spyder987

I have spent considerable time using the online configurator, US and non-US. I think I am now pretty familiar with all the options but a couple I am looking for some more specific details on.

1) Is there a way to keep the leather steering wheel with the Dynamic Plus package? It doesn't look like it.

2) What are the true weight savings for the ceramic brakes. 40% is what is written but what does that translate to in lbs?

3) In consideration of the forged wheel options, does anyone have any specifics on actual weight savings in comparison to the stock US wheels?

4) For the lane tracking function that vibrates the steering wheel, is that already in the wheel wether or not the option is ordered?

Thanks for your help,
Phil

spyder987

I have since found out that it is possible to change the steering wheel to leather through some kind of override on the order. Anyone have experience with these order exceptions?

I also found out that the 10-spoke wheels weigh 21 lbs front and 22 lbs rear. The cross-spokes weigh 27 lbs and 28 lbs respectively.

JumpinJim

Interesting. Too bad the 10 spokes don't come in black.

Don't forget to add the $10k yellow paint option.

spyder987

Yeah, I agree. At least they have one light weight option.

Not a big fan of yellow but it does seem as though ever major brand wants to have one.

At $9900 I will pass no matter what the color.

spyder987

Well I may have spoken too soon. My dealer confirmed yesterday that the build configuration tool does not allow you to override the Dinamica wheel that is included in the Dynamic Plus package. Ironically you do have the option to get the Dinamica wheel without the package.

spyder987

Okay, definitively, it is possible to get a Nappa leather steering wheel with the Dynamic Plus package. Could not have lived with the Dinamica wheel especially after a couple of years worth of wear.

WSH

Forged wheel wts: ~25% diffce cited seems rather high; have asked my dealer to chk w/MBUSA on specific wts as would certainly rather have lightest&strongest wheels poss; but, if wt diffce isn't that grt, would argue matte blk cross spokes aesthetically highlight the CCBs much better than polished wheels

But also asked dealer to chk w/MBUSA on relative strength (resistance to bending vs potholes) of the various wheels; suspect tradeoffs still exist btwn wt&strength despite advances in alloys/forging

CCB: don't know specific wts but IIRC diams of CCB are grtr than steel brakes (as in PCCB vs steel) so actual wt savings are more in ?20% range

Have had several 65s w/CCBs: IMO, simply best brakes on planet today in pedal feel/response in dry/wet/smooth/bumpy....far superior to latest PCCB/CCM....wouldn't ever spec an AMG w/o CCB

May want to try the leather vs Dinamica steering wheels in spirited driving; had many AMGs w/leather wheels in pre-Dinamica era; obviously personal preference but I grtly prefer the tactility of Dinamica; biggest downside of GTS steering wheel is the cheap plasticky airbag cover (lacks the stitched leather airbag cover of any other >$150K AMG)

Prob most useful DriverAssist feature on GTS will be BlindSpotAssist as this hatch seems to have awful visibility for safe, quick lane changes in dense traffic and vs haphazard bicyclists in SF Fin Dt

WSH

Posed question of wts/wheel strength of difft GTS/65 wheels to my usual dealer (Autobahn); they asked MBUSA

Apparently, MBUSA has no technical data on wheel wts/strengths; suggested dealer weigh difft wheels (says much abt cluelessness of MBUSA and AMG marketing/tech staff esp given no dealer has all the various wheels)

Presumably AMG Germany has data...and mysteriously hasn't disclosed it to dealers and/or perhaps no custs nor MBUSA marketers/tech specialists have yet inquired

Having had numerous new AMG/P/F, am not at all surprised that the factory engineers aren't particularly savvy abt major risk-reward engineering tradeoffs like wheel strength, ground clearance, active/passive safety, precision vs stability, wet vs dry, smooth vs bumpy, etc (if they were smarter engineers, they'd likely rather be <<30yo, >>$5MM/yr software engineers in SV driving own new 65s/GTS and not be <<$500K/yr DAI engineers)

But highly doubt various forged AMG GTS wheels are 25% difft in wt

Simply amused by lack of easily available data (and common sense) of anyone quoting dubious wt data in era of Net/email/BigData-blah-blah....

spyder987

I also did some further digging and found out that MB does not disclose actual wheel weights, same for steel vs ceramic rotors. What I did find out is that the 10-spoke forged wheels are 17% lighter than the stock US wheels and the multi-spoke forged wheels are 7% lighter. So WSH you were right it was not 25%.

On the steel vs ceramic rotor weights, the ceramics are indeed 40% lighter and includes the weight of the calipers.