SMP

Just got back from the track day at Willow Springs, hosted by Evosport. This time there were only two Black Series at the track, Jim Brady and myself. Needless to say, we had a lot of fun. One thing about Jim Brady, if there is a track day, you can always count on him! There were some Porsche's, Ferrari's, an Audi R8 and some M3's. For those who think a Black Series is no match for a GT3 or an E92 M3 can hang with it, not true. I was running 5 laps with a 996 GT3 Cup car, and had no problem keeping up with him. From turn 5 through 6 I was on his bumper. I actually had to lift a few times, so I didn't run into him before the crest. No problem through 8 and 9. Only under braking into turn 1 he had an advantage. But than again, that's a full race car, stripped of everything, and mine is a street car. By turn 2 I was already back on his bumper. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is cleaning her. I must have killed 5000 bugs today and on top of that, someones engine let go in turn 9 and spilled oil all down the front straight. After that they put down the kitty litter and since Jim and I were the first ones out, did the sweeping for them. When Jim went through it in front of me, I couldn't see a thing. Not a particular fun feeling at close to 120 mph. Anyhow, I'm very happy how my car handles now with the changes I made.

DFW01E55

Thanks for the report.
That must have ticked off the Cup car driver when he couldn't shake you.

sick430

i was at willow on the big track on Monday!
wish i could have see you guys flying trough the corners!!

LZH

Sacha - Congrats man !!!! I'm sure it was a blast out there and the weather was amazing today.
I got up this morning with my wife and she left for work. I was getting ready to hit the road for Willow when my phone rings and she tells me she just got T-Boned a few blocks from our house. Car is totaled (luckily she was in her rental Lexus) but she is fine. So, that pretty much screwed my day....
Anyway, did you get a chance to mix it up with the R8 ? I've driven a few and they seem way slow to me. Nice car and cool trans, but just way underpowered. I said from day one when I got my car that it's just as fast as a Cup car...I bet that guy couldn't believe he was seeing a three pointed star fill up his mirrors !!!
And for that debate on here not too long ago about the M3 hangin with a Black Series on the track...well, I guess that proves it. Well done man and I am sorry I was not able to make it. I was looking forward to meeting you and mixin it up with Jimmy again. He's pretty quick for an ol'fart, huh ?

Carcrazy1

Thankyou for the updation and the track report.

The material is really informative.

SMP

Thanks, Luke! No worries, I'll see you at the next track day. I'm sorry what happened to your wife and am glad she's OK, that's the most important thing.

Jimmy actually tried running with the R8, but it never really worked out due to the rotation and traffic. The Audi was far from stock, but I think the new R8 with the 10 cylinder engine is the way to go. You are right, good old Jimmy is fast. We had a lot of fun together today. Hope you'll make it next time.

Doctodd33

refresh our memory what changes you made?......you also didnt give any details about the new M3's on the track. ANd pics would be great.

JamE55

Thanks for the track report SMP. That's a pretty good testament on the BS for being able to hang with a P cup car. Maybe one day i can run with you guys.

Luke, sorry to hear about what happened to your wife but glad she's ok.

Jim Brady

Luke,
Glad to hear your wifes OK. If it was some lame excuse like the Texas mile or straight line dip **** racing we'd give you hell. We had some nice iron show up, F430's, R8, SL65, 996 Cup car, S8 V10,911 turbos' up the wszoo some BMW M3's, a Nissan race car that puked it's vital fluids from turn 9 down the front straight and a vintage corvette big block.
Weather was 74 deg till 2 when the wind came up. This was the fourth track day on my Pirelli tires For those that don't know Willow it's 7 right hand turns and 2 left. It kills your left front tire. I blinded Sasha going through the dry sweep that was put down for the oil on the gernaded Nissan.
You litterly couldn't see the car in front for two sessions becasue of the dust.

Had no problem with any half way stock 996/997 turbos' or modifed ones. There was an Andial turbo which was very fast (I know as I've got one) I couldn't pass him on the straights but the BS is more forgiving in turn 8 and I'd eat his lunch there and in the corners. The BS is just easier to drive fast than any of the porsches.
The R8 was the first I've seen with a competent driver. It was well prepared by bbi with Dymags and Hoosers, suspension exhaust, chip and aero package. Clearly nicest one I've seen. As Sascha said I didn't get to run head to head but that would have been a nice test, given his tire advantage.
My car ran perfect but ended the day early when my left front started wear into the steel belt on the left edge. I had 24 heat cycle on the tires and the rear proly have another day left.
My evaluation after many track days with the BS is, it needs more tire. Car would be a low 1:30's car with Hoosiers.
Jimmy

Jim Brady

Update, on new M3.....Slow.

SMP

Changes to the suspension: Springs, helper springs, ride height, settings on shocks for compression and rebound, alignment of camber, caster and toe changed.

In regards to the pics, next time I'll take my hands of the wheel and take some. Hopefully I don't miss my breaking and turn in points

AMG Dictator

Great write up!!! I am curious about you "needs more tire" comment as you are getting 4 track days and 24 heat cycles out of a set of R compound front tires. That is awful good! Are you just commenting on the desire to try out slicks?

