MR CLK 55 AMG

In my opinion that is not true. Last night, which was the night before father's day I went to the illegal runs, and for those who don't know what that means, it's basically racing on a long industrial business area strip where five o is least likely to be at. A gutted integra turbo called me out, and I agreed to race him. I put my car on "m", took the ESP off and did a powerbrake to launch when I was in first gear. Now even though my car was heavier then his and he had a somewhat built turbo engine, I still took him on the launch. It fish-taled a tad bit but noticed I was pulling away more and more. When it would get near redline, I would shift gears. Now, the rush feeling you get when you beat a guy that calls you out is another story but I am telling you from my experience that leaving it on D is not the best way to go. Now I've raced out my bimmer, my del sol VTEC, and now my benzo, aI do consider myself with some racing knowledge.

Chappy

Chappy was 100 feet underwater in Curacao

As others have pointed out, ESP off and ease the power on consistently. Have fun!

Schiznick

If you have an AMG car in M and wait to shift until you touch the redline you will hit the RPM limiter every time. M sounds like a great idea on the drag strip but it really is not. If you are looking for consistency I have found by leaving it in D and then manually selecting 1st gear it shifts at the optimal point in every gear.

M results in an ocasional jerky shift from bouncing off of the rev limiter.

Enjoy

Schiz

MR CLK 55 AMG

You don't wait till it starts bouncing at redline to shift gears, you shift gears right before it redlines. If you do it right, it won't do what you were describing Schiznick, it would be a smooth, clean upshift. If you know what your car redlines at, shift it 300-500 rpm before that and you will never get a jerky shift from bouncing off of the rev limiter.

430

Very cool how was the diving? Any photos?

My experience with the AMG is that it is much better to let it do the shifting. Nothing was gained by shifting yourself. If you want that get a Stick.

Chappy

Ditto that.

M1M2M3

I find that it takes the car too long to change gears after I bump the shifter in either direction. The only use I see shifting for is slowing the car down. It is also nice in twisties, but to each his own.

MR CLK 55 AMG

Agreed, but since Mercedes don't make AMGs with stick, I'm gonna have to settle with their AMG speedshift since I set my goal on purchasing one of these bad boy for my next car.

Improviz

That's been my experience. I get *much* better times letting the car upshift automatically; if I wait until it's close to redline in 1st or 2nd gear and then bump the shift lever to upshift, it definitely shifts noticeably slower.

ProjectC55

ditto as well