60nomad

2011 ctsv w/ corsa exhaust and air raid cold air...I believe it is stock besides that. My 2004 e55 has cold air and tune.

I will try and explain the differences but I am definitely no Dean Koontz!

The E55 is by far much more comfortable driving, the V seats (recaro) are soooo uncomfortable but race like feeling...still hard as a rock.

Interior is obviously much newer so a little cooler in the V but I still like the dated benz interior and benz knobs and switches just seem more sturdy, stronger...more solid I will say.

The overall feel of the benz just seems much more sturdy and solid, close the doors in the benz and you think you are in a battleship, close the doors on the V and you might get the feel that you are in a lighter weight racy car. Hard to explain but the benz is a WAY more solid piece of machinery!

We all know about the V handling and mine is lowered so no need to address that...V wins that hands down.

Speed? I will run the cars in the next week or so but my initial opinion is that the E55 will easily keep up with the V from 20-60mph maybe even 80mph and after that the V will start to pull away. Keep in mind that the V does not feel as fast as it is and the E55 feels faster than it is but I have taken all this into consideration in making these assumptions.

Overall, if the benz easily went low 11's high 10's (like I will make the V go shortly) and I had no worries of something grossly expensive possibly breaking and the cost wasn't retarded to make this happen, then it would be the E55 all the way as I like physically driving the benz better and the brunt force it has. The V handles better, 'might' look a little better, newer tech on the interior is pretty neat (which means little to me) and the whining sound of the V up into the rpm's is awesome. I wanted a NO sunroof car and luckily found one (every other conceivable option) so there are no rattles what-so-ever, granted, newer car 63k less miles. The benz has very little more noise (actually very tight still with 83k).

Long story short: Benz wins by a small margin overall! Still like the V though and when it is making 700hp for about $3k...I will like it a lot more!

urbamworm

The cooled seats in the V are much better than my E55 but the Recaro seats are definitely less comfortable if going for more than a 20 minute drive.

I also when I picked up the V heard a noise a few times from the sunroof area which I though was this plastic divider piece for the front functioning part of the roof and the rear just glass part of the roof. It has a roof like the pano roof in my E55 but the E55 has that divider piece being a much larger piece separating the two pieces of glass. I haven't heard any noise again though since that initial time. I grabbed at it and shook it around trying to find the noise and maybe my adjustment fixed it haha.

Oh and I wouldn't say an E55 "easily" goes high 10s or even low 11s! Mid to high 11s yes.

ArmoE55

URB: I'm waiting for more vids of that car ...droooooooooooollllllllllllllll

HGOTBOOST

Actually you know whats funny.My E55 has Kleeman headers,Euro tune, heat exchanger & small pulley.A buddy of mine has a CTS-V making 620whp on the dyno jet.We did a highway roll from 60-140 like 40times both cars were neck to neck.The benz has truly amazed me.My next mod is belt wrap kit,82mm throttle body & meth.I think i can beat him by a couple of cars by than.

viren.89

Congrats ! I really like the hood

One has to wonder eh 2011 car compared to such an old E55 which still stands solid. Definitely a difference in quality eh ? I had a question though

How come you guys didn't go for the newer Benz not the TT but the ones before it? is it cause they are not Forced induction or is it cause of the cost ?

Lower modding capability or just don't like the shapes? I mean what strayed you away from the Brand itself ?

ArmoE55

The V is like a new version of the E55 for less money than mint NA 63 cars. You really can't beat it.

60nomad

I want a 2012 e63...cost is the issue! $75k vs. $46k...that might sway a few people! lol

...and it isn't so much the $$ amount because I still have my e55 so add the two together and I am just short of the cost of the e63...I could sell one of my old collectible cars as well and walla...e63...but it's more the depreciation of the newer benz cars! I mean 2009 and 2012 V's are not too far apart in cost. (see what 2009 e63 cost compared to 2012...holy crap ) I was looking at all V's and a 35k mile 2009 car with NO WARANTY left is still $42k so I opted for the 2011 car with 19053 miles for $46800 and it has $3.5k in goodies which I would have done anyway. Exhaust, CAI, black wheels, lowered, lightly tinted taillights, chip guard, brand new P2 pilot sports lower profile tires. I am probably low at the $3500 figure! I would not have done the lowering or lower profile tires because I do not want to spin tires but you must admit...it does look good!

