As impressive as this car is, it does not compare to how impressive that specific driver is.... Steve (SGC)'s numbers are always 0.2 to 0.3 seconds quicker than our (mere mortals) numbers He currently holds the record for the quickest/fastest runs in a CL65, SLR, E63 NA, CLS63 TT, etc...

I can't wait till he gets his hand on a SL65 BS with some RENNtech goodies

Very impressive.

I'm trying hard to remember that awful 1st year depreciation hit and not buy one new, but these engines are going to be animals. Still wish the W212 looked a little better, but a V8TT is in my future.

So the W212 5.5TT will hit high 10's ???

Modded? Almost without a doubt. Tune/DRs alone might be enough... we'll see soon I'm sure.

Tune/tires/exhaust/intake mods is probably a slam-dunk to hit 10's and maybe trap as high as high 120s or even 130ish.

I drove the CLS63TT at the AMG Driving Academy at Laguna Seca. They had us use it for short drag race with full stop at the finish line. The car has ferocious acceleration. No doubt direct injection twin turbo is the future of AMG. Later in the day we did some laps with the car. No slouch there either, but certainly not a track car.

That car is capable of a 10 in upper 120s as it sits. The thing that people have to realize is that pass was done in Florida on a warm and humid day with a density altitude of around 2000 feet. When the weather is cooler and the DA is closer to sea level the car is going to make more power. Think about how a stock E55 in perfect weather (cool/cold and low humidity) can run in to the upper 11s at around 120mph where in hot weather it is mid/upper 12s at closer to 110 than 120.

I agree, but "capable of" isn't "has accomplished" - which is why I said "we'll see soon I'm sure."

Better DA will help, but typically turbo motors are better than S/C in poor DA (and S/C in turn are better than N/A), so the improvement should be noteworthy but probably less so than a w211 E55. Again, we just don't know at this point.

Better DA, great prep, harder launch should be good for 10's... but knocking off 4/10ths when you're already going low 11s can take some work... should make for an interesting fall/winter racing season, however.

Imagine one of these big, luxurious land yachts going 10.5 @ 133 with some additional work...

In all honestly with them only doing a launch off idle with a 1.82 60ft I think they could have launched it harder (if they hadn't held back because they agreed to) and done at least a 1.70 if not better and changed that time to an 11.1 on that day. It certainly is pretty crazy first time at the track what it accomplished with all that was still left on the table (hard launch, better weather, more mods, maybe an even more aggresive tune). Thinking about a car that can run 10s is serious then you talk about the type of car doing it makes it even more incredible.

there was probably a reason why that was done. otherwise when going for record people dont just hold back to say "yeah my time is awesome but i held back".

I don't think they were going for a record because this would have been the first car to run down a track that was tuned right so wouldn't this be more of a lets see what it can do? You don't think what they said in the article was the truth?

I can totally understand that, and see why they would just launch from an idle and by doing this leave a little on the table for improvement there as well as in better conditions.

Very impressive. I bet with a few minor mods like secret ram air and free flowing exhaust it will run 10.20's

Great run and the car has enormous potential. But (and it is a big one), if the motor is too much for street tires, then you are talking about having to put tires on it just to go to the track. With a well-prepped track and off-idle grunt of the 55 motor, I was able to nail 1.7s (even a couple of 1.6) 60 foot times on my PS2's. Wonder if that would be possible with this car equipped with a performance package. I would hate to be stuck with granny launches just to keep from breaking traction. We shall see.

What kind of rubber can you fit in the back of the new CLS? If we're talking 305/315/325 then you're immediately in better shape then 295's with perfect offsets in a W211.

Very good point. Not sure. Assuming its wider than what could be crammed under the 211.

My biggest question is how much torque can the transmission take? The Porsche Turbo owners with PDKs are limited in what they can do....will the MCT transmission be a limiting factor as well?

Tom

That's what I was wondering: can it sustain repeated hard launches at the track for years to come as did the 5-speed for the 55 and 65 models?

Although I am pretty sure Mercedes stepped up the torque rating for the latest version of MCT (specifically the one matted to the M157), we won't find out for sure until the tuners have had a chance to develop some more power adders and more customers test them on the track.

I have no idea and would really like to know the breaking point of these things. Even the nigh-indestructible 5-speed had its limits. With these new V8TT's you can probably shred one to ribbons with bolt-ons.

Also...has anyone seen any sort of technical discussion as to how stout the rear differential, driveshat, half-shafts etc. are on the V8 Biturbos? I remember reading some AMG press releases about how they strengthened the driveline of the AMG 65s...has anything similarly come to light for the new models?

Tom

There was an article in Mercedes Enthusiast a couple of months back with the AMG engineers who did the V8TT cars.

They especially mentioned that they beefed up the tranny everywhere, stating there was now "room to grow" in terms of power output it could handle for future "product enhancements".

They also stated that the drivetrain was "upgraded" with the some objectives.

My bet is these cars will be able to handle a lot of power without drama other than knocking on the door of 10 second et's.

Trying really hard to avoid my dealer for a few months.....