Hi Everyone,
I've been lurking around this site for a while, and have been AMAZED by the amount of info and the helpful people/characters that are on this site.

So here's my question, I have a 2006 E55 with 4500 miles. The other day a friend that has a 2005 S55 and I went head to head in a parking lot at California Speedway, and we were neck and neck. He told me that the S55 has more HP than E55, is that correct, but we were both surprised that the S55 stayed with the E55.

Can you guys shed some light on this. Is the S55 performance the same as E55? And does the S55 have more HP? If so, what's the difference in tuning?

Cyrus

 

ive always had that same question.

E55 and CLS55 share the same 469 hp rating on MBUSA.com and the SL/CL/S55 all share the same 493 hp rating also but isnt it the same motor for all 5 vehicles? If there is a difference, is it just all electronics?

 

I think it is mainly related to the different exhaust systems, maybe the electronics as well.

The 2007 SL get a new HP increase from the 55k engine which I believe is related primarily to a throttle body enlargement from 74mm to 80mm.

 

This should be very very close. There is less than a 200 lb weight difference between the two cars. With equal gearing, it will come down to traction and reaction time as well as weight of the driver.

I have been up aginst E500's before with no real diffinitive outcome any time that it's happened.

On a twisty curvy road however, the outcome will advantage the E car due to it's shorter wheel base.

 

^ I don't know if wheel base would matter alot. Look at the Enzo vs. Mc12. The chassis of the MC12 is basicly the same as the Enzo, only extended /wheel base made bigger so it can corner better. Hence F1, F12003GA Ferrari car had a poor design. They tried to make the wheel base shorter = suffer around turns alot, it lost alot of mechanical grip. Costa made the same mistake with the F2005. Now look at the F2002 and F2004 and the present F248. The concept is a longer wheel base hence improving mechanical grip around the bends.

In this case it's more about balance. How well balance the car is, and other factors that i don't feel like going into right now haha i'm lazy.

 

There are threads here with dyno pics showing that the E55 dyno's the exact same as all the rest of it's bigger supercharged brethren regardless of MB's posted 469 vs 493hp.!

 

^ with a shorter wheel base, you have better acceleration.

 

Tell that to the Top Fuel guys.......

 

Motorcycle kinda confirms his theory a lil No?

 

coolcarlskiC43,


I don't know who Top Fuel guys are. But i don't think they are sophisticated as an F1 enginner. Anyways this how it goese.

Like i said the Ferrari F1 team has played with short wheel base chassis Ferrari has opted to go for a longer wheel base because it is better around the turns, but it is not as good for acceleration. Renault on the other hand, has always gone for a shorter wheel base, distrubuting more weight in the back. Go look at an F1 start and you will the Renaults rocket off the starts, and out of a turn- no match for the Ferraris, but when it comes around the high speed turns, Ferrari has the advantage. Patty Syms. of Renault F1 team has confirmed that a shorter wheel base gives them that rocket start. But they pay a price with it. The rear tyres wear out alot faster, AND they lose FRONTOL MECHANICAL GRIP. Renault found a genious way to keep their fast acceleration AND find a solutiono for lost of mechanical grip because of short whee base chassis. Hence the saga with front dampers on a F1 car, which help them make up for frontol end grip along with their great aero package thy have. I'm no Renault fan, but what they HAD (dampers are ban now) was a very, very good package. They had everything an F1 car needs:

Great acceleration
Great mechanical grip/front and back
Great aero package

Now they are suffering front mechanical grip because they dont have the dampers. Let's see what solution they come up with in order to correct the chassis next. Btw, if you didnt know, a chassis is VERY crucial in F1. So a team electing to go for a shorter/longer wheel base means A LOT on how thee engis are going to tackle the cons of each chassis.