BobLibSL55

First I gotta vent. Those of you living in the Pittsburgh area, avoid Pittsburgh Raceway Park. Go to Quaker City in Ohio. PRP is exactly how I remember it 20 years ago....painfully slow. Plus the crappy luck of 2 oil downs (which each takes the PRP staff 1 hr to clean) and I got a grand total of ONE time trial before I had to get out of there (as I was leaving, a THIRD oil down had just occurred).

Now onto the good stuff.

RT .265, not horrendous. But not good either.
60FT....1.83
330....5.25
1/8....8.06
1/8...87.29 mph
1000'....10.53
1000'...100.81mph
1/4 mile...12.58
1/4 mile...112.08

Overall Im very happy. I didn't know what to expect as far as how the car would behave, so I told myself I'd be very happy with anything under 13.

The car is stock with 20" wheels and I launched the car with trac control off at 1000rpm. Much to my surprise it hooked up very well. The shift into 3rd was a little sloppy as it didn't listen to me and held it into second until about 6500 rpm.

I thought the 112 trap speed was a little low for the et, but I guess thats the result of coming off of the line with little spin.

Im really bummed though at the single pass. Wish I could have had another run to come out at 1500.

BobLibSL55

Now that Im looking at drag times.com, I guess the 112 trap speed is pretty right in line with the et.

cal1

Nice runs for stock and 20"s. 1.83 is a damn nice 60 on streets. Do you have any plans for mods to get you into the 11s?

kustom2k1

Nice run.

BobLibSL55

Thanks.
I was really surprised at how well it came off the line. From playing around on the street, I know that with the TRC off and coming out at 1000rpm will produce a good amount of wheel spin. I know the track is fairly sticky and I had the tires lowered to 22lbs, but I expected more spin than what I got. Especially with the larger wheels. It really hooked up nicely.

Its too bad the day dragged on like it did, because I would have loved to have at least a few more cracks at it. I really think it could handle a much higher rpm off the line. Plus the 2nd to 3rd shift was sloppy. I think I may have been able to shave another 10th or two off of that time.

As far as mods, not at this time. But never say never. My biggest fear going into yesterday was that I was going to get the "bug" again. As much as I'd love to, with 3 kids I really don't have the time for a drag racing hobby right now.

I was pretty pissed about how the day played out and how much waiting around I did. But all of that went out the window at about the 1000ft mark down the track. I was pretty pumped up after I got my slip and was going to wait around for the next round of time trials, but we had a list of parties to go to yesterday and I had to get going.

amx1397

Nice run !!!,, if you can get some 26" to 27" tall drag radials on either 16, 17,or 18" rims and you will be very close or into the 11's most people use 255 50 16 0n clk 16" rims play around with the tire psi most street radials do better at around 30 to 32 psi (bias tires you would lower the air.) time to race I went on my first drag race when i was 14 , now i am 70 and still hit the track at least once every 2 weeks,, ,,jim

BobLibSL55

Really?

I'll have to file that away for later. You know, when I inevitably give in and start becoming a "semi" regular at the track. Damn it, I know its going to happen!

Almost every Mustang, Camaro, and Dodge was wearing higher profile street slicks and here I was, the only foreign car there on 20's and 30 series tires. I was a bit out of place. Surprisingly there wasn't a single ricer there either. I guess those guys only show up for test 'n tune days.

I did get a few sideways looks...remember its Pittsburgh...but I think I represented well. The best was this guy and his gf. They gave it a pretty good look in the staging lanes. She said to him "its okay" and he crinkled up his nose and said "yeah, but its not a muscle car." He was in a WS6 Trans Am on street slicks and I think he was running around 12.20. Obviously modified. He was a few cars behind me and I only hope he took note of the 12.58 from the stock "non muscle car."

kustom2k1

Get a pulley/tune/headers and split your cooling system with a set of sticky nitto tires..mid 11sec recipe right there.

BobLibSL55

30 plus psi?

Ill have to try that next time. I was under the impression of lower being better (obviously to a certain point). Back in the day I used to run and Iroc Camaro that did best with around 20 psi. I was going by that.

The next trip will be to a different track on a TnT night. My dad (who is also 70) just finished an imitation light weight 63 Galaxy with a 550HP 460 Ford crate motor. I know he's close to taking it to the track, so I plan on going again when he goes. (this is where I get the drag racing bug, I inherited it)

BobLibSL55

Must.

Resist.

Urge...

kustom2k1

The next trip will be to a different track on a TnT night. My dad (who is also 70) just finished an imitation light weight 63 Galaxy with a 550HP 460 Ford crate motor. I know he's close to taking it to the track, so I plan on going again when he goes. (this is where I get the drag racing bug, I inherited it)

Sounds like your screwed bro... ...In a good way...fun meter goes way up when you add an extra 100HP..since you live up north go with a 180 pulley.

cal1

Go for the fastest stocker. That might be you already. All the guys I know with times posted on dragtimes are modded.

