CLK55 AMG, CLK63 AMG (W208, W209) 2000 - 2010 (Two Generations)

CLK 55 vs Beetle

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Old May 24, 2003 | 09:10 AM
  #1  
V8 forever's Avatar
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From: Germany
CLK 55 AMG March 2000
CLK 55 vs Beetle

Seemed to be an easy task


14.68 vs 14.38

RT almost the same

I dont have an explanation, later I could improve to 13.8/13.9

Was the 1 st run. Were the tires too cold ?

I `ll try to do better next time by power-braking .

Stefan


Last edited by V8 forever; Jun 3, 2003 at 03:09 AM.
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Old May 24, 2003 | 03:02 PM
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CLS55 AMG
Are you launching with traction control on or off?

Also, do you know your 60' times? Would make it easier to see where the time could use improvement.

You can try varying the rear tire pressure to see what happens: try increasing it a few psi first, and if that doesn't work, go the other way, down to 27-28 psi.

As to the launch itself, if you power brake you probably won't be able to hold it much higher than 750-800 rpm without getting lots of spin, although this will depend upon how sticky the track surface is.

It is just very difficult to launch the CLK55 agressively without lots of spin.

One other thing to consider is stickier tires. Do they sell drag radials in Germany? They will help your launch considerably.

Good luck!
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Old May 24, 2003 | 10:59 PM
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2002 CLK 55 AMG Coupe ;)
Did the VW have a 911 Porsche powerplant?

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Old May 25, 2003 | 06:05 AM
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CLK 55 AMG March 2000
@Improviz

Are you launching with traction control on or off?
Tire pressure was set to 27

Vs the Beetle Traction control was OFF

RT .842
60ft 2.566
14.68 at 102.51 mph

4 runs later:

Traction control ON

RT 1.128
60ft 2.166
13.931 at 101.35

All runs with TC ON had been better than the one with TC OFF.

They sell drag radials here, but I am going to try new tires as next step. Pirelli Zero Nero or Michelin Pilot Sport.Thats what AMG recommends, too.
But first I am going to get out the best from the current setup.
I hope, I can make it to the next event in June.

@ karl k

The Beetle was 4 cylinder for sure. The owner said nothing about Porsche-Engine. I know little about VW-Tuning, but its very popular. There was a yellow beetle, even much faster than the blue one. Amazing !

Stefan
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Old May 25, 2003 | 08:11 PM
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CLS55 AMG
The first one was obviously your 60' time:

It was about 0.4 sec. slower than your later run. 0.1 sec in the 60' time is usually about 0.2 in the 1/4, so I think some work on that will help.

I am concerned about your trap speeds, though. They are from 4-6 mph slower than I have usually seen for CLK55s. At what altitude are these runs taking place?

If they are not altitude-related, I would try using some different gasoline: if the gas you are using is not up to par, it will cost you some power. Otherwise, I would have AMG check your car out if possible, because with these speeds it seems that it is down on power; I calculate that it is producing 313 horsepower with these speeds (formula is horsepower = (weight of car with driver) * (trap speed/234)^3 )if you are at sea level.

Also, was rear tire pressure 27, or all the way around? If not, what were your fronts set to?
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Old May 26, 2003 | 11:17 AM
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CLK 55 AMG March 2000
Altitude of the place is 350 meters - 1150 feet

Used Gas was the recommended 95 Oktane "Super"
There just came out "Shell-V Power" with 100 Oktanes. Well worth a try, I think.

Front tire pressure was set to 30-32 psi.

Air filters were never changed , have 19500 mls now


Stefan
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Old May 26, 2003 | 02:14 PM
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CLS55 AMG
Ah, then altitude is definitely a factor!

I checked the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) correction factors for altitude. They begin a 1200 ft., but 1150 is close enough.

For ET at sea level for a time recorded at 1200 ft., multiply your ET by .9874

For trap speed at sea level, multiply the 1200' mph by 1.0129 .

This would put the last run you quoted to a corrected
13.755 at 102.65 mph. More respectable, within a tenth or two and a few mph of what others have been getting. However, there are other factors, such as air density, wind, humidity, temperature, which can conspire to rob horsepower.

I think you have another tenth or two to ring out of the stock-width rubber.

Here is a page with some drag racing tips.
http://www.scoascc.org/dragracetips.html


Originally posted by V8 forever
Altitude of the place is 350 meters - 1150 feet

Used Gas was the recommended 95 Oktane "Super"
There just came out "Shell-V Power" with 100 Oktanes. Well worth a try, I think.

Front tire pressure was set to 30-32 psi.

Air filters were never changed , have 19500 mls now


Stefan
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Old May 27, 2003 | 11:16 AM
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CLK 55 AMG March 2000
Improviz,

Thank You very much for the tips !

Stefan
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Old May 30, 2003 | 03:07 PM
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clk55
You should not be going through the water pit either. Street tires have no business in the water. Drive around it back up but not into it and just do a quick burnout to clean your tires. Street tires and water with huge burnouts will decrease your launches considerably.
I have a 2001 clk55 that has no mods and I never ran slower than 13.5 @ about 105 mph. Most runs are in the 13.3-13.4 neighborhood @ 106 mph. This is done at about 800 feet of elevation on dry cool days. Humidity is a power zapper as well.
Hope this helps.
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Old May 31, 2003 | 05:26 PM
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CLS55 AMG
On stock tires? Boy, I envy you. That sounds like a nice, sticky track!

Ennis sucks! It's very difficult to get a good launch there.

What do you do to launch?

Originally posted by skidz1
You should not be going through the water pit either. Street tires have no business in the water. Drive around it back up but not into it and just do a quick burnout to clean your tires. Street tires and water with huge burnouts will decrease your launches considerably.
I have a 2001 clk55 that has no mods and I never ran slower than 13.5 @ about 105 mph. Most runs are in the 13.3-13.4 neighborhood @ 106 mph. This is done at about 800 feet of elevation on dry cool days. Humidity is a power zapper as well.
Hope this helps.
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