So I know a fair amount of the E55 crowd drag races their cars, and so do some of the E63 guys. But for those of you that run road courses, what is your opinion of how the E55 / E63 cars do in stock form? I am looking forward to running my E63 next year, and am curious if there is anything that I should change from stock before doing the event? I always run fresh fluids and pads on my cars before an event, but I have always tracked my NSX, and never one of my sedans. So, what have you guys noticed on how this car does when running road courses?

 

Member Citylightva has a good video at Motorsports Ranch in Cresson, Texas. Great video, run nign all the right lines..

 

Having just run Thunderhill this last Friday, I guess brakes is the biggest issue. If you change brake fluid regularly, then look into Castrol SRF. It has to be changed ever 6-9 months compared to stock 2yrs, it is expensive, but it is the best thing out there.

I also see that evosport now has Ti shims to insulate the pads from the caliper.

Lastly a semi race or race pad might also be good. I know that EBC makes pads for the W211 E63.

Beyond that, pick the tires of your choice. The interesting tire I found and ran were Hankook R-s3. They have the correct tire sizes for our cars. They wear well and stick well. Probably a good intermediate between street and R compound. The cost is also good.

 

At the AMG driving academy, they kept telling us that the E-Class's oil temps and tranny fluid temp would rise and may overheat if the car was used in manual mode but I pushed the cars at the academy hard and didn't see any sympotoms.

 

I never got into limp mode and how you could possibly do that at the academy is beyond me. My oil was about 126C with 75F weather. I never looked close enough at my water temp. I do not know if it changed from the normal 80C to the higher 100C that the electronic thermostat set in heavy load conditions. I will say I was using S most of the time and sometimes paddle down shifting in certain turns. Of course my tranny and the MCT are completely different.

The only surprise during the track session was when I got the car out of shape in turn 14 (Thunderhill) the electronics said "oh crap" and started rolling up the windows.
From the manual regarding PRE-SAFE operation.
I will note that the 2010 models at the academy tended to jump into BAS mode much more easily than my car did. It was particularly bad into turn 2 at Laguna Seca. The brake pedal would actual fall away from your foot.

 

it is awesome.. I track my E55 Wagon at both thunderHill and Infineon.
my thoughts.
1. my brakes overheated. it is running Motul dot 5 fluid already. will try evosport rotor next.
2. air suspension "SUCKS" too much roll. but hey our car are made for the street.
would I replace it.. Hell Yes. Matter of speaking. my coilover will arrive tomorrow.
and will be at Infineon again on Dec 2 for testing. or maybe not.
3. DONT PM or ASK me about my Coilover Installation. My Tuner and I will give for info when the kit is ready and it is good to run with it.

 

So like MB Forever, I have the P30 package which makes things 40 to 50% stiffer than without. Here are photos from Thunderhill.

Braking from 125MPH into turn 1


Off camber turn 3 entry


Off camber turn 3 50% into it

 

Now THATS a lot of body roll

I don't think anyone will accuse you of babying it. LOL

 

I went road racing for the first time ever yesterday with my E55 so I guess I cannot tell you much about how it performed compared to any other cars that I have driven on the track but I had a pretty good time out there. I left the car in sport with the traction control on. The track I was at had 11 turns and was about a mile long. The fastest point on the track I was going just over 100 and the slowest turn was about 20.

I felt as if the car was rolling a lot but the spectators said the car seemed pretty flat. A lot of people said I was smoking the tires a lot around the track and my friend behind me said I was sideways the whole time but it didn't really feel that way to me. There were a few higher speed turns where I felt like the car was just drifting to the outside of the corner and I could just imagine that is what it feels like when the pros do it all the time but I wasn't entirely comfortable with doing that every lap. Overall the car performed pretty well. There were 3 Porsches in my group and a Cobra Mustang. The two Porsches with suspension done were much faster than I was but the Mustang was a little quicker on the long straight but that was it, through the turns and speed out of the turns I was much faster. I noticed on the long straight that I could not carry a lot of speed out of the turn that leads into it. The turn was a slow hairpin and when I tried to get speed out of the turn the traction control would not let me go. That's the one spot on the track that the traction control really limited my ability to go faster I thing. I think I was better off with the traction control on everywhere else.

My brakes really had a workout and when I would pull off from my session my brakes would be smoking on every corner of the car. The ABS worked really well. Overall I think the car did very well for what it was, people were very surprised that I could hold my own with the cars I was out there with and I had a lot of fun. Some people commented that I was making them nervous coming out of one of the turns, drifting up towards the wall but I really felt like I was in control of the car in that turn and I wasn't in fear of anything bad happening and didn't really think I was pushing the car too hard.

I had to really tighten up the seat, this is the first time that I really enjoyed the fact that my car has dynamic seats, it made a big difference.

 

imho, these E Class AMGs are really just nice comfortable grocery getters. They weren't meant for anything else. They're great cars but they aren't sports cars or even "sports sedans." Daimler calls them "business saloons" or "executive cars." Sure, as AMGs they have a great motor with lots of hp and torque. But that tends to confuse what they really are in the end: comfortable, safe, well-built, autobahn fast daily drivers.

