Kevwood

Well, I finally got the car back where it belongs, on the track.

The last time I was out the car had the H&R springs and sways, Koni's, R1's, Akebono's and Sonic wheels. It was fun and handled very well, I was surprised. However, the Akebono pads were a joke and disintegrated in 7 laps and as a result I almost slammed into a car then a wall...

The car has changed a lot since then, Kleemann supercharger/cams/headers/tune, custom rear springs, Brembo GT BBK conversion, 360 Forged wheels, Invo rubber, new areo parts, KV85's, E55K airbox w/ BMC filters and some other things I'm surely forgetting at the moment.

The result - more than I ever expected

My group consisted of a MP4-12C, Modded '11 M3, '08 M3, Lexus ISF, Jag XF something, a few Porsche's, Modded EVO 10, Audi S5 (very nice car), WRX STi, a few VW's and some others. There were about 12 cars. The guy with the MP4-12C was a novice driver to say the least, looked very unsure of himself on the track in the first session but in the second was the fastest on the strightaway but still slow in the corners. Anyways, the CLK ruled the roost! I was blowing by cars on the straight with ease and made up ground against everyone in the corners (to be honest, I do have a lot of seat time from racing in Canada 8 years ago).

The funny thing was that durring the initial gathering a few guys commented on my wheels but the car got no attention. After the first session I had guys (drivers and spectators) crowded all around the car asking what the hell it was It shocked a few people to say the least.

It was a great night to see how I stacked up against newer performance cars, the only one besides the MP4-12C that was very fast was the new M3. He said it was stock but the guys he was with said it had suspension, tune and exhaust mods - it was pretty obvious as he blew by the '08 M3 with ease and the exhaust was louder than mine. I was still quicker than he was on the strights and gained a little on him each corner, the cars were a pretty even match though. Anyways, it was a great night and that little CLK did not dissapoint - it's an absolute animal compared to what it began life as. I'd still love to get my hands on a CLK55 and swap everything over...

My wife came along and got some pics.

Registration gathering;





Waiting in the garage then entering pit road (MP4-12C behind me);





On the track;





Blowing by someone at the start/finish line;



After session, back to the garage;



There is another trackday on Feb 4th that I'm going to try to get to, I have to go to Egypt for the week but hopefully will be back on Friday. If so I'll get the car into my brake/suspension tuner and check everything out and try a new setup.

***edit*** Got too carried away with the power and forgot to mention the Brembo GT BBK's - in a word, awesome. The first few laps I started braking at the suggested marker but it was way way too early, near the end I was slamming them down just before the turn in cone. I need some more seat time to get use to the car - I'm the only thing holding it back now.

mikata

Great pics dude! Awsome quality.
Either your wife has great photographing skills or she took the pics with a great camera or both

togaclk55

Get a GoPro so we can see your skills in action!

Kevwood

She did a great job considering it was the first time she has used my DSLR (5D MKII), that it was night and fast moving cars. On the next track day I'm sure she'll get some super crisp shots. The pics actually look a lot better as uploading them to Photobucket compresses them and they lose a lot of detail.

No complaints though, have a few new pics to put up in my den now

Picking one up tomorrow! I didnt know there was a retailer for them here in Dubai until I noticed that a few guys had them in their cars. So, the plan for trackday is to GoPro in the car, video from the flag stand and stills from pit lane.

It's just too much fun out there (in front that is)

dynomite05

Great to hear that all the hard work paid off. Everything came together great! I'm extremely impressed with what you've done. Congrats!

kbahl21

nice pics!, congrats... the car looks sick!

boull

Thumbs up .. great 2 see all work paid off! Enjoy the ride

Kevwood

Thanks Wes, it's almost finished now. Hard to believe that I only started modding it a year ago this week!

I think you might be biased towards white CLK's Thanks!

Thanks pal, enjoyed every minute of it last night.

2MCHCAR

Great write up and Pics! We need more!

Question, did your car experience any loss of power due to heat soak.

Pufftrees

That is so awesome man, I am happy for you. Great write-up and pics


Nice to see your hardwork paying off, and very nice to see what we all expected... your CLK will beast just about anything new

Mka77

Way to represent the CLK clan. I liked what everyone said after seeing it run, "what is that?"

Glad it turned out beyond your "own" expectations.

Kevwood

Carlos, a big thanks to you dude, I wasn't going to drop the cash on the Kleemann package until you got on board and let me know how well it worked on the 500. As for the heat soak, yes, the last 2 laps of the second session I noticed that I wasn't reaching the same speeds on the front straight as I was before. It was minimal though, the animal never seemed to really get tired.

Thanks mate, it's was a very rewarding night... at last!

Lol, I'm not exaggerating that one bit either, the spectators and most drivers commented on the monster power down the straights (including a P car driver that couldn't believe I blew by him so easily) and a other drivers that couldn't believe how well it handled then disappeared into the distance out of the apex.

And yeah, no question, it has easily exceeded my own very critical expectations. All I needed to do was get it out where it was built to roam against some of the other new sports cars around. My wife said her favorite line of mine when asked was " No, it's not an AMG, it's just a little 500 with some Danish icing".

Everyone driving a 209 got a little respect that night

ahmadk

CLK FTW... Awesome Kev

chrono12

Awesome write up, love the pics from the track and sounds like you had a great time! One of the exemplar CLKs driving around

discoduck

Sick pics! You should make one of them your sig.

How did the wheels hold up? Can't imagine what you could do with some super lightweight wheels and down an inch or two.

elijah

Badass ride kev!!

hyperion667

wow man, mega camera......that's pro level

grech

Awesome pics Kev, REPRESENT! (the CLK clan that is =D )

ludwig14

Car looks great man and great job beating the pack!

betrezra

AWESOME writeup!

You're getting me motivated now.

cavkic

Ou man, I've been waiting for this update since you mentioned the trackday a few days ago...

Nice to hear the car didn't dissapoint, sounds like a hoot and a half! But srsly, how bad did that mp4-12c driver have to be, that car is a rocketship.

Congratulations!

Newjd2

All around awesome Kev...keep it up and keep us updated...



Angelo

Rudeney

Awesome!

Kevwood

Thanks.

The wife did awesome in getting those pictures, I was shocked to say the least. The rolling side shot is going to make it onto one of mt den walls

The car felt really nimble on the new wheels, today I'm going to my brake and suspension tuner to have the brakes bled and get looking for a set of track dedicated 18's with R compound shoes

Thanks pal.

Thanks, the old CLK got some respect for sure.

It's a nice camera, Canon 5D MKII but with any camera or car, it's only as good as the operator behind it

Kevwood

Thanks Talha, will do

Thanks, it was a total shock.

I can't even imagine the devastation you would lay in your wake with your beast after some suspension and brake upgrades.

It didn't disappoint at all, all I wanted to do was to keep up with the other drivers/cars! The MP4-12C was a sight to behold on the front stretch, if disappeared into the distance hurling blue flames from the back end the whole way.

Thanks Angelo, will do.

That was the single word I used when I got out of the car and the wife asked, "was it worth it?" (referring to the whole build project).