BobLibSL55

I don't know. The desire is definitely there. But honestly I think that if I were ever to seriously get into racing, I'd probably look for a mid/late 00s Shelby GT500 and play around with that.

I love my SL, but given the cost and potential for (expensive) breakage, I'd have to go with a Mustang for regular racing purposes. I could beat on it and not feel guilty.

kustom2k1

I know what you mean Bob. My GN is getting the final touches done this week, although it wont be much cheaper to repair if I break any of the drivetrain, its built for the track. I just want to cruise and enjoy the SL for the summer.

wedion13

I guess the 112 trap speed is pretty right in line with the et.

cal1

There are certainly better and cheaper cars to set up for drag racing. There is nothing like rolling into a dragstrip in the plush comfort and striking beauty of the SL, knocking down some quick low 12s or 11s at the shock of the crowd, drop the top if the weather permits and cruise off.

BobLibSL55

I agree.

Like I said, I did notice a few sideways looks and a guy in a Mustang made some sort of remark to the tech guy when I pulled up. Didn't hear it, but the tech guy procedes to tell me that a guy in a Porsche occasionally stops in sometimes...like I'd care because Im in some kind of brotherhood with other high end Euro cars. I couldn't give a crap. Really.

Then there was the "its not a muscle car" remark that I mentioned above. Once that I saw he was in a TA, I almost told him that he didn't have a muscle car either.

Anyway, I'd like think the mid 12 on street tires got some attention. I highly doubt many of the Ford/Dodge/Chevy bunch expected that. I only wish I would've stuck around to see what would've been said. 90% of the cars in my class were on drag radials and just about everyone running sub 13's was on them. Only me and one or two others got into the 12's on streets.

And the guy with the Mustang...on DRs...ran in the 12.20s.

cal1

I used to go to a track in Muncie Indiana. It is literally in the middle of corn fields. 99.9% American iron. My first time there was crazy. One dumb **** in some damn Mercedes Benz. I can't here it, but my friend tells me how the crowd is bashing my SL and how the late model GTO is going to walk my butt big time. The announcer starts in saying something about how he hopes Mercedes roadside service comes to the track. I add to the crowds delight by forgetting to turn off ESP before my burnout. After I abandoned the burnout, I promptly over stagged and had to back up much to the joy of the crowd. The tree drops and I freeze until I hear the GTO next to me. He pulls a Length on me in an instant, but now I'm hooking. I blow past him like he is standing still ultimately turning a 12.2. The GTO goes 13.x

I actually know the owner of the track. He told me after my run the announcer guy was saying something must be wrong with their clocks because there is no way that MB just ran a 12.2.

My friend tells me how the mood of the crowd changed after my run. He heard some people say that the MB should have won. Hell it probably cost almost $50,000 what do you expect. actually, most of the serious guys came up and talked to me after the run and were real cool and showed respect for the 55K.

BenzoBoi

Nice runs! With more seat time, I'm sure you'll improve! With a few mods, you'll be in the 11's EASY....

euphoriaDSM

Any body tried running on 118 or 110? I have about 5 gallons of both and would like to see what the sl would do with the higher octane but it's leaded so I'm kind of nervous it may mess up the cats and o2 sensors.

cal1

I typically run a mix of 110 unleaded and 93. I think it makes the car more responsive. Some say it doesn't do anything unless the ECU is tuned for it. The way I see it, it is a little knock protection if nothing else. i have run a mix of 110 leaded too. Not sure if it reduced the life of my cats or not. They haven't crapped out yet.

kustom2k1

Cal your o2s will go first.

Kreuzfeuer

Great run! My best 60' was a 1.8 on streets as well... I'm told 1.7-1.8 is about the best you can do without going to DR's...

I still love the look of the 2004 SL... pure class.

320 dreamer

i take my little slk32 to the track almost weekly. breakage is minimal. after a few weeks of slapping the local american iron around there arent any tiny car no muscle remarks anymore!! after a p/b 11.9 running a modded mustang the car gets a bit of a crowd now.

remember this. anybody can mod a camaro or vette or mustang and race. the car gets lost in a sea of the same cars every pass. good bet you have the only m/b on the track. the cameras see it and so does the crowd. at the end of the day you cruising out in a world class car that runs fast!

cal1

I actually only did it about twice. A friend of mine told me it wasn't really a great idea. I started running Rockett brand 100 unleaded mixed 50/50 with 93 for drag days.

exactly. You have one fast SLK sir.