so....there i was on sunday afternoon in home depot and happened to run into a friend of mine who is a porsche nut. the guy owns a chayenne s and a boxster, he has raced in many porsche club autocrosses and has yet to be defeated! the guy is an amazing driver (he could drive professionally).
he knows that i just got my new car and we decide that he should take it out for a run. we head down the freeway and see a vette with twin, dual exhausts going fast and my buddy decides to follow them. going over a bridge we overtake them,then, the fun begins.
as we get off the bridge and onto a turnoff. we are now racing and the vette is behind us through the turn (it was actually good to be a passenger in this instance as i could enjoy the ride knowing that my car is in more than capable hands). as we go into the straight a way we are pulling away at a great pace coming into a right hand turn my friend picks his line and sets up for the turn as i look behind me the vette is about 40 yards back! we pull out of the turn and notice that the vette almost lost it in the turn!sadly,it was all over!
we pullover and the driver of the vette has this confused look (with admiration) asking what the is the '55's hp? he then proceeds to tell us that that the has a custom exhaust and his car is chipped pushing 425hp, with manual six speed gear box. he routinely beats other vettes with his car. he said that he was going through his gears as quickly as possible but still could'nt keep up, let alone corner like the '55!
i now have two die-hard converts (with direct experience of the '55), the first is my friend, the second of course is the guy we just blew away!
being a porsche nut, my buddy is now a huge fan of the slk'55, he stated that he would beat the new boxter s behind the wheel of the slk'55! he is throughouly impressed.
what a rush beating that 425 vette! by the way on our way back the vette wanted to with us again in a straightaway, while driving in the automatic mode we still beat him!

 

Think you would beat this? ....a 347 with some gas. Just listen to that motor!!!!

http://www.twinjy.com/videos/bpa960incar.wmv

 

very nice sound,more info on the engine, torque, etc....thanks.

 

Sounds like some one needs to learn how to drive. Hell a stock Z06 will blow away a SLK55.

 

Nice Kill!!!

 

after having spoken to the vette owner he stated that he routinely beats other vettes. the guy knew how to drive, he was just amazed what the slk '55 could do.
have a look at the june (the latest) issue of car and driver i think it will give you a little more insight on the slk'55 (?).

 

http://www.track-challenge.com/singletest4.asp?Car=84

2005 7 speed SLK55 tested April 2005
Here you have what the Germans made the car do. Variations will offcourse ocure, but this gives you an indication.

The Vette in the hand of a good driver is definatly faster, but on the streets its the drivers game. Well done

 

A Z06 stock has 405 horses can run 12.5-11.9, now thats 405 and weighs alittle less than a C5 Coupe. a 425 horsepower vette should be low 12s high 11s all day. This guy was trying to cover up for the loss.

 

Awesome kill! "owned" or not, that Vette got raped! Although, it probably was the driver. Doesn't matter, you won. TuscanRaider, that Vette sounds GODLY in that video, I admit, that would be an interesting race. Anyhow, nice kill. Enjoy the thrill of victory, before the agony of defeat sets in. Like when you see an E55 somewhere.

 

this is an excerpt from a post on the slk55 forum posted by a member quoting from the car and driver article regarding the slk55 they tested, let me know what you think:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's some of the best quotes from the article -

"The 400-hp Corvette in a recent comparo ["It's-All-About-Me Roadsters," C/D, March 2005] outguns this SLK55 by 45 horsepower and 24 pound-feet of torque, and weighs 155 fewer pounds. Yet the Vette ties the SLK at 4.3 seconds to 60 mph and loses the quarter-mile race by a 10th, 12.8 versus 12.7 seconds. And that was a six-speed manual Corvette, not the wimpy four-speed automatic. Or consider this: The SLK55 matches its big brother E55 from 0 to 60 mph - despite the E55's 469 supercharged horsepower propelling fewer pounds per pony - and is just 0.2 second slower through the quarter-mile."

And this -

"AMG upsized the brakes by 0.4 inch in front and 1.6 inches in back, bringing the discs to 13.4 and 13.0 inches, respectively. Assisting in stopping power are two additional pistons in each caliper, making the count six in each front binder and four in the rears. But the best part is that there's no electrohydraulic wizardry dishing out the braking force. In practice, the brakes produced absolutely fade-free stops from 70 mph in an impressive 156 feet - better than any other vehicle we've tested in the current AMG lineup and even outdoing the $455,750 SLR McLaren. They're also 14 feet better than the Corvette, 19 better than the SLK350, and just three feet worse than the Porsche Boxster S."

