I did it! I managed to hit the magic 4.90 0-60 number! All it took was some new wheels and tires.

After getting sick and tired of from no off-the-line traction with the accursed stock 245s, I decided that there was simply no choice but to upsize. I was reluctant to go to 18's all the way around, however, because I didn't want the ride quality to suffer. Solution: a set of E55 18x9 rims on the back, with 265/35-18s. I got the idea from a 'vette-owning friend, who had informed me that 'vettes come stock with a 17f/18r setup. I thought it might look odd, but it actually looks quite nice: the rear wheelwells are larger than the fronts, so it balances it out a bit more imo. I went with the 265s rather than the E55's 275s because the 275s would have given too much of a reduction in gearing; these only result in a net gearing change from 2.82:1 to 2.755:1 (about 2.4%), as opposed to 3.5% for the 275's. Plus, I didn't want rubbing issues.

The nice thing is with the new rubber that I am actually able to nail it from a dead stop with the traction control off without the tires spinning uncontrollably. Even better, I can now power-brake it, sometimes launching as high as 1,500 rpm, without the tires going up in smoke, *and* there is *no* wheel hop, which I got a few times with the stock wheels/tires. *Much* better than the stock, and looks meaner too.

So, once equipped, I decided to do some GTECH runs. I've found it to be quite accurate if you really take the time to mount it up high, just below the rearview mirror, and make sure it's perfectly straight from front to rear. You also have to put little wads of paper in the little leg thingies so that they are pressuring it against the windshield.

With the stock rubber, the best I could ever get was about a 5.15, maybe a bit better, but not below 5.1. With the new rubber, I pulled off a 4.96, followed by a 4.93, a 4.92, and finally, the magic 4.90! Maybe *that's* how the MB test drivers did it, bolted on a set of E55 rubber.

With the stock rubber, I ran a 13.4@106 at Ennis last fall. Based upon these results, I anticipate a 13.1 or 13.2 with the new tires, assuming I can launch at the same RPMs at the strip. Woohoo!!

I would post a photo, but the "upload photo" feature has been disabled!

 

Congrats You are giving me some ideas.....

 

Improviz

I also had the same result (thought not as good - 5.02 was my best time) I have two questions for you :

1 - what make and model rubber did you put on ?

I put on S03 Potenza - I love them, I had them on my 996 and 986S porsche - they are truly the best, wet/dry tire I had tried on the market.

2 - On your GTECH - how did you configure your device - what weight did you put in - I used 3448 (as per the local truck weight station) plus gas tank measure - I use the AMP - Automotive Performance Monitor.

 

Thanks, guys!!

5439cc, I put on the Yokohama AV-ES100's. Had been using Pilot Sports, but in comparing test results at tire rack, I decided that the Pilots weren't worth $100 more/tire, and several people had toldme good things about the ES's. So far, I love them. It's basically a Pilot sport for about 40% less.

I had the S03s on my last car, and did like them, but decided to go with the Yokohamas just to see how they hold up.

Actually, on the GTECH you don't enter any weight for acceleration runs, only for horsepower runs. I haven't done any of those yet.

 

You can also wedge your gtech above your visor. Pushing it deeper into the wedge changes the angle so it's easy to zero it out. As for the power cord, a few wraps around the rear-view mirror and down to the cig lighter do the trick at keeping out of your way. I hate that cheap little suction clip they give you so I just keep the gtech in the door pocket until I need it and the wedge it. My problem is that the I can't plug in my radar detector at the same time my gtech is plugged it. Kind of ironic.
-pig

 

Congrats on hitting the CLK AMG 208 standard!!



Would like to see some pix!?

 

I would love to see where those MB engineers were launching to get that standard! :-) I cold not get there with the stock tires. Simply too much power.

I am still unable to use the upload function. Is there a moderator who is reading this who can elaborate as to when this will again become available?

 

FYI

Moderators are at annual Memorial Day Barbeque picnic @ Ben's mansion.

For posting pix, just use/click on the BROWSE botton below the text compose box and attach your .jpeg picture file, as my example below is:

F:\PIX\Car Pix\CLK55 550x DSCN0785.jpg

Make sure, that total pixtels do NOT exeed 20,000.
(500 wide X 400 high is ok)

I hope this helps.

 

This is with the stock 17's front, and the 18's rear. You'll notice a difference in color between the front and rear wheels; so did I. I have since bought two brand new 17's for the front, so that the colors are a better match. The difference seems more noticeable in this photo than it actually was: there was some brake dust buildup on the fronts. But they were curb-rashed and had some big stone chips anyway, so I decided to go ahead and get new ones.

Ps-thanks, karl k!

 

Great job!

Congrats on a fine looking automobile -- performance driven.

 

It Looks perfect.

And then the better traction - if I were not here, I would try it out.

Stefan