RACE_MX

Many thanks to all who attended and helped create such an exciting day of unique car demonstrations. This was our first time doing this and much was learned that will make future events run a lot more efficiently and allow everyone more time on the runway. Obviously safety was our highest priority and we purposely exercised excessive caution to mitigate the level of risk inherent in a high performance auto demonstration. There was a learning curve throughout the day for staff and drivers alike and we sincerely appreciate everyone's patience and positive attitude.

I was parked at the starting line and had the priviledge of starting the runs throughout the day. I'd like to personally thank everyone for the abundance of courtesy, huge smiles and positive comments I received. I'm sure the folks in Affalterbach would be proud of the way AMG was represented at the event. You all have some very beautiful cars. - Scott

TopGun32

kudos to Darren and all involved putting the event together...

I hope this won't be the last time!

Wish a few 63's showed up or a few more modded e55's...

darren_dallas

I'd like to echo Scott's thoughts. A big "Thank You" goes out to everyone on this board for supporting the event and showing up.

We did learn several things to ensure the next event is even better and smoother. Particularly regarding the staging and frequency of runs.

Everyone was absolutely amazing and we enjoyed meeting all the Mercedes, Porsche, and BMW enthusiasts.

Hats off to each of you!

darren_dallas

There is nothing humble about your Audi. Your car is a beast! Great job this weekend.

darren_dallas

Robert,

It was great seeing you again and meeting your brother. Be sure to relay once again that he did an awesome job running the car for his first time out!

Just to add a little more color to the pictures...in the 2nd photo, which is just after launch, we were basically even, by the 3rd photo the M5 was ahead (that's about 1/3 the way through the run at that point), by the 4th photo you can see the lead difference.

Also, the 4th photo is about 60-70% through the run, that is not the end. We have about another 800+ feet or so. The distance continued to extend.

One of the things I learned is we need to stage at least one camera at the finish to capture the results.

Regards,

Darren


Cheers,

Darren

darren_dallas

dfw01e55 has an ASP pulley on his CL55 with no ECU tune.

Take care,

Darren

darren_dallas

Mike,

Thank you very much sir. I don't have an ECU tune yet. Looking forward to that next mod.

Cheers,

Darren

DFW01E55

Another mod or two and your car will be more after market than it is BMW! The exhaust sounds great.

I've got 2 good vids from Rons car on your races with him. Problem is that I can't transfer from my firewire camera to my USB computer. Once I do, I'll pass them along. It's nice to watch a race video done in daylight!

Thanks again for a great day.
Mike

darren_dallas

Here is the first video where Ron and I raced. I'm uploading the second video now. Of course, I lost the first race so it's a little more difficult to post

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GH2tfHOUrRU

Regards,

Darren

SleeperX

Thanks !! Great job Darren..

But why is your window rolled down? Take a look at this video and see what happens when you roll up your window.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phixSri8eMI

Rock

Darren, I think you lost due to the drag of having your window down.

darren_dallas

Wow...I honestly never thought windows down would have that dramatic of an effect. Now I know! Plus, in the second video, which I won, I think I have them rolled up. I'm going to check now.

Regards,

Darren

SleeperX

Ok. Lessons for all racers.

1) Roll your windows up!
2) Turn off the A/C. I don't care how hot it is!
3) Don't race on a full tank of gas.
4) And most important of all.. Check your IATs. If they are too high getting cooling upgrades..

SleeperX

darren_dallas

Actually, in the first video I short shifted the 2nd or 3rd gear (hit the paddle early) which is probably what hurt me more.

In the 2nd video I still have the windows down, but I won that one.

Regardless, I will definitely roll them up going forward.

Cheers,

Darren

darren_dallas

Here is the 2nd video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsnO4bhMlWo

Enjoy,

Darren

bfnnrgn

It was hard for us to get finish line pictures as they were in the weeds. Often I would let off before the finish line due to still getting familair with running at high speeds and stopping power/distance anyway. Something that got better as the day went on and I got more runs in.

I only ran in my E55 once agains't can drive 55's E and he beat me by a length. Don't think my airbox does anything or possibly for some reason it hurts. Maybe I just have a particularly slow E55. I did have the dreaded reflash done though, can drive has your car had the secondary air injection reflash done? Next time I'll take my stock airbox out and do some comparison races with and without to see.

I drove the SLK55 the rest of the day and one thing I noticed is that 30mph is no good for it and the 7 speed. 30mph is litterally between 1st and 2nd gear and you would lose a second as it seemed the 7 speed would get confused. Rolling up to 30 you were light on the foot, but it would upshift before you hit it since you were very close to redline, then when you floored it downshift then upshift again back to back even when you were in S mode and had 1st selected. Then it would take off in 2nd gear. A rolling start from 20 or 40 would be better for us AMG 7 speeders.

My brother had never driven my E55 before, he was always terrified of it. It was funny to see him run it, I tried to give him a quick rundown as he was pulling up to meet Darren to race. That was the first time he ran it and you should have seen the look on his face when he got back. Even though he lost he had a huge smile and just went on and on about it. Then when he beat the Porshe it was even worse. He definatly had a great time.

My E55 vs Can Drive 55's


My brother after returning from his first race ever against Darren and losing


Here you can tell how bad my SLK lost to the Ford GT. I'm in the pic and you see everyone is looking way over there somewhere.


P.S. Definaly getting the SLK supercharged, where'd I put Kleemanns # again...

Rock

Haha, that one felt better I bet.

No launch control?

Looks like too much fun. I wish I didn't live up north.

Improviz

Yeah, it really kills you at high speed. Even worse are running a ragtop w/the top down, or running a car w/the panel roof off (which, along with leaving his windows down, is what the Carrera GT guy did, which really hurt him).

JAYCL600

what trap speeds were the m5's getting versus the e55's?

darren_dallas

I was hitting 142-144mph.

Regards,

Darren

JAYCL600

thanks darren, looks like you have a fast M5 man, congrats and nice event, maybe next time ill come down.

Improviz

Well, a great big "likewise" from me, Scott...you did a great job (hope you didn't get too baked out there; I got a nice burn, even w/SPF 45!! ), and I'm sure that next time (hint, hint ) it'll all go much more smoothly...first time doing anything is always a bit error-prone (bicycles, beer, sex, etc. ), but you guys did a great job, especially later in the day when we really started ripping off rapid runs.

It was a blast to see (and hear!) the M5s as well...truly an awesome machine, along with all of the other cars there. They all sounded just great, and truly wicked in their own ways...the M5s sounded like formula cars, while the AMGs sounded like poomped up muscle cars, yah!

Thanks again for a great time, and it was really nice to meet you all. Look forward to doing it again sometime, sooner rather than later!!

Improviz

Thanks to you and the rest for pulling it off, Darren!! It was a lot of fun, and the frequency-of-runs issue seemed to get resolved later in the day, so next time ( ) we'll look forward to ripping off lots of runs in the AM while it's still cool.

Your car sounded great and ran better....beautiful machine, despite the outcomes when you ran the AMGs!

jtc55

darren, great job on hosting your first event looks like u guys had a great time

thanks for posting the vids and keep them coming

so the viper was the fastest car out there?

what the the most "surprise" car during the races?