So, since this is my "Track Build" thread now, and I just got back from a couple days at Watkins Glen..... where to begin. Well I went up early on Sunday to watch Wobble64 and his new race team (recall he stopped tracking his C63 and built a dedicated LS-swapped 370Z track car - there are pics above at VIR last year) compete in the 2nd day of their AER endurance race. Now THAT'S real racing! It's insane actually, I think out of 80 cars to start the weekend, only something like 29 finished. It's pretty rough, but looks like a ton of fun. Wobble's team was doing really well, leading their class at one point. However their day was cut short early by an overheating rear diff that wouldn't stop puking gear oil. Too bad, but they're very competitive in their class and should do well going forward if they can get a couple small issues sorted.

By the way, NASA did a tremendous job with this event. There were only about 60 cars, so the groups were all real light with not a lot of traffic and people generally where they should have been. I was in Group 3, and we might have had 12 cars out there - when they have a busy event it's more like 45. Weather forecast had something to do with that, with rain expected on and off both days. We got lucky Monday. They also let us double-up by also running in the 2 session in the afternoon if we wanted to, so I got in the bedding laps plus 5 25min sessions which was great.

So, onto my car... or what's left of it?

Here it is BEFORE - LOOKS MEAN:







The Good

The changes over the winter have completely changed the car, for the good. I continue to be really impressed with Harry and his guys at Bergen Imports, they just get everything right. It's like night and day. I did the following since last at the track:
- 44O cooling kit
- Modified front bumper for more airflow
- Widened rear fenders
- 295/255 Michelin Sport Cup 2's
- KW Clubsports coilovers
- KMAC F/R camber bushings and subframe bushing kit
- Spoon Rigid Collars
- DIY adjustable swaybar end links
- Corner balance and track alignment
- Hard Brakes 0.5mm Ti pad/caliper shims with Permatex ceramic brake paste
- Custom Carbotech XP12 track pads
- spot held for things I missed

First of all, the car is now EXTREMELY stiff, and sits with the tires tucked under the fenders. That's the first thing that needs to change, I need about 5/8" more in back, it's just too low. Loaded down in the trunk with 175lbs of tools and things, over a couple hard dips on the drive up, the rear tires were scraping the inner fender. Was also happening on track, under extreme compression - like coming into the uphill right-hander of the "Toe". So car needs to go up a bit, and the KW's need a click up on the compression setting.

Day 1 started out cold and sunny, but the track heated up quickly and temps were almost 70 by midday. I changed my pads to the XP12's, installed the Ti shims, and bled the entire brake system with Castrol SRF on Sunday afternoon. So the first session was spent bedding the brakes in. After 4 laps, smoke was billowing out of my front wheels, so I had to come into pit to let the brakes cool. Bedding accomplished, there's a really nice consistent transfer layer on the rotors now instead of the splotchy messes I had become used to. Much better and more efficient than bedding on the road, noted. Brakes felt real good early, at a couple hard braking points they were overpowering the MPSC2's, so I know I have enough brake with the RacingBrake BBK. Last session before lunch, I was noticing a longer pedal and a little 'squish' in the pedal. When I came in and popped my hood, I saw my brake fluid reservoir cap had come off. That's weird. Screwed it back on as tight as I could without stripping it, and it still didn't feel right so I put some Gorilla Tape over it. Next session.... same brake feel and cap popped, except this time brake fluid puked everywhere. Ok, so now that's concerning. I know for a fact that I'm not boiling SRF, and that reservoir isn't under pressure. So what does this mean? I'm still a little stumped (gasket is still in there but may be worn), and after asking around decided to just wrap the threads of the reservoir with electrical tape, refilled to the Max line, then secured the cap again (it was tight now). That worked, brakes felt great again, but I'm just concerned there may be a bigger issue that I don't know about. For now I'm chalking it up to a bad/worn cap and will order a new one. Alternately I may modify the cap from the Motive bleeder which fits super tight, as suggested by Wobble64.

Tires. The MPSC2's seem to like best 43F/41R hot on a day like Monday at least. Took some trial and error to get it right, because as Wobble has pointed out, the different tread compounds used across the tire make the use of a Pyrometer, well useless. The different compounds all heat and cool at different rates, so you can't just shoot for consistent heat across the tread to dial in pressures. Started the day at 36psi all around, and after the first session I had 48F/44R. Gradually took them down in 2-3psi hot increments throughout the day until they were where I wanted them. Tire sizes are no problem for my rim widths, and I'm using about 0.25" of tire past the shoulders which I think is just about right (although hitting the curbs like I am adds another 2" of marks down the sidewall).