Has anyone run slicks on a CLK Black?

Jim Brady

Slicks require much stiffer spring rates most likely double what I'm currently running. Car would be undriveable on the street with those spring rates.
By "more tire" I mean more grip like a Hoosier and a bigger contact patch. Currently, I can't put the power down as soon as I would like to so stickier tires would help.
Slicks are not an option.
Jimmy

spr

SMP what were your final track setttings/changes? I'm running 1.75 f/r with .50 rear total toe to turn in better. Around town I'm running 12 clicks and on track I go up 2 clicks firmer front. What are your cold and hot tire pressures as well? It seems like the fronts like to get greasy. Feel free to PM me. You too Brady!

Thanks guys,

Sean

TTAMG

I have hoosiers on my car. Although it doesnt have the power behind it, ive played around with my buddies completely stock black series, and i can come into a turn much faster and brake harder then he can. I know with the hoosiers you can come out of turns on the throttle much faster and harder then the corsas. I would definately recommend it to the guys who have a wider rear rim. I have 315-30-19's in the rear and 265-35-19's on the front.

Jim Brady

Sean,
I don't think the set up numbers work on a different chassis. If you're getting greasy feeling your overheating the tires. Take some tire temps. I'd drop the pressures 2 psi run two laps and evaluate.

Jim Brady

What size rear wheels are you running with the 315's? Any clearance issues?

DFW01E55

Sean, Let me throw my 2 cents in here, Jim and Sascha are much more experienced than I am but here's what I ran this weekend:
Front rebound, 6 clicks off full hard
Front bump, 6 clicks off full hard

Rear rebound, 7 clicks off full hard
Rear bump, 4 clicks off full hard

Stock springs and ride height.

I felt there was a bit too much float out of imperfect areas so next time at this track, I'm going 3 clicks for front rebound and 4 bump, then 3 or 4 rebound in the rear and 2 or 3 bump. I may likely lower the car too.

I've confirmed with an AMG guy that we have the KW 2 way, variant 3 system which is shown here.

I've got a good set of adjustment directions that they've removed form the site. PM an e-mail address if you want them.

One thing I'm not sure about is the stock settings for rebound and bump.
EDIT: Original settings are on page 213 of the owners manual.
Thanks Eric.

TTAMG

I have 19x11 rears. I havent had any rubbing issues at all.

SMP

Sean, like Jim Brady already pointed out, my settings wouldn't help you much since we are running different chassis. Also, setting the car up depends much on your driving style. Most people are not very comfortable with over steer, myself I don't mind it. I grew up driving BMW's from the 80's, and they were all tail happy. Those were the days before they had DSC. I try to get a set up that makes the front end bite. What I have found out so far with the BS, a good alignment and stiffer springs makes all the difference on the track. Next time you're at the track, try some different settings and play with the tire pressure. It's most important that you make adjustments according to your driving style.

spr

I appreciate your help. I have 2 racecars and have been through numerous driving schools and have licensure etc., so needless to say I like to drive the car at it's limit. As such, I have been playing with the settings. I am however, interested in 1) what the stock clk63 bs setup definitively is as set for the Nurbergring, and 2) what you guys have changed it to, as SMP was raving about his setup.

I am intersted in this data for a comparison as my car is based on the same chassis BS runs a w203 chassis as learned from my review of prior articles re: same, and is similar in weight (although my car is much lighter) and setup. In addition, I have many BS parts and KW coilovers etc., which I won't go into detail about, but makes this information relevant to me.

If you know your settings it would be great to share them, if not that's fine. There isn't a lot of info re: setup. It seems mb forums are not nearly as technical as the Pcar forums in this regard.

Also do you know if Pagid makes pads for the clk63 brakes? I am running the same brakes. I ran yellows on my 911 in the past which I greatly enjoyed.

Thanks in advance for any input.

DFW01E55

Stock settings:
Front Bump: 3/4 turn off full hard
Front Rebound: 1 turn off full hard

Rear bump: 1/2 turn off full
Rear rebound: 1 and 1/2 turns off full

Ride height:
Front: 1.1" (27mm +/- 1mm)
Rear: 1.6" (39.5mm +/- 1mm)

They warn that if you change by more than .20" (5mm) that you should re-align.

spr

Very cool. Thanks very much. For the ride height do you also have the center of wheel to fender measurements and/or can provide what the resultant camber is?

Do you know what the toe is front and rear? Do you know how many clicks the turns equate to? (I can reference my manual I guess re: same.)

I usually run close to zero toe in front for better turn in, and believe that the current .50 total rear is a tad too much, do you know the Toe settings or what you guys have found work well?


Thanks guys, I really appreciate it!

Sean

DFW01E55

They don't really give a clear reference point for height in the manual. It just shows the range as 1.1" and 1.6".
I don't have alignment specs on hand.

spr

Not a problem. Those measurements must be the gap between tire and rim. Thanks again! Sean