Great posts, thoughts and stories. Yeah, I think keeping the badges works. They can google it and see that they lost.. no need to race. Enjoy! Glad to be part of this diverse forum!

 

Wow, times have changed. 20 years ago when I had an E55 there used to be a thread called "Kill stories" or something like that, we used to love posting there (W210 forum). Then again, I'm 20 years older, little less dumb and driving a Volvo that, rightfully and thankfully, nobody cares to race. Looking at getting back to MB with the E63 wagon, but I'm not sure how I will react if somebody asks me to race...probable the slightly wiser me will pass.

 

It was quite a saga, that's for sure. It was almost 20 years ago but I still remember it vividly.

I was in my F-150 at the time with my race bike in the back and towing a trailer with two more bikes on it. The three of us were on our way back from a track day at the Streets of Willow Springs.

We were about 10 miles down the Antelope Vally highway from the track when this guy came up upon us from behind doing 90+ MPH. We were initially in the right hand lane following a tractor trailer rig and doing about 70 MPH, same as the tractor trailer. Technically I should have been going 55 MPH since I was towing a trailer.

The truck signaled a lane change and move to the left lane due to a slower moving sedan ahead in the right lane. I checked, signaled, and made a similar lane change. I could see the guy coming up fast from behind, but he was still a ways back so I was able to make a safe lane change. I continued to watch him come up from behind and even remarked to my passengers that the guy was going to need to slow down in a moment. Another second or two passed and it was clear he wasn't slowing and then suddenly he swerved to the right hand lane to go blowing by us. That's when his sight line around the truck cleared and he realized there was the slow moving sedan in the right lane and he had no where to go. He jammed on the brakes and cranked the wheel back over the left, getting the car all out of shape in the process. Fish tailed forth and back a few times before the car spun and he slid toward the edge of the road sideways NASCAR style with smoke flying everywhere. It's probably a good thing that he wrapped the car around a light pole at the end of an on ramp because otherwise he likely would have cartwheeled the car off the elevated roadway and for sure killed both himself and his wife. As luck would have it, he struck the light pole just to the front of the A-pillar and only broke his legs and misc other bones instead of being killed outright had he taken the light pole square in the door of his aging Mercury Sable.

It was his 21st or 22nd birthday and they had just dropped his 8 month old daughter off with a sitter to go out and have a celebratory dinner. This really struck close to home as my daughter was 8 months old at the time as well.

While the driver had no memory of the accident due to his concussion, the wife, likely at the prompting of their liar, I mean lawyer, claimed they were only going 70 MPH just like us and when they were inches from my rear bumper I cut them off as I made the lane change from right to left, forcing them to swerve to the right to miss me. Not the move one would normally make according to the human factors expert, nor the one you'd expect if I was towing a trailer since swerving to the right would put you into the trailer.

The Allstate accident reconstruction expert, Ken Solomon, a Ph.D and P.E., and all around impressive guy, who wrote the book the other side's "expert" used put their speed at more like 96 MPH. The other side's expert eventually agreed it was probably 90+ MPH.

Lots of drama during the trial, and the wife, who was only 18 was clearly not being truthful was caught in several conflicting answers between what was said at their deposition and during trial and clear in opposition to the physical evidence. At one point the judge ordered a sidebar conference with my lawyer and theirs in his chamber and you could clearly hear him yelling at their lawyer. This amused the jury. Still the jury was hard to read and it wasn't clear which way they were leaning.

Took longer than I thought for deliberation, but it turns out they spend most of the time trying to find a way to avoid finding me guilty of towing the trailer at 70 MPH rather than 55 MPH. This wasn't contributory to the accident, but still they didn't want to find me guilty for that, but eventually did. They were unanimously agreed (the other side'd lawyer had the jury polled) on the not guilty for me cause their accident or being responsible in any way. Following the verdict after the judge released the jury, they all came up to me to thank me for stopping and trying to help these idiots and say how sorry they were that I had been put though all this. It was quite touching really.

Allstate isn't the lowest cost insurance out there, but I must say, the few times I've used my insurance they've been great. Occasionally I've been tempted to look around for lower rates with other companies, but then I stop and wonder if they would have gone to bat for me like Allstate.

 

You bought a 4.0tt AMG, if you didn’t want to go fast in it and face it once in α while, should of gotten α E300 wagon and save α ton on the car and insurance.

If you think α Honda or α truck who wants to race you are looking at the E63 badge and not just want to show you who is faster because it’s α Mercedes, think again. De-badging is only α personal preference and will not stop people from trying to tell you α Mercedes is slow.

If road conditions is good, just go for it, you only live once. Car will back off once you hit 60mph and they are cars length behind you.

Enjoy it before it’s time to move on to another car.

 

Are you saying the opposite of what everyone else is? To risk your life and lives around you for a cheap thrill? That OP, or anyone else, shouldn't have purchased a fast car if they don't want to go fast
and street race other jackwagons? What?

 

Wow. Let me break the keywords in my comments down so even you can understand.


Keywords: Once in α while. “IF” the road conditions are good.

You must have α great personality!

