absent

SL has everything Kleemann offers for the 65 series and so far was untouchable in all impromptu street races.
My 599 is finally broken in ,as per dealer recomendation of staying below 6k rpm for the first 500 miles.
My wife drove it ,started on I-294 early Sunday(no traffic),said she redlined in every gear and definitely,no doubts,just decisevely walked away from SL.
She got it to about 180 before shutting down.
The Ferrari was screaming so loud I heard it over the rumble of the MB,the distance between our cars was not growing rapidly,rather slowly and not dramaticly but nevertheless ,unquestionably.

eugeneC55

You are, my friend, one lucky guy - you have 2 amazing cars and a wife that will drive 599 till 180!

On a side note, wasn't there a video on one of AMG forums of SLR and CGT racing 599 and walking away from it? I wonder how your SL would hold against SLR and CGT.

P.S. Doesn't hurt as bad when your wife beats you in your other car?

Sunny55

I too am impressed by your cars, and wife, who actually knows how to drive! and nonetheless to 180!

DFW01E55

I agree with the others, your wife is very impressive. A deep bow in her direction.

It's good for the wife to be able to play a trump card like that.

Zod

WELL look at the nature of the two cares.

one is a normal car with bigger engine and suspension brakes etc
Other is a ground up super car.

As for engines i believe the 599 has the enzo engine so ... but then again the SLR has the 55 engine

there was a vid of an SLR beating a 599
and a vid of an SLK SLR engin bin slayem car beating an enzo badly
And most of the SLR races with the enzo show them to be close no?

question though is the 599 as comfortable as the SL?
or better yet, what do you feel the difference between the two is ?

absent

Some differences:
599 is revving forever,
feels much, much lighter,
steering is incomparable not only to SL (which feels like an overweight pig ready for slaughter) but also on a absolutely higher level then SLR (have not driven 722),
way more stable at very high speeds,
fit and finish,workmanship on a different level,even better then my wife's F.Spur,
handling and response of the throttle not even comparable,
brakes more linear and easier to modulate then SLR's,
the sound!!! (never listened to the radio in that car yet!),
more comfortable seats,more interior room for my 6'5" frame,
much stiffer and noisier ride (comes with the territory).

As far as that one infamous youtube vid,I would not make any definite judgments regarding the true performance of these cars.
They are all virtually hand made,their performances sometimes vary in higher degree then regular production models,raced in April an SLR (friend's) and he could not get away from the SL ( I was even getting closer at speed).
I do believe though,that expertly driven (by someone who really knows how to shift that thing and is not afraid to abuse it) Carrera GT would beat the 599.
I chose the Ferrari........

MercedesFTW

Was this last sunday then?

Ugh, it was bloody muggy out over here in Barrington!

Anyways, wish I could have seen that! *drool*

absent

A week ago,between Rt22 and Lake Cook Rd.....

StapleGun

You lucky b-a-s-t-a-r-d - SL65, 599 Ferrari and a kick *** wifey, you rule bud! If we could ALL be so lucky!

WSH

Ahh, life in the land of endless straight, flat roads; 5 mos of non-summ perf tire weather; and cops hiding in bushes to hand out tkts for 72 in a 65....

Congrats on 599, absent It truly is one of world's 2-3 greatest cars today....BTW, if haven't already, begin lobbying to get an early Scud; hearing from EU pals that Scud's shiftspeeds and chassis tech make 599 seem a bit dated....

Kinda silly comparing latest-tech 599 to an elderly SL65 based upon a 5yo chassis/overall tech, no? Have never seen very impressive published times for 65, unlike 599...either straight-line accel times or more interesting NBR times....

And I always tend to dismiss the likely negative perf value of any ricer/rapper-wannabe work done to cars; mfrs struggle to optimize/debug cars, despite signif R&D infrastruc and real-world cust warranty data; the "tuners" are simply laughable in an era of increasingly tech-intensive, rapidly obsolescent cars....

Absolutely agree....599 is incredibly daily-useable....more so than any Porsche....599's major weakness (and reason most risk/reward-conscious owners limit their exposure) is dubious passive safety.....CL63/65 is a popular primary commuter car among 599 owners I know.....consider a couple of not unlikely scenarios.....risk of being rear-ended in any high-speed deceleration on a busy, fast-flowing CA fwy; most CL/599 owners seem to bet on the crash struc engineering of the CL, its fuel tank crashworthiness and more crashworthy seat strucs/head restraints....another major possibility is a frontal collision in the many tight mtn twisties around SF/LA.....lots of oncoming Audis/Volvos/SUVs seem to casually stray from their own lanes in twisties.....suspect CL will protect one more than 599 in that very real-world scenario....

Would be a travesty to only drive 599 on the stupendously boring roads/fwy on-off ramp "curves" of Chic region....should join many of your brethren from the perf car-incompatible ex-CA US and house more interesting cars like 599 at a wkend house in LA, where climate/topography/roads/consumption culture allow one to better appreciate the many dimensions of a brilliant car like 599.....

absent

Car will be a frequent guest at Autobahn Joliet.....

allanlambo

Bmwracer raced his friend in a 599 several times with his SLR722. He pulled the 599 each and everytime.