Also need more negative camber. Currently I'm at -2.2F/-2.2R. I'd like those numbers to be more like -3.5F/-3.0R. Car didn't turn in quite as eagerly as I would have liked, and didn't hold hard turns. It's still understeering a bit as well, although the car feels very balanced overall and very predictable. Pretty flat as well, thanks to all this work above and the Ultra underbody bars. I'm new to adjusting suspension settings, so it will probably take me a few more track days before I understand how to translate what I'm feeling on track into changes, so I'm trying to really focus much more on how the car feels and what it's doing now rather than just driving. I used ALL of the curbs aggressively, and I never felt like the car got that upset about it. Roll is almost gone, and into sweeping turns like the downhill "Carousel", I felt like I had at least half my body weight leaning on my door hanging on (note: need 5-pt harnesses). The car absolutely sticks like glue.... in the dry.

My Harry's LapTimer app for my iPhone gives me really funky readings - the GPS data is all over the place so I'm dumping it for Track Addict - and it takes me a lot of manual intervention to figure out my lap times. I was ON IT though - car felt really good, communicative, and fast fast fast. 150mph on the back straight, fast over curbing, just the slower turns where I'm between coming out of them towards the top of 3rd or lower in 4th are where I can do much better. I had turn 11 at 94mph, which is 20 over where I was last year, and about +15mph on the Esses where I could go flat out from the Turn 2 exit all the way down the back straight and to the Bus Stop which I was also cutting much straighter and flatter with minimal turning. HUGE improvements. First look shows consistent 2:10-2:14's, without a lot of variation (no or light traffic). I know this car, as it sat, has a 2:08 in it, and my phone ran out of battery during the last session where I would have had it getting chased by a McLaren MP12C and chasing a worked M4 (note: car doesn't recharge phone fast enough between sessions, always bring spare battery and cable). That's the biggest difference since last year - the car now allows me to rip of lap after lap at times I could only get close to on one fluky lap last year. The fastest times don't look significantly better on an absolute best vs best basis, maybe 4-5sec. The consistency is what has me so thrilled with this setup now.


The Bad

I hit a wall today. There, I said it. BLKROKT sad.

Today was WET. Rained all night, and was still raining at points during the first (and only for me) session. 49deg temps, it was just raw. NASA combined run groups so there were only two today - 1/2 and 3/4 - running 50min at a time. 3/4 were up first, and I didn't waste any time getting out there. As expected, it was slippery, so I just took it slow, focusing on the right lines, and just enjoying the track. All of 5 cars went out for the first session, as it was wet and raining on-and-off and cold and just really like a Sunday drive. Everything was at 1/2-3/4 speed other than the straights.

So the reconnaissance laps were going great. I was swapping position and following a Miata the whole time, and just concentrating on the turns and having a little bit of fun at the "Toe" where the car kept stepping out a bit with traction on Sport. Sport-mode is really a fantastic thing in the wet, it let me drive with some pace with a lot of confidence. Some of the brake zones stayed wet, but it really wasn't unmanageable even at a pretty decent clip in spots. I was on the last lap before pitting, and - this is the supremely stupid part - turned the TC off so I could get a little bit more rotation at the "Toe". I know, I KNOW DAD, but there were no other cars, I was going slow, and I just made a bad decision. You can guess what happened next. I went into the turn at no more than 30mph (too tight inside in hindsight), goosed the throttle to kick out the rear end, and promptly tank-slapped right into the Armco on the inside of the turn. I got on the brakes hard and hit it at maybe 10mph on passenger side front bumper with a sickening 'CRUNCH'. The sound, the sound aaaaah it will haunt my dreams. The corner worker, who was literally 20' away in his tower, shook his head at my retardedness and radioed in that I was black-flagged as I backed up (admiring my little gash in the Armco), and went on my way. That's the first time I've hit anything at the track - have gone off a couple times, but that's it. Felt so dumb, but in good spirits as I was driving away - I was fine, car is driving fine, no airbags deployed.




