jkelley

Bone stock, 1 year & 2 day old CLK55 getting tossed around turn 4 at Willow Springs by yours truly. What can I say except OHMYDOGMA what a well and truly spectacular kick-in-the-*** day of fun!

I had the good fortune to participate in a track day/driving school put on by Jordan Alessio of RoadOne Racing. 7 half-hour rounds of track time for each driver, lots of talented instructors to help you get the most out of your car and yourself, great weather, a great track, good fun watching other cars & drivers.

Mine was one of only 4 Benz’s there (one each CLK55, brand new no plates yet C320, late-eighties E500, and a mid-nineties E wagon with a C36 engine tossed in for fun!). Lots of bimmer’s & Porsches of every conceivable size, shape, age, and level of tuning, one rented(!) Viper, and a handful of ‘vettes.

Since this was a driving school, no timing was allowed (keeps Jordan’s and the driver’s insurance in force). No doubt, my butt clock tells me my lap times dropped dramatically from the first session to the last. First time out, an instructor drives your car – my guy dove into turn 8 (a long right hand sweeper) at 120mph. No braking. No sweat for him, I just doubled the depth of gray on my head. Scared the holy crap outta me. We switched seats, and my first lap I went into turn 8 at no more than 90 – and I hit the brakes ‘cuz it just didn’t feel like I would be able to keep the shiny side up at that speed. By my final session, I was going into turn 8 at 120+, no braking, and it felt completely controlled. The rush was amazing….. and by the time I packed it in I had ribbons of melted rubber on all four tires.

The only negative of the day – my beloved CLK decided to pick this afternoon to repeat its transmission “issue”. Stuck in limp home mode, it gets a free ride from Lancaster to Pasadena (nearest MB dealer), and I’m left trying to figure out how to get to LAX for my 6:00am flight to Finland. So here I sit half a world away while Dan at Rusnak Mercedes nurses my baby back to health. The good news – Dan agreed that going by the book (and replacing the tranny controller & valve body) wasn’t good enough since that had just been done in January. He even took the initiative to push back when “standard policies” dictated that he install a remanufactured tranny shipped in from the fatherland. So I get back stateside Saturday, rent a piece-o-crap from LAX for the weekend, and boogie on up to Pasadena Monday to pick up my baby with her brand new tranny & (promises Dan) a spiffy detail job thrown in. The only piece left to deal with will be getting MBUSA to reimburse me for my expenses – trip interruption policy says first 3 days @ $300 per. Only issue is that my three days aren’t the first three – so there might be some fight to get MBUSA to see reason.

Back to the fun part - RoadOne Racing is on the web at RoadOne Racing. Not a lot of details there, but you can reach Jordan. Good guy, took great care of me when I had to cancel out on a previous session, and offered to drive me to LAX himself. No, I don't have any affiliation, ain't getting any kick back, just want to let you know about a good guy with a good product - enjoy!

Angel_Dust

damn you are lucky....i wish i could do a few laps around willow springs....looks like you had a lot of fun.....120+ is definitely a rush to drive....i did 135 once on the 210 west bound and i was pissing in my pants and that was going straight....imagine a road course at that speed....don't know if i could handle it....i don't think my 430 will be able to hit 120 in a turn but nevertheless i would like to try....

sorry about the tranny....i thought the 55's had the MB v12 tranny in it to better handle the extra torque....don't know why it gave up during your track session....

just one question....did the porsche's seem faster during the day....i know it wasn't timed but did they seem to be able to handle the twists and turns better than the amg suspension??

sungulent

how much was it to take ur car out there?

duarte im there once a week and i dint even about this school

thanks

i went to the power trip and went ona lap like that

scary but it was fun

ps i took my 320 up to 130 on 5 freeway coming from magic mountain

jkelley

It may just be wishful thinking on my part, but I don't believe the transmission failure was a direct result of the track time. There was zero indication of anything going south - came off after a half hour session, shut her down, and when I started up again 30 minutes later it wouldn't shift outta second. Similar circumstances in January when it crapped out - only difference was 2 hours of freeway driving, instead of thirty minutes of track driving prior to the failure.

As to the Porsches - way to driver dependent to do a comparison. All I can state based on fact is that I passed a few, and nobody (Porsche or otherwise) ever passed me (of course, I was running with the newbie group - I would've been eaten alive in the advance group - based on machine power & driver skill, for sure ).

