W211 E55 Testride
01-13-2003, 01:33 AM
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Re: W211 E55 Testride
Average MPG is only 11? Yikes...
Originally posted by merlin
-Overall testdrive length was about 150 km,split between city, nationalroad and highway in equal parts
-Temperature was between -8 and -5 degrees Celcius, roadconditions varied between dry and slightly humid
-Tires were wintertires with the following sizes: (I have to check back, sorry)
-The car has already run about 10 000 km and was in top condition
-First impression is very "Mercedes". So door closed with the right sound, you are feeling "at home"
-Big positive surprise are the seats (note optional dynamic seat), they very close to race car seat with strong side support
-The steering wheel is thinner to grip than the one of the W210 E55. I appreciate more the larger one from my current model
-The sound is impressive, especially around 1000-1500 rpm accellerating, finally Mercedes got the right V8-sound. The sound could have been a bit more present but bear in mind that on my motorbike I have a race-exhaust ( and that's really sound
)
-Taking off you realize immediately that you have to be gentle to the accelerator. Otherwise the EPS-lamp is constantly blinking. If you are used to the old E55 you don't have any problem.
-The gear is exceptional, smooth up-shifting, right down shifting, and keeping the gear where necessary. E.g. if you accelerate with the old E55 and stopped in between because let's say the road is blocked, the gearbox tended to shift one gear upward. The new software keeps the box in the same gear.
Under normal conditions you would be satisfied with the automatic mode (S for standard or C for comfort). However, if you want to push the car, choose M for Manual and you get control over the gearbox with two switches behing the steering wheel. Than you get manual control with the benefit of same support (switches back to gear 1 if you stop etc.)
-Brakes are just great. You don't feel any difference between traditional break and the new electro-hydraulic ones. The big difference for the driver is that you don't note the feedback from the ABS-system. I tried several full stoppings down from 110 mph/180Kmh. It pushes you into the seatbelts, the car slows down straight forward, the tires are screaming, but essentailly you could take of your hands from the wheel. The car just slows down and stops. Obviously after the 8th-10th time you note fading of the brakes. But that's just normal, if one has to destroy this amount of energy. Most probably braking is more impressive than accelerating !!
-The vehicle's setup is wonderful. Not to hard in the normal mode, more than sufficient for all condition which you can find in normal traffic and normal road. The car gives you to more options (harder), but the car gets to nervous, so I considered the normal setup more than ok. And believe me, if you drive the car with the normal setup and try to get to the limit, your driving license is in real danger (at least double or tripple above the speed limit)
-Well that brings me to the main points: acceleration and speed.
-Speed is simple: the car goes 155mph/250 Kmh and that's it. If you order it open it goes up to 186mph/300KmH. Mine was obviously blocked at 155 mph. Papers and test tell you that it takes you about 4.5 - 5 seconds. I tell you mine W210 E55 is already fast, but the new one is a missile. It's simply unbelievable. It's is something between a 911 Carrera and a 911 Turbo.
-Accelaration: With wintertires and full throttle open, the ESP-lamps blinks up to a speed of 70mph/110Kmh constantly. You feel the car skidding at every gear-shift slighlty at the backside. The sound is impressive, really agressive. Please note that the wintertires are smaller than the normal ones (245 against 265 ( I am not sure about the latter size)). Without ESP it is be a bit demanding.
-At a certain point I switched off the ESP to figure out the handling of the car. What you get is a real fun-car if you are capable to handle the power. At every angle the car breaks out with a gentle push on the accel.. What is impressive is the quality of the setup. The car is always controllable, for the one who new the old Porsche Turbo, these were really beast. So the new E55K is controllable, although you have to bear in mind if you push to much the car is gone (Power is always abundantly avaiable). One recommendation: DO NOT TRY THIS UNLESS YOU ARE REALLY EXPERIENCED !!!
-What I enjoyed were the new dynamic seats (optional). If you go fast into a curve the side to which you are pushed inflates with air and gives you a counterpressure thus keeping you in a stable position in your seat
-Distronic (radar distance measurement and alarm) works quite well.
-Panorama roof is great (two sunroofs), brings in a lot of light.
-Fuel consume: My W210/E55 consumes already something, but I always considered it in balance which what I got. Well, with the E55K you get much more, so the fuel consume is much higher. With the above mentioned split the car consumed about 5.54 gal/62.15 mls ( 21Liters/100Km) with a low at 2.9gal/62.15(11Liters/100Km) and a top at 7.39gal/62.15 mls(28Liters/100Km). In European terms that's a lot of stuff for power which you can rarely recall.