Back to the cost of the V...I had one guy willing to take $40k for a 7700 mile 2009 V all stock (only a few months of warranty left) but no recaros and no nav. I did my research...the non recaro cars are more comfortable but try and sell one without them...and of course no nav doesn't help)! Makes no sense to me but when it is time for a 2012 e63...I wanna get rid of the V ASAP! Many people want no sunroof in these cars so that's not a problem at all!

taurran

Sweet. I really like the new CTS-V's, but it's really hard to go back to any lesser interior after sitting in a late 2000's AMG!

Tremek

Great car, I'm sure you will love it. I think no sunroof is a actually a special order delete, so yes, for the weirdos out there that don't like sunroofs I'm sure your car will be even more desirable down the road.

Too late to suggest this now, but you should have waited for the right car without Recaros if you find them uncomfortable. They are a very love/hate kind of seat, and I can see you bailing on the car early due to those.

DVC

Congrats on the purchase!

Stock for stock, how does the E55 hang with the V when it has 800cc less displacement and older tech? Is the V heavier?

60nomad

Didn't run them yet but I explained my opinion for now up above in initial post. Don't know the weights but the Benz feels much more solid and heavier. Someone will chime in on the weights.

urbamworm

Pretty sure the weights are almost identical. Well maybe your V is slightly lighter due to no sunroof but I read a sunroof car is basically 4300lbs and my E55 with pano roof I put on a scale and weighted just under 4200lbs with 1/4 tank of fuel.

I kind of wish the V had a spare tire though even though that is going to add more weight, they don't come with one, just tire gunk and air compressor so like the earlier year E55s.

johnnyblaze

Finally someone else noticed the "sturdy and solid" feel between the Benz and the V. That was my only gripe with the V over my E55. Otherwise I would be a Caddy owner if not for the tremendous deal I got on my C63.

Beautiful Car OP

60nomad

It is not the weirdos who don't want a sunroof it's the guys who don't want rattling and the guys who plan on heavy modding or take the handling to the limit. The old V's used to get crinkles in the roof from the handling guys...anyone remember that? My last V had no roof and I sold it immediately for asking price and it wasn't cheap...trust me!

I explained about the recaros in this thread or possibly another one that they are very hard to sell without recaros. I have a memory foam cushion that works great and it will save the seat with my fat *** anyway! I don't go far anyway, usually just blasting around locally and I am in and out of the car. I still have the benz and I am not dying to sell it so I will use that for longer rides and I work with my truck most days anyway. The recaros would never make me sell sooner. I am sure that I will have this caddy for a while!

BTW: 2 years is long for me.

99lightning

have not found what the V's run on tires and tune only but with my times i cant be far off from one with a tune only stock pulley

urbamworm

There are variances to account for between cars of the same model so really can we even compare per say?

My E55 only did a best of 11.69@120 with a 180 pulley, headers with no cats, 80mm throttle body on 19s with street tires doing a 1.82 60ft on a 60 degree day. You have done basically the same with only a tune and some drags. Mine has also ran a lot of 113-116mph speeds as well on that setup on warmer/hotter days.


And for people wanting a video of the V, this is all I can give you for now. Currently visiting family a few hours from home, when I get back home I may do some runs vs E55 when I can get someone to drive the other car.

MAN55LE

cool ...I wanna see some races! from anyone!

CharlyE500

Question, CTS-V supercharge how much bigger than the E55 ?

HeissRod

Oh man, that whine!

ArmoE55

That sound!

urbamworm

The V is 1.9 liter Eaton supercharger. Not any bigger than E55s Lysholm which is actually 2.1 liter (bigger).

RedBullJnky

I'll drive it!

CharlyE500

Oh good to know. Thanks for the info.

urbamworm

Ok, I know I said in either this thread or the other thread of Nomad's that it was warm out and the car still was pulling hard. It was 92 out today and man I could tell a difference. I felt like I was going to melt when I was outside messing around and was dripping sweat from my forehead. I went out and ripped on it and it felt like I was 100whp down lol.

I guess the V isn't immune to the heat, maybe slightly better than the E55 but it was definitely hurting today.

cij911

Heat is the enemy for pretty much any combustion car....and especially if you have a heat exchanger.....