Accord

krm

what are the specs? Is this the same engine in the E55K?

S55inPA

hi everyone,

maybe i'm in the minority here but, i think the stock S 55 is the most handsome version of the car. messing around with such a well designed automobile.... in my opionion.... only cheapens it.

JamE55

Awsome pics John!

krm

I agree wholeheartedly!

redline

humm... not a fan of the suede inserts

Fast Eddy

You are in the silent majority-------some of these cars with all the extra crappp on them should be driven by the circus clowns.

Tezta

That 55K looks like the AMG kit was taken off and the standard S500 bumpers were put back on, and kleemann installed their ad-on kit to it. What a waste of money and AMG kit.

Cory @ Kleemann

Yes, it's the same engine as the E55K. 560 HP, 510 lbs/ft of torque. 0-60 in 4.8 seconds! Imagine the look on the corvette owners face when a 4800 pound S-Class blows his doors off!

pocholin

The seats give you that impression, everything else looks just fine.

pocholin

That is a cool feeling, even with a non s/c E55!!! you can barely beat them and they look at you like WTF???

Cory @ Kleemann

I recently Drove a 2002 automatic Corvette. I just had to, because Car and Driver kept raving about it. Here is my impression:
Good Brakes
Nice suspension
Terrible interior
Terrible transmission
Terrible Engine

I was entirely un-impressed. That is one of the most boring cars I have ever driven! Leave it up to chevrolet to use plastic leaf springs in thier "flagship" performance car. What a joke!:o

Accord

Did you drive a Corvette C5 or a ZO6? The ZO6 is the "performance" version of the standard C5. The ZO6 has 405hp stock and a lot of other things packed into it that the standard C5 does not have.

Cory @ Kleemann

John-

I just drove the boring C5 version. The ZO6 is definatly more exciting though. I have yet to spin around in one of those. But, when the end of the day comes, It's still a Chevy, and no chevy can compete with a KLEEMANN Benz in style, comfort and power. It's just no contest!

pocholin

But it still gives you a nice performance-price ratio, but you pay the price with poor assembly quality, cheap plastic parts (nothing wrong with using plastic parts, everybody does it), and short longevity on wear parts

Accord

But it's not just any Chevy, it's a Corvette with a great racing heritage .

You can get a 750 horsepower Lingenfelter conversion for a ZO6 for only 50 grand, that means you can have a 750hp ZO6 Lingenfelter Corvette for 100 grand that will do 0-60 in 1.9 seconds... that's right, I said 1.9 .

Cory @ Kleemann

John-

What is your source for that time?? I find it VERY hard to believe that time. The Bugatti EB110 Super Sport has 770 All wheel drive HP and did 3.4 (I think) to 60. There is no way a Rear wheel drive Corvette on street tires with less power can do 1.9 to 60. Grand Prix Super bikes can't even touch that time. I would really like to know what your source is

It's funny that GM doesn't compete in F1 racing; A sport that has more heritage than any american racing series. It's also interesting that ford (jaguar) has had a disasterous 2 seasons. American engineering is not on par with European or even asian engineering.

Your point of Cheap performance is well noted. I certanly can't afford a CLK 55K, but 25 grand for an AWD subaru (disposable car) with 227HP stock has a good HP per dollar ratio. And you can just throw it away when your done with it!

Cory @ Kleemann

I think we may be getting slightly off topic here

pocholin

uhmm... let me think..... yes the S55K looks nice except when you get to the seats.

Accord

Car and Driver did a comparison test a while back with an F16 jet and a 750hp Lingenfelter Corvette. The Lingenfelter 750hp Corvette did 0-60 in 1.9 seconds and the F16 did it in something like 3.4 seconds. Not sure how much truth there is to the 1.9 seconds figure, although the Lingenfelter Corvette did infact beat the F16 0-60... but after 60mph there was no comparison, lol.

The Corvette C5-R has finished 1-2 at LeMans two seasons in a row, they are team to beat.

I'm talking about motorsports which specifically use Corvettes, not necessarily Formula One.

Cory @ Kleemann

I'm not sure that I have seen that issue of C+D. I have every issue of going back to january 1989 Do you remember what issue that was? I was looking through recent issues, and the fastest Lingenfelter vette I could find did 60 in 4.3. That was a 2000 Twin-Turbo Stage II Vette. Theoretically, you have to double the power to cut one second off the 60 time. That means you would need 1300 HP to do a 2 second 0-60 time. Of course traction becomes an issue. I can definatly be done, with maybe some 400 MM wrinkle wall slicks, and just imagine the G-force you would have to endure! The untrained human body can only endure about 5 G's before you black out.

If C/D was right, that would be one hell of a ride!

Don't forget LeMans this last season- The Ferrari 550 was spanking the vettes until it blew a con rod. Maybe next year the 550 will show us reliability is of more importance than pure unadulterated power. We'll see!

Accord

Sorry, my mistake... it was Motor Trend, not Car and Driver.

http://www.motortrend.com/june02/vette/1.html

I just re-read the article and noticed it was 650hp, not 750, wow!

pocholin

WOW, very nice article, specially the guy riding the F/A 18!

Cory @ Kleemann

VERY impressive! Of course the "cheater slicks" made it possible.

Can you imagine being un-trained an pulling 7.3 G's!?! I can't even imagine!

Oh, uh, that S55K is one awsome ride Eh?