Summary: A great car, more race than normal sedan, good finish (quality we will see, I do hope better than the present one), clever interior solutions., perfect setup and engine and an exceptional handling. I really enjoyed the weekend ! Downsides are the locks of the seatbelts (terrible fumbling to get the thing into the lock), steering wheel not thick enough (although after three days I got used to it) and the fuel consume (it's really a big difference between W210 E55 and W211 E55K). If I would buy it? Still thinking, it's veeeery tempting.
So that's it, I am sure that I have forgotten a lot, but don't hesitate to shoot questions. I will try to attach some pictures I made.
-Overall testdrive length was about 150 km,split between city, nationalroad and highway in equal parts
-Temperature was between -8 and -5 degrees Celcius, roadconditions varied between dry and slightly humid
-Tires were wintertires with the following sizes: (I have to check back, sorry)
-The car has already run about 10 000 km and was in top condition
-First impression is very "Mercedes". So door closed with the right sound, you are feeling "at home"
-Big positive surprise are the seats (note optional dynamic seat), they very close to race car seat with strong side support
-The steering wheel is thinner to grip than the one of the W210 E55. I appreciate more the larger one from my current model
-The sound is impressive, especially around 1000-1500 rpm accellerating, finally Mercedes got the right V8-sound. The sound could have been a bit more present but bear in mind that on my motorbike I have a race-exhaust ( and that's really sound
)-Taking off you realize immediately that you have to be gentle to the accelerator. Otherwise the EPS-lamp is constantly blinking. If you are used to the old E55 you don't have any problem.
-The gear is exceptional, smooth up-shifting, right down shifting, and keeping the gear where necessary. E.g. if you accelerate with the old E55 and stopped in between because let's say the road is blocked, the gearbox tended to shift one gear upward. The new software keeps the box in the same gear.
Under normal conditions you would be satisfied with the automatic mode (S for standard or C for comfort). However, if you want to push the car, choose M for Manual and you get control over the gearbox with two switches behing the steering wheel. Than you get manual control with the benefit of same support (switches back to gear 1 if you stop etc.)
-Brakes are just great. You don't feel any difference between traditional break and the new electro-hydraulic ones. The big difference for the driver is that you don't note the feedback from the ABS-system. I tried several full stoppings down from 110 mph/180Kmh. It pushes you into the seatbelts, the car slows down straight forward, the tires are screaming, but essentailly you could take of your hands from the wheel. The car just slows down and stops. Obviously after the 8th-10th time you note fading of the brakes. But that's just normal, if one has to destroy this amount of energy. Most probably braking is more impressive than accelerating !!
-The vehicle's setup is wonderful. Not to hard in the normal mode, more than sufficient for all condition which you can find in normal traffic and normal road. The car gives you to more options (harder), but the car gets to nervous, so I considered the normal setup more than ok. And believe me, if you drive the car with the normal setup and try to get to the limit, your driving license is in real danger (at least double or tripple above the speed limit)
-Well that brings me to the main points: acceleration and speed.
-Speed is simple: the car goes 155mph/250 Kmh and that's it. If you order it open it goes up to 186mph/300KmH. Mine was obviously blocked at 155 mph. Papers and test tell you that it takes you about 4.5 - 5 seconds. I tell you mine W210 E55 is already fast, but the new one is a missile. It's simply unbelievable. It's is something between a 911 Carrera and a 911 Turbo.
-Accelaration: With wintertires and full throttle open, the ESP-lamps blinks up to a speed of 70mph/110Kmh constantly. You feel the car skidding at every gear-shift slighlty at the backside. The sound is impressive, really agressive. Please note that the wintertires are smaller than the normal ones (245 against 265 ( I am not sure about the latter size)). Without ESP it is be a bit demanding.
-At a certain point I switched off the ESP to figure out the handling of the car. What you get is a real fun-car if you are capable to handle the power. At every angle the car breaks out with a gentle push on the accel.. What is impressive is the quality of the setup. The car is always controllable, for the one who new the old Porsche Turbo, these were really beast. So the new E55K is controllable, although you have to bear in mind if you push to much the car is gone (Power is always abundantly avaiable). One recommendation: DO NOT TRY THIS UNLESS YOU ARE REALLY EXPERIENCED !!!
-What I enjoyed were the new dynamic seats (optional). If you go fast into a curve the side to which you are pushed inflates with air and gives you a counterpressure thus keeping you in a stable position in your seat
-Distronic (radar distance measurement and alarm) works quite well.
-Panorama roof is great (two sunroofs), brings in a lot of light.
-Fuel consume: My W210/E55 consumes already something, but I always considered it in balance which what I got. Well, with the E55K you get much more, so the fuel consume is much higher. With the above mentioned split the car consumed about 5.54 gal/62.15 mls ( 21Liters/100Km) with a low at 2.9gal/62.15(11Liters/100Km) and a top at 7.39gal/62.15 mls(28Liters/100Km). In European terms that's a lot of stuff for power which you can rarely recall.
