slk55er

SUMMARY: It was a challenge to coordinate the Race Start (RS) sequence with the sequence of the “Christmas Tree” start lights. In a pressure situation (as in an elimination run), without a LOT of prior experience with RS, I’m not convinced the marginal benefits of the RS launch is worth the risk of a failed run. And any benefits of the RS mode may be offset by slower reaction time.

RESULTS: At an elevation of 3000 ft. and air temps of 95 - 100 degrees and a completely stock ’14 CLS63 AMG S-package, my best quarter mile elapsed time was 11.8 seconds at 118 mph — very impressive for a stock 4-passenger vehicle with air conditioning, AWD and which even parallel parks itself! At sea level and cooler air temperatures, I’d expect mid-11 times and 125mph could be achieved.

DETAILS: On the weekend of 6/6/14, our local Lions Club and Blackrock Motorsports sponsored drag races on the runways of the “old airport” in St. George, UT. Saturday included elimination runs and trophies, but I went out on Sunday which was a “Test and Tune” day. We had a mix of street rods, diesel pickup trucks, motorcycles, rice burners, NOX rides and sports cars. I was able to make 11 or 12 runs between 10am and 3pm. I blew at least 2 runs myself and the CLS63 shut down on 2 other runs. But I finally figured out how to coordinate the 1-2-3-4 RS sequence with the Christmas Tree (details below.)

OK, I’ve had a lot of road racing experience — probably 8,000 laps or more as a student, racer and instructor over the past 28 years on most of the major road courses in the US (Watkins Glen, Rd. Atlanta, Rd. America, Tulsa, Laguna Seca, Infineon, Miller Motorsport park, Las Vegas, etc.) plus a lot of time on some local tracks. But until last weekend, I had never run on a drag strip with a Christmas Tree. So part of the challenge I faced was to become comfortable with the drag strip staging and start sequence.

Throughout the day, I was mostly concentrating on the RS function and I never really had time to work on anticipating the green start light to reduce my reaction time. I mostly launched when I saw the green, rather than anticipating it. Consequently my reaction time was at least a half second or more longer than that of some of the more experienced drag racers. But in most cases the incredible capabilities of the CLS made up for my inexperience. (I surely surprised several Corvettes.)

I spent the first 20 minutes or so just observing the staging and start of other vehicles. On one run the brown street rod in the photo of our tech inspection took a sharp left turn 50 yards or so down the track, narrowly avoiding the vehicle in the other lane. This gave me some second thoughts about the safety of the event, but thankfully there were no other incidents during the day.

Previously I had practiced quickly setting up and initiating a RS so while observing the Christmas Tree, I pretended to launch the CLS, quickly counting 1-2-3-4 as follows:

1 — Right hand on the transmission mode selector dial, Left foot hard on the brake pedal
2 — Rotate the transmission mode selector clockwise to “RS”
3 — Click the right paddle to confirm a RS
4 — Right foot on the throttle pedal to the floor, taking the engine to 4000 rpm.

Then wait for the green light to release the brake.

Here is how I coordinated all of this with the staging sequence and Christmas Tree:

Prior to entering the staging area, make sure the engine is warmed with the oil temp displayed in white letters rather than blue (about 200 degrees.) Select the AMG transmission/suspension setting or simply select S+. Depress the button to put the suspension into “Sport Handling Mode.”

Now I’m ready to creep into the start box — watch for the 1st white light, then the second white light, indicating that I am properly staged and ready for the countdown yellow lights. As soon as the 2nd white light turns on, quickly execute Steps 1, 2 and 3 (brake hard, rotate dial, click paddle.) Hold off on Step 4 ‘cause the vehicle in the other lane may not yet be staged, but as soon as the yellow countdown lights start, put the throttle to the floor (Step 4.) Anticipate the green launch light if I can without a false start or wait for the green light to lift my left foot to release the brake. Hold on, keep the throttle on the floor and enjoy the awesome ride.

It took me several runs to realize that I needed to hold off on Step 4 until the yellow countdown started. On two runs, the CLS shut down after launch into a limp home mode, possibly because I had held the 4000 rpm too long waiting for the countdown and green lights. After the shutdowns occurred, I tried a simple start without using the RS settings — bring the engine rpm up a bit with left foot on the brake and wait for the green to tromp the accelerator as one would do if there were no RS feature. (When not in RS mode but the brake applied, engine rpm appears to be limited to 1000 rpm.)

There was very little difference with and without RS. Here are the results of 3 runs in the afternoon (when it was 99 - 100 degrees), Number 7 and 9 are with RS, Number 8 is without:

Run 7 — Time to 60 ft = 1.84 s, Time to 1/4 mile = 11.96 s, Speed = 115.7 mph
Run 8 — Time to 60 ft = 2.18 s, Time to 1/4 mile = 12.38 s, Speed = 115.4 mph
Run 9 — Time to 60 ft = 2.15 s, Time to 1/4 mile = 12.23 s, Speed = 117.3 mph

These times are longer without RS; however there is another aspect to this. I’m not sure how “reaction time” was measured at this event. I know that professional racers get times of 1 or 2 tenths of a second, but the shortest reaction time I observed among all competitors at this event was 0.72 seconds by an experienced drag racer. My measured reaction times were typically between 1.3 and 2.0 seconds, but even if I was waiting for the green light and worrying about the RS Sequence, I know it was not anywhere near 2 seconds until I released the brake in RS mode.

