yup. this race actually did go down....so here is how it went:

down in mexico on an uncrowded street, i was driving back with a buddy from dinner. coming up to a red light, i look ahead and see a 6 series coupe. As i roll up next to it at the red light, the quad exhaust and badges indicate it is no ordinary 6 series, but rather the M6. i look in. it is an older gentleman in the driver seat, likely in his 50s or 60s though i couldnt be too sure. a woman, i'm guessing his wife, sits in the passenger seat. probably a similar age. i also notice the blue passport radar detector mounted on the windshield.

"damn" i thought. my buddy says. "race it!"

....i laughed. i said "that thing would eat me up alive"......my buddy says "dude, your car is faster than you think. see what happens"

.....i laughed again. after more convincing and noticing there was no traffic all around, i figured, what the heck; i'll give it a go.

the M6 accelerated. sounded good. i caught up. slowly drove past him...just to flash the AMG badge. i slow down and he naturally catches up. then i give it some gas.....my supercharger whines and exhaust rumbles (yes, for a V6, it sounds sick). He looks over and downshifts as we approach another red light.

at the red light, he looked over and revved at me. i revved back; it was on......

conditions: 66 degrees.
my initial IAT before the race: 118 (not high, but would have liked it lower)

light turns green and we go. i slowly rolled into 1st gear as my insane tq down low (at least for my car) isnt conducive to 0 mph launches on street tires. i pull ahead though. we go through first and second......at the end of second i'm about a half car ahead.......we keep going and he shuts it down as I hit about 85-90 mph. As he shut it down, I had somewhere between a half car to a full car length on him.....

.....i was shocked. not only did i not get destroyed, but i held more than my own for our short run. my buddy laughed....saying he knew thats how it was going to go down the entire time. i was busy yelling at him then for breaking his 3GS because we could have gotten in on video for evidence....as i know people will be calling BS on this one..

we roll up to the next light. the guy rolls down the wife's window ( i was on the passenger side of the car) and gave me a thumbs up and we exchanged words/comments. He complimented me and told me how shocked he was. He told me it was an SMG and stock. I told him i had some "minor work" done. he laughed. nice guy...

post-race thoughts:

1) on the comical side, as we raced, i'd look over to see quickly how i was doing......it was funny....the wife just sat there in the passenger seat with a blank/unsurprised look on her face......as if her husband's racing antics were nothing unusual.....i guess you'd have to see it to understand why it was funny

2) i was shocked by the results. i went home and looked for reasons how this happened. my explanation? torque. the M6 has 383 tq at the crank. BEFORE i installed headers on my car, i dyno'd 359 wheel torque on a dyno dynamics with max torque available very low and a broad tq curve. i certainly picked up hp and tq after the install, so i wouldnt be surprised to see my wheel tq numbers close or higher than the M6's crank tq numbers.

3) had we kept going, i have a feeling that above 90, he would more than likely start pulling back given the car has a V10 with more hp and gearing more conducive to higher speed escapades.

my cars background: see sig for mods. before headers, i dyno'd 350whp and 359 wtq on a dyno dynamics with 91 octane. i have not dyno'd since the header install. i also have clogged/dirty intake filters. will be cleaning those before my next dyno pull and drag strip event.

hope you enjoyed the read!

 

Bravo!

 

NICEEE kill but thankfully you guys didnt go up to 170mph cauz the M's own that mph range

 

NICE......funny i get what you say about the wife's look....it's the same look i get all the time

 

Wow sounds like they were a chill couple. Nice win though albeit a short run. Quick, change your sig before he comes here and sees how minor your mods really are!

 

haha......my bad. i apologize for my definition of elderly. by elderly, i actually mean 65+....he was fully bald with glasses and could have easily been older. i suppose i gave him the benefit of the doubt by saying he was in his 50s. it was difficult to tell determine.

haha......i doubt he would frequent a mercedes forum, but i guess you never know. if he finds this and sees my sig, then so be it.

i wish we had another run or perhaps a longer one. i am curious to see how much he would have pulled back above 85 as those cars are renowned for that and as my IATs rose through third and into fourth gear (definitely would have had an impact as well).

 

lol. ok. i'm going to go back in and edit.

 

Truly great kill Turkel and a great write up. If med school doesn't work out, you should look into being a writer. I felt like I was there.