Summary: A great car, more race than normal sedan, good finish (quality we will see, I do hope better than the present one), clever interior solutions., perfect setup and engine and an exceptional handling. I really enjoyed the weekend ! Downsides are the locks of the seatbelts (terrible fumbling to get the thing into the lock), steering wheel not thick enough (although after three days I got used to it) and the fuel consume (it's really a big difference between W210 E55 and W211 E55K). If I would buy it? Still thinking, it's veeeery tempting.
So that's it, I am sure that I have forgotten a lot, but don't hesitate to shoot questions. I will try to attach some pictures I made.
01-13-2003, 02:39 AM
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Re: AWESOME REVIEW
Originally posted by Dr Chill
Thanks for all the pics and comments. I don't think too many E55's will be available for test drives in this country when they reach our shores. Now I'm really getting excited. By the way, Merlin, how much was the dealer asking for the car?
Thanks for all the pics and comments. I don't think too many E55's will be available for test drives in this country when they reach our shores. Now I'm really getting excited. By the way, Merlin, how much was the dealer asking for the car?
Rest is up to negotiation
)merlin
01-13-2003, 04:31 AM
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Originally posted by Bones
Merlin, thank you for the review. It seems to me you were very impressed. Could you please comment more on the SpeedShift transmission. Were the shifts very fast and crisp? Also, was the power on demand(instantaneous) or was there a lag that is usually associated with turbo/supercharged autos? Could you please comment on the interior, especially the new design of the instrument dials(does it light up blue), quality of leather, etc.
Thanks again, and hope you post pics soon.
Merlin, thank you for the review. It seems to me you were very impressed. Could you please comment more on the SpeedShift transmission. Were the shifts very fast and crisp? Also, was the power on demand(instantaneous) or was there a lag that is usually associated with turbo/supercharged autos? Could you please comment on the interior, especially the new design of the instrument dials(does it light up blue), quality of leather, etc.
Thanks again, and hope you post pics soon.
initial response concerning the dials was wrong. They light up in blue. See also the picture attached
01-13-2003, 08:21 AM
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Re: Re: W211 E55 Testride
Originally posted by schvetkaaks
Average MPG is only 11? Yikes...
Average MPG is only 11? Yikes...
). the figures in mpg are:avg city, national road, highway: 11.2 mpg
avg only city (stop and go) : 13 mpg
max consume: : 8 mpg
min consume: : 20 mpg
merlin
01-13-2003, 09:48 AM
#30
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Originally posted by merlin
In figures difficult to say. But I would compare it to the couple E430 - E55. The new one is much more like a race car. To this impressions adds also the new gearbox which reacts much quicker and has less slip.
merlin
In figures difficult to say. But I would compare it to the couple E430 - E55. The new one is much more like a race car. To this impressions adds also the new gearbox which reacts much quicker and has less slip.
merlin
01-13-2003, 10:35 AM
#31
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Originally posted by merlin
Hi Bones,
initial response concerning the dials was wrong. They light up in blue. See also the picture attached
Hi Bones,
initial response concerning the dials was wrong. They light up in blue. See also the picture attached
01-15-2003, 07:45 AM
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Nissan 350Z & Toyota Landcruiser 100 Tdi, i lack a benz...but one day
That a MAD report man! that car sounds like a supercar! just one question for any one.......in manual mode whats the buttons like behind the steering wheel.....are they paddles for tiny buttons big buttons? cause i have been wondering and i havent seen a proper pic yet of what those switches are like
01-15-2003, 01:14 PM
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Originally posted by 1115
That a MAD report man! that car sounds like a supercar! just one question for any one.......in manual mode whats the buttons like behind the steering wheel.....are they paddles for tiny buttons big buttons? cause i have been wondering and i havent seen a proper pic yet of what those switches are like
That a MAD report man! that car sounds like a supercar! just one question for any one.......in manual mode whats the buttons like behind the steering wheel.....are they paddles for tiny buttons big buttons? cause i have been wondering and i havent seen a proper pic yet of what those switches are like
There are two buttons (size roughly 1/2 inch long and a 1/4 inch high, hub is maybe 3-5 mm). Left side you push to switch down, right side is up. Color of the buttons is grey/white. If you don't look around the wheel you won't see them..
merlin
01-15-2003, 10:18 PM
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E500W '03, Porsche Cayman S '06
The shift buttons are visible in merlins pics of the wheel
If you look at the wheel pics merlin posted you can definitely see the shift buttons at a position where your thumbs would be if you just grabbed the wheel at the left and right sides.
01-20-2003, 09:28 PM
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Nissan 350Z & Toyota Landcruiser 100 Tdi, i lack a benz...but one day
thanx merlin and jabo! now i know what to expect....i just recognize that photo with the buttons...sorry fella's
