55fanatic

Knowing the pedestal I place mercedes on several friends and family members have challenged me to races.

FIRST CHALLENGE:A friend with a 2001? 540i sport has challeneged me to a race, I keep telling him whenever he is ready to go to an autocross or a drag strip Im there...

Now after some quick checks I see that the 0-60 numbers are
E500: 5.7

540(6 spd):5.5
Now that is absolute perfect shifting, Im willing to bet my car he cant shift that perfect.

How do you think we would fair on a drag strip, I have the sport package on my E, not that it does anything but give me some stickier 18s

SECOND CHALLENGE:A 1997 Infiniti Q45...
I took this car on once already on the highway in the ML55, once we got to about 120ish the ML was struggling. The Q is stock, how would the E fair against this vehicle?

alewifebp

I've driven a 540 a long time ago, probably around the year 2000, and it was damn quick. While the numbers for the E500 seem very good, there is quite a fair amount of pedal lag and a reluctance of the transmission to downshift. Once it gets going, it is great, but I have a good feeling the 540 will win.

Not too sure about the Q45, but it did have some pretty impressive engine specs, but I think it is heavy enough and is more geared towards luxury, so I'd place my bets on the E500 in this race.

DWP

That sounds about right. Most tests quote the E500 with 1/4-mile numbers of around 14.0-14.1 seconds at 99-100 MPH. I found a Motor Trend writeup of a 1997 540i MT that came in at 14.0@100.7:

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/..._overview.html

The previous Q45 was carrying a few hundred more pounds than the E500 and, according to this R&T test of a 2001, wouldn't be competitive with an E500 in the 1/4-mile:

http://www.roadandtrack.com/reviews/...niti_lexus.pdf

Recommendation: congratulate the BMW driver on his/her car and choose off the Infiniti driver.

55User

I'd say the 540i would be tough to beat, but it is certainly worth a shot. I'm sure the Q45 wouldn't be an issue.

55fanatic

these are exactly my thoughts... my only bet with the 540 driver is that he sucks at driving... I dont think he could muster the 5 shifts or a launch to beat the E in the quarter... and as for the Q45, I worry as he is a very good driver. he has a significant amount more of driving experience where I think he would have the ability to wipe me on an autocross track... that one will prolly be taken to the highway, and Im hoping the E gets to speed significantly faster then him on a day when there is no traffic

I will keep you all updated!!!