But interestingly, the SHORTEST reaction time I had was in Run 8 — WITHOUT RS — by at least 0.3 seconds! So it is possible that there is some delay in RS mode which undermines the benefits of the RS launch. In a head-to-head elimination drag race, an additional 0.3 second reaction time with RS could lead to elimination, even if the ET is quicker than the competitor’s ET. Anyone seriously competing should spend a lot of time experimenting with and without RS, particularly considering the extra coordination of the RS sequence with the Christmas Tree as I’ve described.

I really enjoyed the day experimenting with this wonderful vehicle. As you would expect, it received many favorable compliments from drivers and spectators who were surprised and impressed by this beautiful beast. It is truly a privilege to own and drive this CLS. Hope this was helpful.

hyperion667

great write up Sir

Steinhart

many thanks for taking the time to write this summary, interesting observations about the RS mode and drag racing in general

your times are impressive, especially for a completely stock car and street tires, which says a lot about your capabilities as well as the car

were you reluctant to take a chance with your new and expensive car to a possible mechanical problem or collision? if that were to happen would it be covered by the warranty and insurance?

slk55er

Surely I had some reservations on both accounts but this was not a competitive event -- it was a leaning experience using the capabilities that MB built into the vehicle. Why does MB provide a RS feature if not to use it? Where better of a place to become familiar with the RS mode than in a controlled environment designed for that type of activity rather than out on the public roads? Obviously a grey area, but thankfully, I did not have to test the waters.

I'll have the same concerns in August when I take it to the track for a driving event at Miller Motorsport Park in Tooele, Utah. But this time I will go as a student even though I have been an instructor with this group (lappingdays.com) at this track several times. Again I hope to not test the waters, but as a student, the grey issue with insurance is more white than black.

As I posted on another forum -- I believe that somewhere MB lists a 1/4 mile time as "under 12 seconds" with a speed of 122mph, so my times, considering the elevation and temperature are consistent with those claims. With or without the RS mode, this vehicle really launches off the line without the dramatics of any tire smoke or fishtail squiggles, seemingly instantly going through 1st and 2nd gear. But to put this all in perspective, I have to appreciate top fuel dragsters doing over 300 mph in under 4 seconds. Now that's impressive!

Steinhart

I agree, no better place to experience RS mode, I was just asking out of curiosity, not because I thought it was foolish. I'd certainly take mine to an event like that.

It's amazing that a big and heavy 4 door sedan (I mean coupe, lol) can be as fast as many 2 seat muscle cars made today, including the vette

My car feels faster than the '12 GS vette I had

I'm considering trading in my '11 SL550 for a '13 SL63PP, another rocket

Funny cars doing 300 under 4 secs must be a rush, I can't even imagine it, must be like being inside an explosion

xxGenericSNxx

Thanks for the write up. I've always wondered how RS would manage on the drag strip and if I could get the timing right to try it myself or if I should just go with a regular S+ launch. I think I may save myself the stress of getting RS timed right and just go with S+ when I get my E63S.

slk55er

No problem. I did not take your comments as criticism at all. You have a valid question and concern. WRT the top fuel dragsters -- although their straight line performance is incredible, I have yet to see one parallel park itself as the CLS does. 8^)

Steinhart

you know, to be honest, my CLS63 is the best car I have ever owned, even with it's COMAND shortcomings, it is a absolute beast to drive, I just love the car

your drag strip experience with this stock car, that also performs admirably as a daily driver, makes it even more amazing to me

now I have to find a stretch of road somewhere to have fun with this monster

slk55er

Wikipedia does not have a listing for the CLS, but it lists the E63 AMG-S with a quarter mile time of 11.5 at 123mph and a verified 0-60 time of 3.2 sec. See the web page at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fastest_production_cars_by_acceleration

Steinhart

wow, 3.2 0-60, that's supercar territory

the awd really helps your car, my twd '12 I think is around 3.8 tested by C&D

mainly

really , who cares about the reaction time. it doesnt affect your time.

the biggest problem i found was when your in a rush, and rotate the dial fast past other selections to get to race start it completely ignored my comands and didnt even switch!! its like it wanted you to slowly rotate past each position, and skipping over the other positions is not an option. that was disappointing.

slk55er

Hmm. Well, if interested only in "Elapsed Time (ET)" as it appears on a sheet of paper, that's true. But in a head-to-head competition elimination at the drag strip (or traffic light), if two vehicles have identical ETs, the driver with the longest reaction time will go home. The vehicle which wins the competition is the one with the smallest total of reaction time and ET.

Rock

Great post.......plan to try out your suggestions this weekend with a newly modified cls63.

ced357

Ive tried both at the strip on a few outings and have found the RS a very fun feature but, average a tenth faster in the 1/4 without it. I was also told recently it would be faster to run the car in Dyno mode at the track. Have not tried that one yet.

slk55er

After some discussion with event organizers, we concluded that "Reaction Time" is measured from the time the Green Light turns on until the front wheels completely leave the start/staging box. That is, until the front wheels no longer interrupt the beam associated with the frontmost edge of the start box -- the beam that indicates the vehicle is staged and ready for the yellow countdown (but not too far forward, still in the box.)

Generally, the yellow lights are sequenced a half second apart. One can expect about a half second or a little less delay in human reaction time and another half second or so for the vehicle to respond. So in order to "anticipate" the Green, releasing the brake in RS mode or mashing the throttle in S+ between the next-to-last and last yellow light would be an appropriate starting point. As I indicted in my initial post, I never go to the point of anticipating the Green.

SanibelSpeed

The reason Road & Track and Car and Driver manage to get such stellar acceleration results is that they start the timer the moment they start the run, not the moment the green Christmas light comes on, so that factors out driver delay altogether.