Just no good reason to turn TC totally off ever again on track unless I'm at an autocross or doing burnouts. The Sport mode is so not-intrusive anymore with all my (dry) traction, that it's not slowing me down at all. Plus I'm clearly not Mr Drift King. I really didn't feel it intervene at all on Monday, versus all the time last year. Massive difference.

Pulled into the pit and the guys on the wall had a look for me, not so bad! They said I should probably go to tech to get it checked, so I pulled in and got out to see this:






No hit to wheel or my shiny new suspension. Lots of dirt and grass in the wheelwells. No hit to all my new 44O coolers either, so major damage avoided probably. Not dropping any fluid or making any weird noises. It really doesn't look like much, right? Got some nice Watkins Blue paint on my bumper, but the interesting thing here is that my tow hook took almost the entire impact. This is both good and bad. No, actually it's just OK and bad. The OK is that the bumper cover can almost just be buffed out where it hit - it's very superficial, just a couple minor gouges and the carbon lip is even intact without cracks that I can see. The bad is that crack above the tow hook, which indicates that the bumper support back there moved up. The tow hook is one tough mother, it's still straight as an arrow. So the bumper support moved up, and started pushing things with it. I have a 1/2"" gap to my hood on the passenger side over the headlight now, versus the normal 1/4" on the drivers side. And the car is tracking slightly right (I made it the 260mi home driving totally as normal). And the steering wheel is cocked slightly right too when driving straight. Sigh. This gives me the excuse I needed to have my front bumper mod finished right by a bodyshop, and get my hood louvered and repainted too. I'm ok with this. Lesson learned. Had a few laughs and traded stories with some of the guys in the garage - they see my new Watkins Blue paint job as some sort of Badge of Honor, and think I should keep it like that. I may find a way to work something into the repaint. Anyway, that's what this is all about - good stories, learning, walking away and, ideally, driving away.

SO the car will go to the shop next week. Let's see how bad it is, and we'll just do what needs to be done. I'm looking forward to this next round of sooner-than-expected mods. What I'm thinking is:
- repair bumper (bumper and radiator supports and any other damage), add DIY front BIG canards, and larger bumper openings to complete the BS look
- brake cooling ducts
- hood louvers to extract heat (I just bought some Vorsteiner knock-off louvers as found on their carbon M3 Competition hood - will attach pic shortly)
- DSS carbon driveshaft
- probably the Weistec V2 transmission as I'm feeling some shift lag and I want to bulletproof it anyway
- repaint and Xpel front half of car
- roll front fenders
- more camber, more height, and tweak KW settings
- DIY poly swaybar bushings (stay tuned)
- check brake master cylinder and reservoir

Not sure if this will all happen in one shot, but that's what I need to do next. First is to get it stripped down and check the bumper and radiator supports, and then we'll tick that list off.


Overall a fun and interesting couple of days. I'm really not at all bent about this. If you're not prepared to be good-humored when **** like this happens, you probably shouldn't be tracking your car.

 

Track rash is good for you ego anyway.

 

Looks like you're learning a lot about proper setup, thanks for the great write up.

 

Great read and so lucky with the tow hook.

 

Off tracking C63 not recommended, may prove hazardous to your car and sense of well being. Ego adjuster.

Glad to see it was not worse and hopefully the repairs are no worse than they appear on the surface. Looks like it will buff out.

Thanks for the great reporting and heading in the right direction. Your dedication is impressive as is your attitude toward the sport. You drive on the edge your bound to hit a bump in the road once in a while.

Keep smiling!

 

FYI here are the pics of the Vorsteiner E92 M3 GTS3 Vented Hood. The vents are what I have, they will sit under the hood surface. They're close to the BS/507 hood vent shape, just much bigger. Not yet sure exactly where I want them to go. I'm also considering additional vents/mesh towards the back of the hood to let more heat out from the high points.

 

Glad to hear you had fun at the track, and all the hard work you have put into the car has paid off.
Sorry to hear about your little mishap, but it doesn't look to bad, so you got away with it.
I haven't tracked my 63 yet, but I have tracked my other cars, so I know how quickly things can go from having a great day at the track, to oh ****, what the hell just happened.
Good luck with the repairs. Look forward to seeing the beast back in action better than before.

 

I always thought put hood vents where you think they will work and all will be good but that is clearly not the case. A real science to it with low pressure zones etc under the bonnet. In an ideal world you have a spare bonnet that you could keep cutting, filling and testing to find the ideal location. You would like to think that the 507 vents have been located for effect over aesthetics. How do you propose to determine the vent location?