120 was my max speed going into turn 8 - 140 was my max speed on the 1/2 mile straight after turn nine. There was a Dinan'd M Coupe that was clearing 165 on the same straight.

The cost question - contact Jordan. I get the impression that different schools on different tracks with different add-ons have (duh) different prices.

Jim

sorlo

I once did 120 on 128 going straight and I passed so many car, then I told myself I should slow down a bit before stupid things happen.


Jkelly,


Is that a Mickey Mouse on your antenna?

jkelley

Yep. He seemed to enjoy the track time quite a bit!

Ahmed

listen guys.. i don't know exactly all the miles conversions and everything..... but correct me if i'm wrong, MY ODOMETER NEEDLE WAS POINTING AT 250 KM/H WITH THE RPM IDLE AT 5000 RPM. I was very impressed at the ease the CLK reached that speed!!

Isnt that just a bit more than the figures you guys are posting, or did you guys just run out of road and had to slow down?

just curious..

jkelley

255 KM/H = 155 MPH, the electronically limited max of the CLK55 (and nearly all German cars except Porsche).

At Willow Springs, my top end of 140 MPH (225 KM/H) was limited by straight track space - the 1/2 mile straight after turn nine just isn't long enough to go faster (at least not with me driving - more speed out of turn nine would = more speed on the straight).

I've had my CLK to an indicated 157 MPH on a four mile long essentially straight section of not yet open surface street. Like you said, no problem getting there, plenty of pull left, and she felt stable and sure.

Ahmed

how did you get it up to 157? Have you installed a Vmax control unit?

a freind of mine installed a BRABUS VMAX unit on his SL500 and his instument cluster went nuts, giving him wrong and scary readings. So he took it off!

Angel_Dust

for the clk 430....the speed is electronically governed at 135 mph....you lucky 55 owners get to go to 155

jkelley

Nope. 250 KM/H (the limit used by most German car makers) = 155.343 MPH. Note I said I reached an indicated speed of 157 - that was what the digital speedo said, I have no idea how accurate it is, what effect tailwinds, lunar cycles, down hill slopes, etc might have had......

What I do know is that going as fast as I was is one hell of a rush

TripleCap

I was cruising about 90mph last week, and the rpm was only at 2900. Amazing engine.

Ahmed

oh okay....

i'm surprised though... angel dust said his 430 governed at 135!!!! is that true????

i don't think so my friend!

sorlo

I am not sure about 430, but 320 is limited to 135 only

Ahmed

cmon sorlo... ur not serious are u?

is that the limiter on the US spec 320?

mine eases to 250km/h with another 1000 rpm to spare!

and hopefully with a little bit of tail wind, i should hit 255 or 260!

SORLO... what are your 0 - 100km/h times? just curious

sorlo

Ahmed,

I am serious dude, my car is only limited to 135 , isn't that suck? (tons of regulations here)

According to mbusa, my car from 0-60mph is 6.9, but it seems faster than that. I am going to test my 1/4mile time today, I will let you know afterwards

Angel_Dust

it is sad but true ahmed....

i have a 99 430 and i can't get the speedo to pass 135.....

Ahmed

its like restricting the benz from breathing!!! Damn the regulations!

Angel_Dust

damn straight.....

but at 135 mph i was scared ****less already so don't know how much going 155 would do any good....but at least i'd like to know that i can go up to 155.....

sungulent

what u mean to tell me i cant do more 135 on a clk?

it was 90 on honda as i recall but i though they changed that

i know people can make some mods for this

ok what do i do????????/

now look what u did i gotta take my clk ona freeway to see if this is true

ill elt u know the results

hmm thinking of empty freeway

sorlo

sungulent,

Let us know your result, I really want to see our 320s go up to 155 (take off the limiter )


It's true, I don't think I will go as fast as 155, but it's good to know it's capable to.

sungulent

well im back safe and all right thank god

1 am in the morning 118 freeway

took it up to 130 fellas after i guess i coulnt push it the dawm thing is too fast for me

whole lotta **** was going tru my mind, soo i said **** this i wanna live

to those who wanna push their car to the limit please dont really

ya they fast and all but not worth ur life

thanks
g

Ahmed

men or mice baby... men or mice !!!!

hehehehehehe.....

NOTE: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME... SUNGULENT IS A PROFFESSIONAL DRIVER !

sungulent

u can say that lol

sorlo

sungulent,

Glad that you came back in a piece