 

I don't need to break it down for YOU though because you'll break down on your own
But here anyway:

"You bought a 4.0tt AMG, if you didn’t want to go fast in it and face it once in α while, should of gotten α E300 wagon and save α ton on the car and insurance."

And there you go

 

I , just smile , wave them off and go on my way .
I live my life for myself not for some random guy on the street , don’t have to prove anything to anyone.
‘I know what I can and can’t do .
Be well and safe.

 

A while back I was talking to a truck driver that was doing a delivery where I work. He was complaining about being sued. He was driving a semi in the slow lane and some lady passed him and took the exit ramp in front of him, then decided she didn't want to turn off and cut back right in front of him. AS he was going the limit (55) and she cut back on doing approx 35, he couldn't slow down fast enough to avoid her. She ended up in the hospital and was suing him for mega bucks. There was a witness. A CHP officer on patrol in a CHP vehicle. Apparently her lawyer didn't think that was pertinent?

 

I just want to say "thanks" to all of you for your thoughts on this subject. It's a bit sad that the true potential of the E63s can only be safely tested on a track. However, there are areas (no traffic) where a little exuberance can be fun. After all, as S63AMG888 said in so many words, it is a performance machine and an impressive one at that.

 

I have a stretch of road that I will keep as my own secret, one side is fenced to an airport runway, the other side is fenced off to the freeway. There’s hardly any traffic on it at all. That’s where I come and unleash the 603 hp once a while. Used to go to Sonoma Speedway with a pair of slicks. Way to much work for me these days...

 

There is no safe place to race even at the track. If the road conditions permits, you might as well enjoy one of the reasons you bought α E63s, which is to go fast. Enjoy in good health my friend, you only live once. BTW, no matter how safe α driver is, they are not automatically shied from a accident.

 

I think in my case it boils down to what am I willing to risk when out on my own and driving in a sporty manor on a mountain road with no other traffic being potentially involved, and what do I do when in traffic where other cars are around and the greater potential for bad legal outcomes exist.

I've posted my 170 MHP on the autobahn video clip taken at the end of our European Delivery trip. That was in traffic with the family on board. So I'm not immune completely from acting out a bit with other drivers around. But for the most part I do tame it down considerably in traffic.

Since the car was delivered to the states I think I've only broken 150 MPH once, but I've gotten to ~75 MPH really quickly a lot. You can also have a good time at sub 55 MPH on mountain roads

 

As everything in life, risk / reward.

Some risks are a lot more stupid than others.

 

As I always say, speed is not everything. As much as I love driving fast on the German Autobahn, anybody with big enough ***** can drive fast in a straight line. Doesn't take a whole lot of skills, especially in a GT type car that is built to drive fast in comfort. I've been to Germany so many times, that driving at triple digit speeds from point A to point B is a leisure drive for me now. My wife on the other hand was freaking out at one point during my last ED trip when a lorry driver didn't see me coming or misjudged my speed and started to move into my lane, but then saw me and moved back. I just let off the throttle, because it was a situation that was so normal to me that I anticipated they'd move back into their lane but I was ready to step into the irons if necessary. The mood in the car was a bit tense afterwards if you know what I mean...haha. It's a different story in a country where drivers have road discipline and slower traffic stays to the right.

I'm not very impressed by straight line racing. I find dragstrips lame and 0-60/1/4 times don't interest me much. I have much more fun attacking a windy mountain road or a race circuit that takes skill to drive fast. That's where most of these wannabe race drivers would not manage to keep up.

 

Though I condone dangerous street racing, I'm with S63AMG888 on this one. If some one really temps me, provided if conditions are good and looks safe to do so, I floor it. Beat plenty of young guns, also loss plenty. Got plenty of power to not resist the urge.

 

Some of us don't live near windy mountain roads or race circuits, so the occasional highway blast and street light launch is what we have to make do with.

Circuit tracks and windy back roads are much more fun to drive around than straight line highways, but my experience is there are more dangerous accidents happening with people doing their Senna impressions in the mountains and windy roads than the occasional guy racing someone on a straight road/highway. Both equally dangerous in public, but hey why buy a 600+HP AMG to drive it like a grandma at all times?

 

Yes and I've always maintained that if you don't have the opportunity to stretch the legs of a performance car once in a while, then perhaps buying one doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Although, what many don't consider is that a performance car has much superior braking and handling compared to your average commuter car, so even driving one normally will give you a better chance in an emergency. It's not always about the power. Part of buying a high power car is about having that power reserve that you can tap into when desired or needed.

The big difference about doing your Senna on a deserted mountain road or track vs "racing" on city streets and highways is that on the deserted mountain road/track you are mostly just putting yourself in danger, but on busy roads you might end up taking out several other innocent bystanders, especially in areas where there could be pedestrians. I accept that I could crash in the canyons, injure myself and total my car, but chances are high that I won't be killing or injure somebody else and I always slow down if there are other cars and especially bicycles as I ride myself on the kinds of roads that I like to drive my car hard.

 

Both stupid and equally dangerous. Regardless of how in control you think you are, you can't control the car/bike coming head on doing his/her equal Senna impression.

 

I certainly can't. Neither can I control another car losing control while I'm just chugging along on the highway. That's an entirely different point. Might as well stay at home then.