02cl55amg

the 02 cl55's 390tq aint cuttin it. planning on purchasing one of the 2 shortly. stock for stock which is faster in a straight line? hp is the same, looks like the 600 has 590tq compared to the 55's 515tq, but the 600 is heavier. want the most hp/tq for my $, btw both would be modded with a ecu upgrade(cl600) & pulleys/ecu(cl55).

JAYCL600

modded the 600 wins hands down

Jaki

+1

Much easier to mod a turboed car than a supercharged car.

france2112

I use to own an 03 CL55 stock and an 05 SL600 with ECU/TCU upgrade. The 600 stock pulled stronger then the 55 stock and when I modified the 600 forget it, one of the fastest cars on the road. Go for the 600 and get the ECU upgrade and new exhaust.

DFW01E55

My lightly modded '03 55 traps 115, Jay's modded '05 600 traps mid 120's.
That's pretty easy, right?

The cost to approach those speeds starts at 2k for either car.
I think that spending more than 5k triggers the diminishing returns process.

mclarenm8d

The only advantage my modded CL55 would have over a CL600 is that I don't have to worry about wheel spin in fourth gear :-).

If straight line is the main thing, CL600. The biggest benefit of the CL600 over the CL55, IMO, isn't necessarily what they do side by side at the drag strip but the effect on the street. The CL55 is "under geared", so the huge torque reserves of the CL600 enable it to pull away from same gear/same starting speed. The higher RPM limit of the CL55 basically can't be used to an advantage. I run shorter tires, but there just isn't any way to get up to what would be an effective ~3.06 ring and pinion where the CL55 needs to be.

Why not supercharge your current CL55? You've got the better 2.82 ring and pinion.

02cl55amg

its about what $12k to supercharge this car?(kleeman) thought about nitrous, but i heard its not that safe on these cars. i could get into a nice
cl55 for about $40k w/decent miles. a cl600 with amg sport, silver/charcoal is a tough find especially @$40k

xlr8tin

And what if you add in the CL65 w215

trumpet1

I'd go 600 or 65. I have a 600 and it is Rennteched and has monstrous torque and speed.

AMGTestDriverNJ

and can hands down say that even though I love my own car, the 600 is smoother faster and more powerful despite the numbers. the powerband is very well distributed vs the AMG which is somewhat jerky as with the supercharger engage and so forth. the turbos in the V12 spool quickly and hammer you but don't jerk like the supercharger clutch. Hands down 600 over 55 and I own it. Anybody who tells you different is selling them.

Satan

and the CL600 has that supple leather

v8plus4

And the alcantara headliner

sick430

hey guys in the same boat right now the only thing that is drawing me to the 55 over the 600 are the AMG brakes which to say the lest are huge. i currently have the same brakes as on the 600 on my clk and just dont think they are big enough for the weight and speed of the 600. someone please tell me i am wrong or that i missed it somewhere and the 600 really do have the large 8 piston amg brakes.

thanks
liran

BlownV8

The brakes on the tt600 are huge and does have the multi-piston brakes. You will not be left thinking they are insufficient.

sound 8

Apart from the engines being different does the 600 have the AMG body,
seats,suspension and brakes?

Pronto

I'm curious if anyone here has heard of a mod to engage the supercharger off idle, rather than 2750 rpm? Also anyone changed the rearend to the higher numerical ratio for better acceleration?

Exotic-metal55

The super charger is LOAD and or rpm engaged. WOT=load= engaged.

JBrady

Actually the only thing the same about the power is the factory "claim".

IMO, MB rated the 03 600's at 493hp so as to not eclipse the then brand new supercharged AMG 55s.

Ben Treynor put his then brand new S600 on the dyno and made 481rwhp That is DEFINITELY much more than 493hp crankshaft more in the mid to upper 500s. Obviously there is no comparison torque wise.

I understand that the chip upgrade quickens throttle response making the car not only much more powerful but also much more fun to drive. Treynor found 525rwhp on his S600 after the chip.

Untertürkheim

600 wins out of the box or modded.

Pronto

Good to know. What I'd read about it, seemed to suggest it was only from that point. I'd assumed it was to maybe reduce the chance of wheelspin.

What do you think of your pulley mod? Would you recommend that as a first improvement or does something else give a better bang for the buck?

dwalker011

Pulley won't do much alone. You'll get a decent torque gain but not much hp. If you do the flash with the pulley then you'll see some nice gains.
Cooling mods don't add power but they are basically a must. Your car won't use the power it has if it's running to hot. Cooling mods are cheap in the grand scheme of things anyway.

red00lght

Not a perfect comparison, but I've owned 2 55 engine cars (E55 and S55) and a CL600. I just never fell in love with my 600.

It just seemed sluggish and heavy around town unless you really pushed it. Even then the turbos made it so quiet that I started missing the sound of a blown V8. It was stock btw so I can't speak for a modded car. I even took the CL600 to Renntech for a dyno and lookover to make sure something wasn't wrong!

The 55 engine sounded better and begged to be flogged. I would test drive both cars and go with your preference. Just my 2 cents!

slavik

600 hands down!!

Patentmat

Totally agree. That said, the question asked was which is "faster" so in a straight line the 600. In the corners, I am really not sure.

02cl55amg

at this point, i might as well just buy a 65