 

Ouch.

Jim - sorry to hear about the car. Fortunately you're OK, and furthermore the damage appears to be pretty minor. Yeah, power and/or speed can occasionally bite you, but at least in the controlled environment of the track there wasn't a kid or an 18-wheeler coming toward you in place of the Armco. It's not a cheap hobby, and things like this do happen. Glad you're OK... and in the grand scheme of things, so is the car. Chalk it off under "learning curve"!

 

GRP - that is indeed a valid point. I remember some ten years ago someone with a Porsche 928 put what looked like NACA ducts on the hood at the front of the car but facing the opposite way as air intakes connecting them to the intake snorkels under the hood. It looked very cool... except that at about 130 km/h the car would start would start running rich and losing power, and it just couldn't get over 170 km/h. He was chasing ghosts for years... mechanically everything was working fine. Then by fluke another 928 owner came across an interesting article about the design of the 928, which among other things showed a very low pressure zone over the hood. Once I saw it, we called the guy with the problem car and bet him $100 that we could fix it in 30 seconds with no spare parts and tools. Disconnected the snorkels inside so the engine could get some (hot) air from the engine bay and duct-taped the intake openings. Lo and behold, car drove without any issues. We spent the $100 on beverages that the three of us consumed over the next week or two, but I still have the airflow diagram somewhere.

 

I forgot to mention one other thing. The 44O cooling kit is absolutely amazing. In 70 degree temps on Monday, the highest oil temp I saw was 233 while absolutely wailing on it. Cruising on the street I'm usually in the 208-212 range. Really dramatic difference. Transmission was getting a little sluggish during longer sessions, but power was never cut and I was never worried about temps for once. Finally thermally stable so I can drive it this summer, can't wait.

 

blkrokt you see I'm new to this forum stuff what do you get out of telling on me to amduestch or whatever his name or status is? I need help and was looking for experienced Benz enthusiast that could help. But your saying I'm spamming? I'm simply looking for help? And what make my car ****ty because what? Your rude as f*** for no reason. It's people like you that give this forum a bad name. Instead of ratting me out to amduestch tou could of simply as a man told me how these forums work. I apologize for the inconvenience. But really you ain't cool?

 

Forget it. Good luck with all that.

 

Do you have any additional transmission cooling like the Weistec pan or the BS trans cooler?

 

I have the Weistec pan, TCU/VB, and the rear diff aluminum fins. I might look into the BS active diff cooling or a version of it. Also thought that Vaeth makes an upgraded transmission cooler, maybe FluidMotorUnion does too. Thanks for the idea there Chris, I didn't even think of that. I'll see what I can dig up.

At this point, I really don't think I need to go any faster in this car. I'll concentrate more on things like beefing up the trans and safety equipment going forward.

 

Found it. Vaeth (Vath) makes a "Transmission Oil Cooling for C63 Facelift". I'll contact them to find out what it is exactly. http://www.vaeth.com/index.php?optio...=en&Itemid=571

 

Almost done....

 

Bergen Imports posted this on IG this morn! should have known it was yours... Great Job! I'm def going to them to copy what you did to the rears! might have some questions for you in regard to wheels and set i want but the offsets is what confusing me as far as what the brakes can clear...

 

Cool. Literally.

 

Who wouldn't love a face like that!

 

Did you ever get a hold of them? What did you find out?

Also, awesome to see the car looking good again.

 

Also looking into a beefier Trans cooling, and thinking more and more about the BS Trans Cooler which was a drop in replacement on Dad's beast, and see how this larger cooler performs before considering active trans cooling.
With our 440 Cooling package, we had new rigid Trans Oil Lines installed, wondering if these would be compatible with this larger BS Trans Cooler?

If not, shouldn't be too difficult to bend or fab up 2 lines. . .

 

Didn't know the BS trans cooler was different. You have a link? Bet it drops right in now.

 

Smaller Stock Trans Cooler (2011 models and earlier)



Larger BS Trans Cooler, nearly twice the surface area, found in BS, non-BS 2012 and likely later models:



Photos sourced from these 2 threads:
https://mbworld.org/forums/c63-amg-w...lp-new-bs.html

https://mbworld.org/forums/c63-amg-w...aders-etc.html

 

Is the trans cooler the very first radiator in the bumper? I can take a photo of mine and post it up for clarification.