it since i was at the dealer purchasing the e350. I dont agree with people telling me that i need to learn how to shift the car properly, because i have driven a black edition and a s63 and i did not have this issue. Also, yes, the m3 and the isf shift much better then the c63. If you have not driven all those cars, please do before saying that they shift the same. Well, the c63 is a very powerful beast and it is a very good ride for a everyday car. It is much faster than the 612, and the ride is much much better.

iku

why don't u do it in manual mode? it's even faster than the Sport mode.
correct me if i'm wrong, but in sport mode, its 35% quicker than Comfort. In Manual mode, its 50% faster.

the gearbox program in the C63 is suppose to be more advanced than the one in the CLK63 blackseries i think (throttle blipping), so i doubt that the C63 has more lag than the blackseries, though i've never driven a black series.

Deeroff

I found this thread interesting. I have a Scuderia and the shifts are faster than the blink of an eye (60ms). Everything is slower compared to that; however, I find the shifting in my C63 to be great. Is it Scuderia fast? - nope - nor is the superfast in my 599 (compared to the Scuderia but I still got the 599) The tranny - given the torque in the C63 - is well-suited to the C63.

I found the lack of torque to be a substantial issue with the M3 - fast shifts without the kick in the pants is not my cup of meat (tho on the track that is not as much an issue - I used to race an RX-7 and that had NO torque but was a blast). THAT lack of torque stopped me from buying the M3.

And the steering and lean and soft suspension in the Lexus prevented me from even considering that.

To each their own.

AMGBeleza

Thanks for that input Deeroff! Well said from someone with such a great range of high end performance cars! Also, we have the option of getting the TCU tuned for even faster shifting and deletion of the adaptive transmission concept from MHP. But based on what many people have said from their miles of driving experience in the C63, not sure I'll be too worried about that in the very near future.

paulGT3

I still dont think you exactly knew what you were doing.
Tell us what modes you were in so we can figure out what you did.
were you in sport? what shifts hat the lag? what the EPS on or off?
without that knowledge we dont know

it took me a week to figure out how to do it well and this is the first
tim this AMG speedshift has been put in a car with 3 ESP modes
so I still dont think you were expert in what you were doing
regardless of other AMGs. This is the first implementation of this
tranny WITH these modes.
AND Deeroffs post kind of point to what I am saying
Also I have driven the M3 the RS4 and the ISF. the AMG is just as good once I figured out the sequence.

Hans Delbruck

There is definitely a lag between paddle pull and gear change. On my test drive, this was disappointing. As an owner, it's something you anticipate so you get used to it.

The worst thing about this car, IMO after 3800 miles, is the adaptive tranny. I could go on forever but I must say the adaptiveness works against the nature of this car. What is great about the C63 is its ability to be tame, yet have a beast ready to go when you need it. The adaptive tranny really screws this up. I am in traffic for 95% of my driving and I simply cannot put my foot in it 100% of the time, because I would run over the car in front of me. Therefore I end up light on the throttle for most of my driving, and the tranny adapts to that driving style (or lack of style!) Then when I want to or NEED to access the power quickly, to spring out of traffic, sometimes the tranny actually UPshifts instead of downshifts when I dig into the throttle.

This is the only automatic car I currently own and have ever owned. I am going to try that tranny reset tonight to see if it works..... I am driving in Manual mode more often now to prevent dumbshifts by the carputer.

I don't understand why MB puts adaptive modes on their AMG cars. Let the driver adapt to the car; give the driver control. The car doesn't need to adapt to me, thank you.


RANT OFF!

gaazmon

That's the problem with all Benzes, IMO, the adaptive tranny and throttle computers. I truely believe they are designed like this on purpose (especially on the lower models and V6's models, cause if you complain about the lag on a lower end model, i.e. c300, e350, slk300, clk350, they'll just say "you should've bought the v8 or AMG variant for performance). I believe it's all a ploy to upsell you on the engines and models (I'm am referencing this to the purchase of a lower model, c300 e350 clk350 slk300, not a AMG variant or the bigger engine of the model). Damn drive-by-wire systems.

Our 2006 yukon xl denali is great for this. 335 hp, and when you step on the throttle, the shiit picks up right away (I'm still amazed for such a heavy car, my friend has an 07 escalade, that thing is sick!!! ). I can't shift on the lever (not tiptronic, only 4 gears), but with my foot, it knows exactly when I want it to downshift, or upshift when I'm done with speeding up. *Sigh, I wish it wasn't an XL, then I'd mod the **** out of it and drive that. Also, I realized with the fires here recently and having to evacuate, there is something to be said about having an SUV or two.

paulGT3

Hans there is a way to reset that and it goes back to mile 0

Turn on the key to ignition spot 2 (dont turn over motor)
Press on gas pedal for 5 seconds
remove gas pedal
turn off key
its in the Private lounge forum in detail
Supposedly this resets the adaptive learning.

I drive in open roads all the time and I have been driving hard
after the break in.

06CLK350

I was in sports and manual mode at the same time. I asked the salesperson why it has a lag and he replied by saying that it is a very common issue with mercedes.