[masmole]

A forum member from the other benz forum posted this.
http://www.dragtimes.com/Mercedes-Benz-SLK55-AMG-Timeslip-5170.html

Wow! Much quicker than I thought. I was expecting low 13's or flat at best but this is very quick at 12.7. That's on par and in the neighborhood through the quarter mile with an SL55, Audi RS6, and C5 Z06. A few ticks quicker than a 360 Modena and Lamborghini Gallardo. And in the real world, any of you can recreate this by simply mashing the go pedal with the ESP off. I guess the 7G tronic does wring out more performance from the NA 5.4 liter AMG motor, not to mention the SLK is much lighter than an SL. Yet another thing for the SLK55 owners to feel good about Now imagine better tires and lighter wheels in the equation.

I'm not a big drag racer but I may have to run over to the local strip to find out for myself when the weather gets better.

 

[masmole]

correction, I meant 360 modena spyder. Both the stradale and the modena coupe are a bit quicker.

 

[steve-p]

The only problem I've got with it is that, with the greatest of respect to the original poster, anyone can post anything without any real evidence! I'd really like to see this backed up by a road test in a respected magazine.

 

[dinkoslk]

Those numbers are from my car. If needed, I will post the actual ticket.

I will be taking the car to the track again this Wednesday.

 

[slk55er]

Masmole, did you have ESP on or off? Did you try it both ways? How sticky was the track where you were running?

I've only made a few "tromp the pedal to the floor" runs on the street and those were only with the ESP on. Most of these have resulted in the ESP backing off on the throttle for an instant before the tires bite. I have stock-sized Pirelli P-Zeros, but may look for stickier tires when the time comes to replace them.

(I'm not a big fan of smoking the tires and burning off rubber in a straight line. If I'm going to wear the tires down, I prefer to do that on a track in the turns. I'll be on track in 2 weeks with the Porsche Club in Las Vegas and will give a full report.)

 

[dinkoslk]

slk55er - 2/21/2005 4:43 PM

Masmole, did you have ESP on or off? Did you try it both ways? How sticky was the track where you were running?

I've only made a few "tromp the pedal to the floor" runs on the street and those were only with the ESP on. Most of these have resulted in the ESP backing off on the throttle for an instant before the tires bite. I have stock-sized Pirelli P-Zeros, but may look for stickier tires when the time comes to replace them.

(I'm not a big fan of smoking the tires and burning off rubber in a straight line. If I'm going to wear the tires down, I prefer to do that on a track in the turns. I'll be on track in 2 weeks with the Porsche Club in Las Vegas and will give a full report.)

When I ran the car for the first time, I constantly kept ESP on and achieved a 13.2 successfully. At later times, a 13 flat and 12.9 were achievable as well.

I usually turn off ESP when I smoke my tires, just before getting to the line. This time around, however, I forgot to turn ESP back on and ended up with a far better time and MPH! The shifting seemed faster as well.

I will be going to the track again this Wednesday, and my goal is a 1/4 mile time of 12.6

This was on stock Pirelli's. The only thing done to the car was that the car's spare tire had been taken out.

 

[masmole]

Gordon,
Like dinkoslk said, that was his run. Drag strips aren't even open in my area yet until the spring time. However, I'm looking forward to your report on your 55's first track day. Very interested to hear about how it does on the track against its counterparts on a road course.

dinkoslk,
Nice runs! If you can get a 12.6 on this car that would be amazing. Good luck. Now imagine what only a few simple mods like better tires, lighter wheels, and a Kleeman limited-slip differential would do.

 

[Duo-Art]

Masmole,

Wait for the drag strips to open. You already got nabbed on Lake Shore Drive.

Mel

 

[dinkoslk]

masmole - 2/21/2005 7:39 PM

Gordon,
Like dinkoslk said, that was his run. Drag strips aren't even open in my area yet until the spring time. However, I'm looking forward to your report on your 55's first track day. Very interested to hear about how it does on the track against its counterparts on a road course.

dinkoslk,
Nice runs! If you can get a 12.6 on this car that would be amazing. Good luck. Now imagine what only a few simple mods like better tires, lighter wheels, and a Kleeman limited-slip differential would do.

Absolutely. I have another SLK55 coming in this May (expected) and Kleemann is in the plans []

Never knew this little car would be so much fun! Every day is a new experience! []

 

[slk55er]

Thanks, dinkoslk and masmole, for clarifying this. I look forward to a follow-up report, dinkoslk.

 

[Shinigami]

Dinko: have you tried anymore drags? Have you tried coupling this with brake torquing, maybe you could achieve the 12.6 pretty easily this way []

 

[slk55er]

Road & Track: 12.9 @ 109.8mph & 4.5 to 60

12.9 sec. @ 109.8mph in the quarter mile
4.5 sec. 0 to 60 mph

These are the times in the Road & Track that arrived in the mail yesterday. Sorry, I cut out the SLK55 page and trashed the rest of the magazine already 8^(

 

[Woolly]

Shinigami - 4/13/2005 3:09 PM

Dinko: have you tried anymore drags? Have you tried coupling this with brake torquing, maybe you could achieve the 12.6 pretty easily this way []

...for us ignorameces...wot is brake torquing - IMHO I would have supposed if you're on a drag strip, you go no-where near the brakes?

 

[dinkoslk]

I went a couple times with the SLK but only achieved 12.8 at 109. It's not as cold here anymore, it's quite hot!

 

[tungster]

dinkoslk - 2/21/2005 1:39 PM

Those numbers are from my car. If needed, I will post the actual ticket.

I will be taking the car to the track again this Wednesday.

Sent you a PM...but not sure if you got it.

Let me know...I'm in Tampa

 

[dsb]

Woolly - 4/13/2005 2:45 PM
...for us ignorameces...wot is brake torquing - IMHO I would have supposed if you're on a drag strip, you go no-where near the brakes?

Holding down the brake with your left foot while giving gas with your right foot before the light goes green.
It is tricky trying to maximize power at launch without breaking the tires loose or engaging ESP. I haven't mastered it yet and I only have a 350.