SlR is faster than 599. Sl65 is just not that fast.

eugeneC55

Allan, I hope this thread will not be turned to another SL65 bashing. 599 and SL65 are two beautiful and very different cars with unique purposes and appeals. Please don't make me regret brinning up the subject of 599 loosing to CGT and SLR in that infamous video, all I was trying to say that it was surprising that 599 walked away from modded SL65.

acicchelli

Also big difference in an SLR722 and a regular SLR

allanlambo

Actually in acceleration, there isnt that much difference. The only engine changes are ECU. On my board a board member had both an SLR and a 722. He raced them several times, and according to him there was approx 1 car length between the 2.

There is also not too much difference between the 722 and SLR all around. The biggest difference is the front spoiler which really aides in high speed stabability.

Schiznick

I think I am going to stay out of this, it is just too easy....

Absent, congrats on the 599!

Schiz

Improviz

....did a high speed shootout at Nardo in '06 including, among others, the SLR and the 599.

Results:

SLR test results:
Highspeed Test in ams 23/2006
Gewicht - kg
0 - 100 km/h 3,8 s
0 - 200 km/h 11,2 s
0 - 250 km/h 18,5 s
0 - 300 km/h 36,9 s

599 test results:
Highspeed Test in ams 23/2006
Gewicht - kg
0 - 80 km/h - s
0 - 100 km/h 3,5 s
0 - 200 km/h 10,3 s
0 - 250 km/h 16,6 s
0 - 300 km/h 29,9 s

Now, if these test results were reversed, allanlambo would be quoting them. However, they show the 599 as faster, hence allanlambo will attack them, as he will attack me, for the unforgivable sin of posting scientific test results which don't suit his preconceived notions. This is what is defined as a "magazine racer" in the lexicon of allanlambo. A "true racer" would only post test results showing the car allanlambo is arguing to be faster as faster.

The response will be something like this:



Waitin' for it!

Zod

lol imp!
back to topic... i am not surprised your wife beat you, she was driving a near enough pink interior 599!
lovely cars, but that light red/pink is ah unless its her's
grats bye the way truly nice cars

absent

Color is greatly distorted in photographs,in reality it is Bordeaux (a dark shade) and looks completely different in life.
It is also a very popular interior choice lately for both Ferrari and Maserati in particular.
Btw,she still prefers her F.Spur....

juicee63

Hopefully you switched cars to see if the slow 65 was not due to "driver error", LOL...Man you have impecable taste in the AUTO..great cars , great wife=great life

eugeneC55

Guys, has anyone driven both 599 and CGT? I wonder how they would compare as far as driving experiences...

absent

I did.
CGT felt much more "hardcore",would be my choice over 599 for the track fun and games.
By the seat of pants "feel" it did not seem to be faster but apparently it is ,at least according to a lot of tests.
It definitely is more difficult to drive,599 is as docile as a Honda when compared to Porsche.
Ferrari was my choice because it was more livable and practical for my needs,with more accesible performance and not giving in (in real World) at all to Carrera.
Getting it at MSRP and being "safe" regarding resale value for at least a year was no brainer too.
I love the CGT but with my size the ergonomics did not work for me very well(unlike the Ferrari or SLR).

absent

No room for error in the SL,it's a "point and shoot"
kind of car....

Zod

Hmmm I recall hearing that Ferrari was notorious for doing up their test cars, what exactly they did I am not sure... think I heard it on top gear.
Would not be surprised if other car manufacturers also did this, to gain publicity. Some engine tweaks, extra sport packages, tires etc.

One test is not enough some times and data collection needs to be from tracks, on roads, different cars and from a lot of sources etc to get an avg of all the numbers and compare, me thinks at least .

In this case I think the Ferrari does have the edge on the stock sl65 , but tuned hmmm…

maybe if you wife drove it and it had pink interior color to go she would have creamed u !
hehe just kiding have fun man and enjoy life

I would die if i had both, as i would not know which set of keys to take with me when i go out!! maybe both!!

allanlambo

When you own any of the above mentioned cars, and can draw your own conclusions, come back to us.

But since you are such a good magazine racer, I happen to have the new Road and Track in front of me. The figures vary greatly from yours.

In the 1/4 the SLR beat the RUF RT12, actually tied in ET at 11.6 but the SLR traveling at 128.1, and the RUF at 127.2.

In 1/2 a mile at 17.9 sec the SLR was going 156.6mph. Thats slightly faster than going 250kmh, and already 6/10ths of a second faster.

Now 300kmh is 186mph, in your test it took the SLR 36.9sec to reach that speed. In the Road and track test, they reached 181.2mph in 28.4 sec. With your logic it only takes the SLR another 8 seconds to go 5mph faster.

Unlike you, I prefer to go into my garage, hop into one of these fantastic machines, and go for a ride. Since according to you, you pride yourself in being a millionaire in the Sam Walton form, you much prefer to sit at home reading about them for free on the internet. After all, why spend the money on a magazine.