Bobby Kelly

PERFORMANCE WISE I LOVE THE CAR. IT ALSO STILL LOOKS GOOD TO BE AN 04. I RECENTLY TOOK HER TO THE TRACK 1/4 TO SEE IF SHE'S MAINTAINED SOME OF HER POWER THROUGH THE YEARS. HERE ARE THE NUMBERS FROM MY BEST RUN. NOT TO MENTION SHE'S STILL STOCK.
TELL ME WHAT YOU GUYS THINK. IS SHE ON PAR WITH OTHER STOCK SL55'S OR IS SHE NEEDING SOME ATTENTION.

R/T .271
60 1.936
330 5.419
1/8 8.306@85.08 MPH
1000 10.791
ET 12.885@107.13 MPH

cal1

I would say yes especially given the 60 ft time. The instant on torque of the 55k makes launches a real challenge.

m-svt-amg

I think a stock 55 should run low 12s, but thats with a 1.6 60'

I think your car is still pretty strong, but you might wanna datalog boost and IAT to see if you have belt slip or need a new ic pump.

Might squeeze another 3mph out of it with a bwk and cwa50

What tires were you on?

cal1

It took a pulley a tune and new IC pump for me to run low 12s to 12 flat. I will add most of those runs were during the summer in central Indiana so the density altitudes (DA) was definitely not favorable for forced injection. I was also on street tires and track prep sucked. I think a stocker should run mid 12s with a good 60', but now we are splitting hairs or maybe 10ths.

kustom2k1

Check the IC pump, the MPH is low.

cal1

According to Road and Track when they tested the SL55 way back.

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...-amg-road-test

A trap of 107 vs 110 as stated by MB? I don't know guys, I say the car is performing right where it ought to be or at least damn close.

OP? did you make multiple runs back to back and experience a very noticeable loss in power at any point?

Benz Mike

Who is the best person to get tuning from for these cars now a days ?

cnterline

Kleemann canned tune 03 SL55

m-svt-amg

To be fair, i dont think the ALL of the magazine guys actually did their own testing. There is no way they would have all got exact same numbers.

Besides that, i dont think any of us understood the extent heat affects power in these cars, even before full heat soak and supercharger cut off.

Good tires and optimizing your ic temps before a run can make the difference of half a second.

cal1

I did not quote all of the magazine guys numbers, I quoted one. So I am not sure what your point is on that.

Not sure what you mean about "..any of us understood the extent heat affects these cars" Every mod shop I talked to years ago told me to change out the stock pump and with increased boost (bigger counter pulley) comes more heat which means an additional HE is really a must. My first set of modes was a 178 pulley, a tune, bosch IC pump and an HE. That got me to low 12s depending upon tire condition, track prep and DAs. A number of my E55 friends with similar mods to mine ran about the same or just a little better because believe in or not, the SL actually weights more than the E.

To the OP, it would be interesting to see your time slip because a very important missing factor for your run is density altitude (DA). Favorable DAs have a significant impact on IATs.

m-svt-amg

My point was: most stock sl55 owners with a working ic pump see better times than quoted by the magazines. That, and pilot super sports / drag radials are better rubber than the 14 year old tires that rolled out of the factory.

I hypothesized that this is likely due to lack of temp management in the earlier magazine tests. I dont know when you bought your mods, but im sure the tuners you talked to then knew a bit more than road n track testers did back in november of 02... testing a 1/4 mile after hot lapping Road America is likely not going to produce a best time. Thats all.

We know the e55 is lighter. It doesnt have a folding hard top

I agree, the DA is a missing piece in this equation. But a high starting IAT, leaking abc rear strut, bad tank of gas, slipping diff, or even driver experience can make just as much of a difference.

cal1

Sorry, I am a little thick sometimes I get your point now and agree 100%.

I got into quite an argument a few years back about the weight of the SL with a bunch of W211 guys. I think the sloping curves of the SL makes it look smaller than it is first of all and when the weight of the drop top, all of the gizmos to make it work, and the extra support to try and keep the convertible rigid is accounted for our Sports Light (SL) becomes more like Sports Pig.

m-svt-amg

No worries, you reminded me how much the DA can vary in different climates.

The other forums i frequent dont mention it as much

cal1

^ for a long while, almost all of the fastest 55ks were being run at Sacramento raceway in the winter typically with negative DAs. I haven't been out to look at dragtimes lately to see if it is still the case. I do know old "cnterline" has or did have the fastest SL55 time. I wonder what his car would do at sac?

cnterline

old ??? Wtf lol

cal1

A respectful term

cal1

^ I just wonder how many more tenths you would have shaved with the amazing DAs at sac in the winter?

cnterline

Not much ATCO and MIR are pretty good in Dec

BobLibSL55

My two best runs were 12.18 and 12.20 with high 1.7 60ft times on street tires.

The only "mod" that I did was to lower the rear tire pressure to 22psi.

Link to the 12.18 is in the sig below

m-svt-amg

That is phenominal for a stock 55! Are you the original owner or is there any chance you purchased the car with a tune and pulley already installed?

cal1

was thinking the same thing.

BobLibSL55

I'm not the original owner so I suppose it could have a pulley and tune. I'm the 3rd owner of the car. I bought it 5 years ago with 10,750 miles. The second owner had it a year and drove it roughly 2,500 miles. I highly doubt that he did any mod work to it. That leaves the original owner who had the car for 6 years and 8000 miles. I guess it is possible, but I would assume that anyone who is enough an enthusiast to mod a car would drive it more than 1300 miles per year.

Also on Dragtimes, there are at least two, possible three other stock SL55's that are within a tenth or two of my time.

http://www.dragtimes.com/Mercedes-Be...ag-Racing.html

But then again, anything is possible.

m-svt-amg

Hmm both at PBIR

Was it the downhill strip?

Kidding. Anyway this is really inspirational, makes me wanna take my 55 out to sacramento BEFORE installing a pulley and HE just to see how it compares.