And the last paragraph -

"Had it been in our March roadster comparo, the SLK55 would have been the most expensive entry but also the quickest through the quarter-mile. Its aggressive looks and upsized brakes would have worked in its favor, too. Moreover, most passersby were awed by the AMG roadster, wondering, "How much does that cost, $150,000?" Hmm, a Corvette never produced a similar effect."

 

^^

Dont worry about TuscanRaider, he has a seizure pratically anytime a GM vehicle gets their a$$ handed to themselves...respectively. Than he goes around saying: "Throw some mods on the ______, and it will beat you're stock Benz!"

 

Im not saying you didnt win man. Im just saying that vette driver cannot drive. When people say they usually beat other cars they are lying and embarrased they lost. Ive heard this excuse used many times by other people when they loose to cars they think they should have beat.

 

I'm not a fan of the SLK350, but the 55 is a whole different little monster! Great kill! Although, if the race had a longer straight away I'm pretty confident the race would have been much closer with the vette eventually catching and passing. (depending on year of course) BUT, I would take a SLK55 anyday, everyday, which ever day of the week over a vette.

 

That wasn't a Vette, it was an '88 Fox body mustang with a 347. I'm not a GM fan, I'm Blue oval.

 

Interesting story, however... someone isn't telling the truth...

A Vette gains approx 10-15 hp with custom exhaust systems. Second, a Vette is not "chipped" it is reprogrammed. Lastly, the only vette that could have been up to 425 with minor mods is a Z06, and you would have had your azz handed to you.

So here are my theories:
1) The guy in the vette lied because he drives like a 12 year old girl. But why would he lie about his HP after being beat?? Doesn't make sense.
2) Part of this story is fiction. (was the guy really racing? and did you really talk to him?)

 

I agree. The vette was probably a non-Z06 (350 HP stock) model, where the guy had bought "hook, line, and sinker" into the tuner's bloated claims of "50 HP from the reprogram and 25 HP from the exhaust," when the reality was probably an increase of 20-25 HP total. In other words, our compadre raced a 375 HP vette.

 

As do you MB guys when you realized the M5 was faster than the E55 :p

"Just wait until I get that Klemann kit and I will kick that POS M5"........

 

1) he might have lied about the hp....i don't know, i am posting what took place in terms of action and conversation
2)this in not fiction......there was a race......he did get burned.....he certainly seemed to know what he was talking about, as per my friend who is way more well versed in car lingo than me (re-read my original post). i didn't post this kill to be judged by you or anyone to see if i lied or not. so your point #2 should be retracted. i just got my car and this is the first (of many hopefully) kills. in the future i will not post anymore as i most certainly don't need to get into a situation where i am being accused of fabricating a tale.

 

Don't take it to heart blkslk55. This is a pretty harsh board, with everyone (except me, of course ) telling everyone else their business. I, for one, believe your story word-for-word. I just think that the Vette guy got sold a bill of goods by his aftermarket supplier. I remember when I had a 1996 Z28, and was told that a computer reprogram would get me 35 more HP. The car actually felt slower to me after the reprogram.

Pretty impressive numbers for the SLK55 in this month's C&D! I look forward to racing one with my modded C32.

 

thank you.

 

:p

I think as of now ill have the M5 over the E55 in 6 speed manual. You guys arent getting the 6 speed huh? You need to come over here to get it.

 

You're using other peoples quotes against me, I was using his OWN quote against him. Nice try

I've never said that-- anyhow, the M5 better be able to finally beat the E55. Considering it does have a V10 and more power, it would be a shame if it wouldn't be able to.

 

I know

 

I refuse to believe this BS!

 

Sorry, I dont know much about Classics. They all look the same to me, my fault. And what the hell is a Blue Oval? Err-- wait, Ford, right? :p

Oh! Almost forgot to tell you Tuscan my friend, you're right, Fords arn't that bad. I cant believe I find myself saying this, but the other day my son took my for a ride in his '00 GT with some mods on it, and I was impressed! For the price of the vehicle, it hauls. He raced one of his friends in a Z28 '01- '03, I dont which one of those and he lost by like a car length--ish. His friend has Loudmouths or something like that on the Camaro, and some intake and headers and some other stuff. My son has K&N, Flows, and mass air flow sensor and some other crap. Anyways, its an awesome vehicle for the price. And it sounds pretty cool too. My son swears under 13. I cant vouch for that, but low 13s I'll believe. Anyhow, i told him about the one Ford fan we have on the Benz site and he wants to know what to put on his "Stang" to pull wheelies ( As if...)? Any suggestions?