 

 

At that speed with that weight, I would say this is not bad body roll actually. I have an M3 (E36) sitting on 450lb front and 600lb rear adj coilovers + huge anti-roll bar, and when you dive into a corner, you get roll.. like I said: This does not look bad at all.

F1 flat? No But good for what we are looking at. Very interested in the coilovers. Ill PM.. j/k

Here is body roll

 

Like many others have said. WAY TOO much body roll. Brakes seem to handle pretty well, but could do A LOT better. I had just put in a fresh set of Nitto NT-05's and they handled great! Only went out a few laps every session.

 

Patiently waiting for results and pics of new and old track events

 

I'm not sure what the problem was exactly but according to the instructors, they've had the 2010 E63s over heat the tranny a few times at different tracks (not just Laguna Seca) and so they were instructed to leave the E-Classes on Sport or Comfort mode.... no manual mode - or at least not for too long.

 

You are correct about the E-Class, they are definitely not sport cars. What I like about them though is the fact that they do a lot of things very well. They are awesome for daily driving and going on long trips while still being very fun on the drag strips and at the road course tracks. At the drag strips, they definitely act like sport cars... their numbers compete well with many 2-door sport cars. On the road course, they are most handicapped but they still give that exciting enjoyment through every turn and every straight. In fact, I think the new W212 E63 out performed the M3 on the top gear track. So I know they can come close to sports car performance but they'll never be true sports car due to size and weight.

In summary, I LOVE the E-Class AMGs

 

Just by typing in "W211 Coilovers" in google list at least 3 options. I would imagine the heavier engine requires a higher spring rate.

 

Other W211's come with Steel Springs. You have to set this up in Star to prevent a host of other issues, but it is do-able. Sounds like the OP will post up specifics soon. I agree, it is just a matter of the right parts put together to work. Spings are easily sourced, and the rest is OE E350 stuff. Brakes and other unique E55 peices need to be looked at, and I know we are very close to an "easy bolt on kit". Very soon, and demand is there. Ill take one!

Lets PM the OP!

 

I'll take one too...

 

Lots and lots of body roll....

 

It's a fun pig to throw around the track...It will probably surprise you actually...I would definitely safe flush your brakes and put a good fluid in (I use Motul 600). I jump the brakes hard and the stock pads have worked just fine for me. The only time I got any fade was on a 102 degree day. Which brings up the tranny/oil temp comment up top. I've heard that too, but in the 102-104 (120 track) heat my oil never got above 125 and my tranny shifted in M and flawlessly. I will say my buddies C63 actually kept shoving him out of M which was weird. I did have my tranny flushed about 1K before that. There's not much prep needed for these to run a track, because honestly they are not super fast around them, BUT they are a blast.!! I can keep close to VW R32's (modded) and C63's...Like Sun up there, I would suggest running some street/track tires like Nitto NT05's or Bridgestone RE11's...They'll stand up to the track a lot better than street tires...

This is the over 100 day http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBNquAE9-7Q

and some random day on the front side http://www.vimeo.com/11668908

 

Now I will probably get roasted for this but I think the E55 is not a sedan for the track. Grand Tourer sure, but not for a tight twisty track.

Has not got the suspension, has not got the brakes, has not got the traction, and no LSD (Stock at least), also simply too heavy. In a straight line or highspeed highway type sweeps its perfect though.

Now I know some guys track their cars and its great to see, but I could not enjoy that. If I wanted a track sedan I would get a BMW M3 ... probably.... and if I needed larger mbe the new M5... mbe the Maserati QP / Panamera but the latter has a hideously ugly ar$e, and the former mbe a little delicate.

Mbe I expect too much, but I have driven karts for years, a few proper race cars, and well its just not fun with an E on the track. I have tried to push it on some road sections and after that experience there was no way I was going to track her.

Anyhow my 2c.

 

Thanks Tom.! I didn't see you out there with the Audi and MBCA clubs at the beginning of October...

 

i agree that the e55 is not really ready for track duty. it's a blast to drive on track, but it can't handle it for long. the design of the traction control system make it not only really hard on the brakes, but dangerous. as we all know, the traction control uses the brakes to keep the car sorted- or what the computer thinks is sorted. that much braking over-heats them pretty quickly. also, traction control won't let you control the rear of the vehicle with the throttle, which is where the danger comes in. it will cut fuel flow when you need it most to complete a turn that the computer can't anticipate. all it knows is that the tires are breaking loose, and it wants it to stop NOW. if you don't release throttle pressure at that point, you can be surprised at the moment the computer DOES allow more throttle. this type of unpredictability is not ideal on a race track. totally not recommended.

 

You've gotta rock it ESP off...I chopped 3 seconds a lap off without ESP...Not sure about a 55, but it just makes the 63 feel a lot more loose, which I like because loose is controllable for me...