OzSL55

A noble sentiment and sage advice (which I've heard before on several forums), however a lot of us are drag racers at heart. To us it's not about how far you can push your car to the limit on a windy mountain road, rather the rush that we feel when you get that perfect launch off the line. In that sense it's that tangible seat of the pants improvement that many of us seek and achieve through upgrades.

IngenereAMG

Drag racing is OK, and the rush that goes along with brute torque.....but how much skill does it take to press the loud pedal and hold on. Not much. I've done 200+ in the SL...accellerated to 300kph in 30 sec....while very cool and quite the rush...it's pretty ho hum. Do it once and you've done it 1000 times.

My brother was into drag racing and for the longest time. It was the fear of going off and not having the proper skills that kept him from doing road course stuff...but once he got the education and started to practice....he got it!!

However, if you really try to learn the right braking points along with how to enter and apex a corner, along with the proper line and how to balance the car just right between under and oversteer....it really is quite rewarding. Especially, when our 'cruisers' destroy, Porsches, Vettes, Ferraris, etc along with the egos of their owners!! One of my favorite things to do is taking a corner as fast as I can....and realizing that I could have braked another 30 feet later and gone through that corner 15 mph quicker and then taking another shot at it.

I guess it all comes down to preferences. If you want to go fast in a straight line...so be it. I just think that all this power is better put to use on a twisty road or the track. If you just go straight, you are missing 3/4 of the performance envelope of these cars. Every corner is different. Every entry and exit presents its own challenges......All good fun! Besides...the speeding ticket is much lower for 70 in a 25mph corner...than one for 200!! Have fun and be safe!!

BenzoAMGpower

Thanx for the compliments dude... I frequented Orlando quite often in 2004, went out and lived my own kill stories racing ppl from the Fuel **** hangout. Look me up if your ever down in Miami dude, or ill PM u next time im getting ready to come up to Orlando.

OzSL55

That's just it. Sure I like going to track days and honing my cornering skills doing laps like many others do, however I get a huge kick out of the performance of the different cars I drive in their off the line performance on nearly a daily basis. I don't need top speed either, that does'nt do it for me. I'd much rather see how swiftly I can get to 60kmh from a stop than trying to hit 250kmh and get my license torn up. I didn't build a 700hp Cobra to go fast around corners (mind you I did and still am equipping it with a damn good suspension). I don't need anything like 700hp for going through corners fast, but damn it feels good on the straight.

Indeed it's different strokes for different folks. Worth remembering before making broad statements about the need for engine tuning .

IngenereAMG

I wasn't trying to put anyone down. Perhaps it's just my age showing.....before ECU's and fuel injection and emmissions, performance cars were lucky to have 200hp (I remember my old 308 had 205hp and was considered fast...except that a good running RX7 would kick the snot out of it on a straight). Now, all these guys are going for more than 500 hp and looking for more!

When I go to the track I see so many guys with all this hp and no idea how to control it. They would be much better off climbing the performance ladder. My first 'performance car' was a Fiat X 1/9....it had 80hp. I set the chassis up like a kart and on a tight road course it was brilliant. The 'grunt' out of the corners was less than brilliant...but it was huge fun. As the years went on....the power in my cars went up as my experience and skills grew. The Indycar provides the most thrills....in the corners as well as accelleration.........0-100 ~3.5 seconds! 150~8. Frankly, everything feels pretty slow after that! AND...don't forget 3+g's in the corners!

It's kind of like these kids that can go out and buy a superbike...and they have no real experience...and they kill themselves. They would be better off starting out with scooters and aquireing the skills to handle the bike. I think that just because you can afford 500hp...doesn't mean that you can handle hit.

My point is not to offend, but I think that developing a feel for the power as well as gaining experience and skill will heighten the experience and allow the driver to exploit and enjoy his car more.

dinko

I know exactly who you are talking about. I got a couple buddies that hang out accross the street, at Mama B's!

Let me know when you're down here, and we'll go Benz up the roads!

VinceB

Question for all of you who have run their 55's on the track. My club requires roll-bars for convertibles. Not sure what their take on the 55 would be? Looks like a hard top, but in a pano roof...

So can you have the top up and the roll bar in the upright position? This would make the most sense if you ended up on the roof. Although, I'm sure you could run top down and have the roll bar up. It is able to be manually raised isn't it?

Cheers-

OzSL55

I totally agree with your pov. Heck, I started on a scooter myself at age 16. A great way in fact to learn awareness on the road. I believe people that start on bikes become better car drivers because the are far more aware of what's happening around them since you have to to survive on a bike. I then progressed to a whopping 80cc kawasaki AR80 (that later became a 150cc) at age 18, it was a very light roadbike that actually taught me a lot about 2 stroke performance and riding. I didn't get my own car till I arrived back here age 20 and that was an '81 733i beemer, not exactly flash in 1991 but I made the most of it. It was until I got my 325i in '93 that I started to climb the performance ladder and that car ended being my first supercharged car but the time I'd finished with it. It was then that I started my first track days and really got to learn about handling skills,etc. Next car in '96 was an M3 Evo and the rest is history from there.

I strongly agree with you that it's way too easy to just buy power these days, which neither teaches you respect for it or how to use it correctly.

OzSL55

I think you'll be fine since the factory roll bar is of course fully functional in that capacity if you have the top down (also stays up if you put the roof up too, should you want that for some reason). Have you not seen the little buttons under the roof switch? Just use those to control it. On the other hand you could just roll up with roof up and I doubt they'll say anything as it makes the car appear as if it's a solid roof model.