Akademiks

So, I was out cruising late tonight. Having been humbled not two weeks ago almost to the day, I decided to keep the V12 at bay until further diagnostics by the team over at Fletcher Jones. I was scheduled last Friday for the check up but finals had taken over my life and outside of studying I didn't have much time to go out, never mind take the beast in to be fixed.

So today was the first night out since the meet I attended and it was suppose to be just me chillin' with a lady friend. I left Slauson Ave. and Vermont and hit the Shaw, liquor store then the gas station, then off to Huntington Beach. I picked up my lady friend, dropped the top and cruised to Laguna Beach...

As we were leaving Mexico, a GTO came rumbling by... Loud. As. Sin.

Talking to the guy after the race(s), I come to find out it's some Stage XXX, cammed, heads, intake and Corsa exhaust pushing out a healthy 440whp (might have been a little higher, I forget his number so I'll round down to be safe).

I would love to tell you how I absolutely left him for dead but it simply wasn't the case. We must've done over 10 runs, each run getting progressively worse for me...

First run, he stayed somewhere far behind in my rear-view. Second run, same result, worse for him. Third, same but he started pulling towards the end. Fourth, door to door. Fifth, he pulls... and it just got worse for me from there on. I eventually ended up getting walked; results similar to the race versus Kady's E63 I raced last weekend.

I couldn't believe it. My brother had a GTO when I owned my E55 and my E55 slapped it around like a T-Rex chasing a chicken (after it was fixed for IC failure anyways), now with my SL600 I was expecting to decimate the GTO. Should have known better...

I was frantically trying to teach my girlfriend to use my phone and record but it was difficult while racing lol... that said, I do have one race recorded. The last one, one of the worser ones (for me anyways):

SL600 vs GTO 6.0

I stopped somewhere towards the end due to a red light, but you can see the GTO start to come back. I don't understand what happens. Every time we ran, from 20-XXX or 50-XXX, he would never pull off the bat. I would pull first, through second, and mid-third he'd always managed to claw his way back. The first two of all the races were the only ones where the 600 managed to put the Goat in it's rear-view, and keep it there.

Really cool guy in any event, pulled over and talked. He told me about the mods on the GTO and about his 700BHP SRT-8 he has at home. Cool guy, cool car, and yet again I remain disappointed with the performance of the 600...

khaz3al

aerodynamics with the top down is poor at high speeds, and maybe heat soak after a few runs... either way good runs!

Militant-Grunt

Well in the beginning you can hear how much his GTO is bogging, the sound of his motor isn't fluid, this guy is definitely spinning a whole lot. How much does the Sl600 put down at the rear wheels?

I have a feeling that simply he's hooking after a while and just slowly reeling you.

Time for Devil's Own Akadamiks...

http://www.alcohol-injection.com/

Its like running race gas at all times =).

Did you take the car to the dealer to see if anything is wrong yet?

daragez

thanks for sharing Akademiks!....

150shot

Yeah thanks for sharing and cool story.
Geez...and I thought my 55 would beat up on most cars out there...

Vadim @ FD

Intercooler pump going out - is my guess.

If you want to stop by, I can run diags and see if there are any codes.

Akademiks

I don't know if his car was just that fast, or if mine is just that slow. It really is annoying, as I have said I was scheduled last week for the check up to see if my car is tip top, but finals ruled my week so I never had the chance.

Just my view on it...

Yesterday morning I had went to the gym, and on the way there with the temperature needle somewhere in the neighborhood of 70ish, I slowed to a crawl roughly 30 mph, gripped the steering wheel, said a prayer, dropped in first and was utterly amazed. I burned out with the ESP light flashing wildly and not to be dismayed I kept it pegged and was doing triple digits in a 35 before I even knew it.

Last night, this simply wasn't the turn out. During each runs, my needle stayed slightly above the 100 mark, the run you see on video was from 20... I didn't so much as squeal my tires versus earlier same day in the morning where I burned out from 30.

Regardless I'm not one to make excuses, I accept the loss all the same as the beating I took from the E63 and Benzoboi's E55 but I would be lying if I said I didn't think there was something wrong with my car.

As of this point, it's just speculation but comparing launches at different temperatures at the very least I can say I would do better with my engine running at the proper temperature.

When I first got my SL600, I ran an LP640. Posted the story up here in fact, with a video. I kept him in my rear-view all the way to 130+ where we had to let off due to a red light (raced occurred same location as with the GTO ). I just can't fathom how I can beat an LP640 to triple digits, but can't replicate the scenario with a GTO. During the LP640 run, my needle was somewhere nicely below 100.



Your 55 can.

If it's anywhere as fast as my E55 was, you'd pwn a GTO. Even the one I raced.

On a side note, we exchanged contact information and I look forward to rerun after I figure my car out... if there is anything wrong anyways, if there isn't there's little point in getting clowned again.

This guy was cool in fact, the first thing he says getting out of his car is:

"But your top is down and your losing speed."

I'm sure that's what he said, I was still having a hard time hearing as my ears were ringing from his pissed off V8 flying by.

