Improviz (Or anyone Else):

IMHO you appear to have a considerable amount of knowledgeable regarding the performance of our Mercedes cars. I respect your ability to provide sources of information that substantiate your opinions and information. Your tenacity, argumentative style and word choice suggests some form of the persuasive arts (Philosophy or Legal?)

That being said, I respectfully request some information from you regarding the W208 55 AMG (“55 AMG”):

1. Can you provide the performance numbers from the “big three US magazines” for the 2001-2001 55 AMG car (i.e. C&D, MT and RT’s 0-60 through ¼ mile times; braking, curb weight, etc.).

2. Do you know if a rear tire size of 265 fit and function properly on the stock 8.5 in X 17 inch monoblock rim? If this is possible, do you know which brand of tire will comply? I do know that 255 will fit.

3. Do you know if the 60-0 braking distance of 112 feet (which very good) was substantiated by more than one information sources? Do you have any other performance numbers such as the 80-0 braking distance?

4. With the ESP off, can the 5-speed Touchshift Automatic transmission hold the gears through corners without automatically shifting gears? Although I have not tested this, I am concerned that the car may decide to automatically shift and/or break while drifting around corners on the track, thereby affecting the balance of the car and causing unintended results.

5. Do you know what the optimal shift RPM is in each gear in order to achieve the greatest HP and Torque for each gear? I am interest in these numbers for down shifting more than up shifting since the car should do this on its own.

6. Do you know if the car allows for “blipping” (revving the engine) the gas while apply continuous braking [like in a heal & toe situation]? Basically, I want to know if the car allows for braking and at the same time matching the correct RMP with the correct gear in order to optimally down shift- I do not want the car to engine brake and throw off the balance and speed of the car with an improper RPM gear shift.

7. Do you know if the car benefits from a higher thermostat in order to decrease the likelihood of the car overheating in high performance situations (i.e the "PTE" mod thermostat mod)? I know Red Line's WaterWetter can help with this issue but not sure if this is enough.

8. Do you believe that after lowering the car with H&R springs that the negative camber will need to be corrected with an additional product such as the one Speedbenz offers? I have heard that some did need to adjust their camber and others did not. I have 1 finger between the fender and tire on the front and rear.

Thanks for the input. All opinions accepted.

Allan

 

Say I got a cheap way of improving your power to weight ratio. Just add DR's. Don't say I didn't do anything for you buddy.

 

I'll chime in on a few.

2. Doubt 265s will fit a 8.5 rim. I don't even know if 255s will fit a 8.5.

8. Depends on the amount of camber and how you use the car most of the time. If there's massive amounts of negative camber due to a dramatic drop in ride height from stock, and the car is daily driven on regular streets, then camber bolts that correct negative camber would be a good idea. If you track/AutoX the car a lot, negative camber will significantly benefit you in cornering.

 

Thanks for the replys so far.

I do know that the 8.5 rim will accept 255 without any problems. I have seen however that a few have used a 265 in a particular tire brand but not sure which one.

 

Let me try to answer:

No, I am not a lawyer (keep getting asked this, so maybe I missed my true calling, lol)...my mom always said I'd make a good one; perhaps I should have payed more attention!

1. Don't have them handy, but as I recall, all were in the mid 13s with a trap of 105-106. Car is (as I'm sure you know) very traction-limited, with open diff and 245s not doing a great job getting 390 ft-lb of torque to the ground, so wider rubber definitely will help times.

2. 265's are too wide for the stock rims. I simply switched to a stock W210 E55 18x9 rim on the rear, and currently have 275s mounted up, but 265s will also fit fine (I had these first, switched to the 275s later on). They *definitely* help with grip off the line, but you've still got to go easy with throttle on or they'll spin like *****. Still, getting a good hole shot is much easier with them, to be sure. They do degrade ride quality somewhat, though (I left the 17s up front to try and minimize this effect; got the idea from 'vettes) I believe that 255s will fit on the stock rims, btw...

3. I'm not sure. I actually don't recall anyone getting a 112 ft 60-0 in a 208; I recall it being more like 116 or 117, with 80 mph more like 200 ft or thereabouts.

4. I've had it bounce off the rev limiter several times (accidentally) without upshifting, so I don't think you'll encounter this problem. I seem to recall that it might downshift out of a gear, though I've never verified this. Easy to check: throw it in 3rd, get going about 50, stomp it, and see if it downshifts to 2nd.

5. Max torque in my owners' manual is given as 384 lb-ft @ 2800 rpm, with max horsepower of 346 @ 5500, giving torque of 330 lb-ft at its power peak. So, I'd say max acceleration would be between 2800 rpm to redline, although even at slightly lower rpms it still should be making well over 300 lb-ft...so figure from about 2000 rpms on up, it'll haul some serious ***. I do agree: best straightline acceleration is achieved letting the car shift.

6. Never tried this. Let me know if it does this, but I'm thinking answer is probably "no".

7. don't know.

8. don't know.

If you're going to track the vehicle on a regular basis, I'd recommend looking into a limited slip for the rear end. With this much torque and an open diff, you're going to be running into oversteer situations from the inner unloaded tire breaking loose on you.