SL55/63/65/R230 AMG: Race Day at Roebling Road by MB of Buckhead Performance Center
08-10-2009, 12:46 PM
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Race Day at Roebling Road by MB of Buckhead Performance Center
Copied from C63 forum-This past weekend a number of Mercedes were at Roebling Road Raceway for two full days of lapping.
Mercedes was represented by 4 C63s (2 heavily modified Kleemann cars, 1 with a Kleemann tune, 1 stock), a heavily modded E55, a CLK 63 cabrio (formerly it was a CLK 55!), SL 55, and bringing up the rear a 2.3-16 190E and C230K SS (I apologize in advance if I am missing someone). There was also an M3 and a RX-7 (both full-on race cars), an M5, a GT3 and a 911 Turbo.
All the M-B cars did great -- one was sidelined on Sunday with a cut tire, the SL55 broke an oil cooler (due to an off-track tour), and the 190 had transmission problems -- that was it. And I think that everyone did at least close to 200 miles -- some did over 500! The 911 Turbo, unfortunately, spent some time on jack stands.
The C63s were beasts - I think the modded cars hit close to 150 down the straight. The instructors were fantastic, including Roland Linder (multi-time winner of Le Mans) who seeemed to 4-wheel drift the Kleemann E55 around the entire track -- with 4 people in the car! He owns a stock E55, an SLR and an F40LM -- his comment leaving the pits for the first time was "Wow - this car has a lot of motor!" His second comment after turn 1 was "You guys are heavy!"
Hearing three C63s and a GT3 going by wide open at the same time at 140mph was awesome. It was great that the 911s were there -- it showed how capable the C63 is on the (curvy) track (I don't think any of the 63's had the PP -- would have liked to compare it to the non-PP cars.)
Just a great time for everyone and I wanted to publicly thank Mercedes-Benz of Buckhead, who arranged everything, including the instructors and on-site dealer techs all weekend! They even gave away 2 sets of $4,000+ wheels (from Kleemann and Carlsson) and lots of other stuff. (And let me attend with my slow-@ss car!) How many dealers -- of any make -- do this????
Thanks, Kevin and Roland and everyone else!!!!
My Comments about the trip-
I also was lucky enough to get to go down and play on the track. I have to say, first and foremost that the Mercedes of Buckhead Performance Group was amazing. After popping a hole in my oil cooler on the way down, one was sent down that day on a Greyhound bus and the techs put it on the next morning to get me out on the track. To say that they went above and beyond to ensure that everyone had a fantastic time would be a HUGE understatement. It was really incredible to see how these cars can perform in a real race environment and I certainly have a new found respect for my car's abilities. It is pretty cool to see how these AMG's perform and the whole weekend was a true testament to the unique performance philosophy over at MB of Buckhead. We really had a great time and I hope to do the next event coming up and it is just a shame that more dealers don't have the same passion and commitment to enjoying these cars. Many thanks to all those that made the weekend possible.
Mercedes was represented by 4 C63s (2 heavily modified Kleemann cars, 1 with a Kleemann tune, 1 stock), a heavily modded E55, a CLK 63 cabrio (formerly it was a CLK 55!), SL 55, and bringing up the rear a 2.3-16 190E and C230K SS (I apologize in advance if I am missing someone). There was also an M3 and a RX-7 (both full-on race cars), an M5, a GT3 and a 911 Turbo.
All the M-B cars did great -- one was sidelined on Sunday with a cut tire, the SL55 broke an oil cooler (due to an off-track tour), and the 190 had transmission problems -- that was it. And I think that everyone did at least close to 200 miles -- some did over 500! The 911 Turbo, unfortunately, spent some time on jack stands.
The C63s were beasts - I think the modded cars hit close to 150 down the straight. The instructors were fantastic, including Roland Linder (multi-time winner of Le Mans) who seeemed to 4-wheel drift the Kleemann E55 around the entire track -- with 4 people in the car! He owns a stock E55, an SLR and an F40LM -- his comment leaving the pits for the first time was "Wow - this car has a lot of motor!" His second comment after turn 1 was "You guys are heavy!"
Hearing three C63s and a GT3 going by wide open at the same time at 140mph was awesome. It was great that the 911s were there -- it showed how capable the C63 is on the (curvy) track (I don't think any of the 63's had the PP -- would have liked to compare it to the non-PP cars.)
Just a great time for everyone and I wanted to publicly thank Mercedes-Benz of Buckhead, who arranged everything, including the instructors and on-site dealer techs all weekend! They even gave away 2 sets of $4,000+ wheels (from Kleemann and Carlsson) and lots of other stuff. (And let me attend with my slow-@ss car!) How many dealers -- of any make -- do this????
Thanks, Kevin and Roland and everyone else!!!!
My Comments about the trip-
I also was lucky enough to get to go down and play on the track. I have to say, first and foremost that the Mercedes of Buckhead Performance Group was amazing. After popping a hole in my oil cooler on the way down, one was sent down that day on a Greyhound bus and the techs put it on the next morning to get me out on the track. To say that they went above and beyond to ensure that everyone had a fantastic time would be a HUGE understatement. It was really incredible to see how these cars can perform in a real race environment and I certainly have a new found respect for my car's abilities. It is pretty cool to see how these AMG's perform and the whole weekend was a true testament to the unique performance philosophy over at MB of Buckhead. We really had a great time and I hope to do the next event coming up and it is just a shame that more dealers don't have the same passion and commitment to enjoying these cars. Many thanks to all those that made the weekend possible.