 

LOL!

Good race and write up though! Congrats!

 

....................and the police own the jail!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Even in Mexico where this race allegedly took place (even though we all know it was in the Phoenix area )


A quick review of dragtimes shows the M6 as running anywhere from 12.6 to about 13.2 in the Qtr at between 110 and 114, so this is entirely plausible to run with one!!

 

I am wondering if the M6 guy got any that night after being laid to rest by a C32??? My response to the M guys after a race is, "You paid what for what???? "

 

 

haha.....thanks! i hate the boring, unclear, and inarticulate stories that are written here. glad you enjoyed it!

Phoenix....no.....Tucson.......which is near Mexico? maybe
yah. its a nice car. dont get me wrong. but i really thought it was faster than that. i think i'd rather spend that kind of money elsewhere after seeing that result. i'm really not a fan of the looks....just the motor and exhaust sound.

thanks!

 

Good, legit kill. With upper-teen trap speed possible, I would wonder if he had all the electronic settings and nannys set for optimum acceleration.

His gearing can overcome a torque advantage so I wouldn't put too much weight on that.

 

i'm gonna stick with torque. idk. i know his gearing is better than mine, but his hp is more. tq is my answer for down low. this is why the C32 does so well against the E46 M3 is all that torque....I read that stock M6s trap between 110 and 114 and so do i, so i'm sure he was in the correct mode.

consider this:

M6 weighs over 3900 lbs. My C32 weights about 3600.

The M6 has the P400 and P500 option my negotiating the M button. Obviously P400 puts it in 400hp mode and P500 puts it 500hp mode.

I easily have more than crank 400hp. EASILY. (i dyno 350whp and on a dyno dynamics nonetheless BEFORE installing headers). Had he been in 400hp mode weighing 300lbs more than me, i would have pulled hard on him.

My car probably is in the 440+ bhp range as estimated by the owner of DynoComp....prior to headers.

and being that we started from a red and he was revving (he initiated), he probably put it in p500 mode if he already wasnt......and after the race, if he wasnt, he would have explained the he WAS in p400 mode.

either way, it was a nice car and a nice race. wish it had gone longer and he hadn't let off

 

They are capable of 116-118mph. C&D I believe did 120mph and I think I've read of a 119mph. I have no doubt he was in the correct mode as well.

Prior to headers it was probably more like 425hp. You have closer to 17% drivetrain loss.

Agreed!

 

i was just basing my numbers from dragtimes. i'm not professional and neither are the drivers i race ( i assume lol )

and as far as drivetrain loss, multiple sources affiliated with Mercedes-Benz tuning including Dyno-Comp, Renntech, and AMS say that it is around 21%.

Either way, i dont care about the bhp number. as we all know, its all what you get down to the wheels. so my wheel numbers are all i care about

 

Very true, it's the win or the trap speed is all that matters.

21% would mean the advanced automatic with lock-up torque converter is less efficient than the old-school 3-speed automatics. It would also mean at your power level, OVER 25hp lost in the transmission vs. a manual.

I say no way. These days it's more like 16.5-17% (or 16-17.5%) and a manual is 12-15% depending upon the source (rear vs. mid engine, etc).

Confounding all this is the hp many cars recognize depending upon engine/coolant temps, dyno variance and what gear is used (almost all SRT-8s are dyno'd in 3rd because 4th is too fast for many dynos).

 

good points. my car is so sensitive to engine/coolant/iats, its absurd. its on the difference of several mphs on my trap speed and more than 10whp on a dyno at certain temps

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLhaW...eature=related

 

not surprised with the outcome of a 0-85 race. it def takes a bit to get the big M cars going and they are top end screamers.

 

i'm sorry. were you making a point? because i must have not gotten it.

yup....my sentiments exactly

 

did you watch the video? it shows a c32 with LET parts on it getting a jump on an m6...doesnt that relate to what you described in your story?

 

sure? its an M6 racing a C32? its not mine.....are you trying to prove or disprove my story?

 

i said that it relates to your story and i know it is not yours. i just posted a link that PROVES it. you said you were researching on the internet about the m6 and thought it would blow you away. i simply added some video proof for anyone who possibly doubted you that it is possible for a c32 to have the lead off the line. was that so complicated?