Akademiks

Vadim, incoming pm

TwentyValveB5

sounds like it could be a number of things, or a combination of them all...

1) Aero: As you got to higher speeds, the open top hindered your performance. Drag is the biggest problem at higher speeds -- obviously -- and a dropped top can't be good for your C/D!
2) Heatsoak: the more runs you do, the more heatsoaked you get. Some will claim heatsoak is BS, but it's very real on forced-induction cars. I know my S4 gets pretty unhappy when it's heatsoaked-- can be good for 20-30whp in some (really bad) instances. If it's an IC pump failure, this could definitely be the case.
3) Traction (for the GTO): If his tires were cold and he was spinning through 2nd gear (which is very possible) - the more runs you did, the better he was hooking.

So, if you find you have an IC-related issue, you'll gain some power back. Get it fixed, put your top up, and run him again and I think your pulls will be more consistent and more closely matched.

rockjock

I agree 100% with the above-but I thought the SL600 was an NA V12, not FI?
comingfrom turbos-heat soak can kill you (staging especially)-but if you're making runs like that (depending on/if there is a cool down, or you keep rolling)-it shouldnt effect that much in this case-
nice runs tho-def worth a rematch if Vadim can finger out the probs!

Max.H

Nice runs Harry! I think your IC pump failed.

jturkel

heads cam LS2 cars are no joke. and their top end is unbelievable for V8s.

Akademiks

We shall see. Waiting on Vadim at this point...

Thank you sir! I see your doing a good job representing with your Cobra kill! At least one of us is holding it down lol

So I've ascertained.

Jons95c36amg

There is something wrong with your sl600. This weekend I was in Mexico and ran this guy with a 6.0L 400hp GTO 6spd with intake,exh,tune. From a 45roll to 120 I got him 1/2 car. He did have a passenger and when he shifted into 3rd there was a healthy chirp. His car was loud as hell.

ECBAOBAO

shoulda ditched your girlfriend =/

jturkel

400hp? are you quoting the stock LS2 numbers? he surely isnt dynoing those numbers with just exhaust, intake, and tune.

by exhaust, i'm guessing you mean catback? you shouldn't be able to pull on an LS2 with full exhaust (headers). i have way too much personal experience with LS motors to know that. and by tune, are you referring to the common "tune" that LS motor guys throw around when they get codes deleted from full exhaust or the other type of tune they refer to, as in actually tuning the motor. For LS guys, these two tunes exist.

If anything, I would see this car pulling on you or maybe it being close. But you shouldn't be pulling on it. IMO....again, just coming from my experiences with LS motors.

NOTE: and i am aware the goat (gto) weighs more than camaros. i know its not light lol.

also, the car you raced is nothing compared to the GTO raced in this thread. a heads/cam GTO (which would also have full exhaust (headers), intake, tune, and very very likely shorter gears), would walk many cars on this forum. AMG or not. (depending on how aggressive the cam obviously).

559EVO

Instant weight reduction along with puting the top back up.

Jons95c36amg

Yeah I was talking about stock LS2 400hp well with intake,exh,tune it should be around 430hp+crank. I also ran a stock 400hp LS2 GTO 6spd from a roll and I walked it pretty good.

jturkel

and by exhaust, im assuming you just mean catback. correct?

Jons95c36amg

I'm pretty sure he said exhaust. No headers mentioned. But it was really loud.

jturkel

ok j/w, b/c catback, lid (intake), and tune (without headers, not really worth much) is good for maybe 20whp max.

those cars are just loud normally. listening to a heads/cam LS1 with exhaust cutout...

anyway, back on topic

Jons95c36amg

The intake,exhaust and tune(handheld programmer) opens it up in the LS1 motors. My bros 04 GTO with just catback and tune gained him 3mph trap in the 1/4. Headers is another 20whp.

jturkel

i lived with a guy with an LS1 camaro for three yrs and helped him install the lid, headers, and such and have raced it after every mod, and all races are on video on you tube. dynos as well. i can tell you that the catback is NOT good for 3mph. and headers is more than 20whp unless the quality was poor and they were not long tubes. I know a LOT about LS1 motors

speedfreak81

A heads/cam GTO making 440 to the wheels is NO joke. Having owned one I can tell you that wheel/tire combos for out back are extremely limited. Unfortunately even rolling/cutting the fenders will only allow you to run a 275 tire out back. Not putting your car down, but more than likely he was spinning the hell out of the thing, and when he finally hooked he was reeling you in. 3rd gear in any LSx car is known as "the freight train gear" too. I'll be interested ot know if there were any problems with your car afterall, so keep us posted.

jmf003

Someone out there always has a faster car. You just happened to run into him. No shame in that.

You are thinking this guy had 440 whp but he just as easily could have had 500, 600, or 700 whp. The techniques for making 800 to 1,000 crank hp out of an LSx are well known to tuners and incredibly cheap by Mercedes standards.

I'll second the idea to check out the intercooler pump as Vadim and others have suggested. That could be slowing you down quite a bit.