German Car Zone

WOW, great pics, great fan !! why we don't have that here

Glad you had fun PC_V. It's nice to play with your car occassionally!

Looks like tons of fun. Great pictures to!

If driven properly (keeping the revs high), the E46 M3 should be able to accelerate as fast (some M3 owners say even faster) as a C55. Plus, the M3 has a LSD, which means it is easier to put down the power to both wheels when exiting a corner at speed. Plus, isn't the M3 supposed to have such superior handling that it should beat the more powerful C55 on a curvy race track?.....

My point is that there really ISN'T that much of a difference in the handling abilities of the 2 cars, especially for non-pro drivers (I'm still a newbie relatively as this is only my 2nd time on the track with the C55). At least one of the M3 owners I passed on the track had more track experience than me. You really need to have the skill to drive the cars at the absolute limits to get that extra advantage the M3 has.

For this past track event, passing was only allowed on the straights. If there is clearly a faster car behind you, you are obligated to let that car pass. So the only way I passed those three M3's was to catch up to them and stick to their tails before the straights so they know that I'm clearly the faster car on the racetrack

Is your C55 a face lifted one? I have driven a C32 AMG becasue of the terrible steering feel I would never imagine taking it on a track.

1) The brakes performed flawlessly for me on the track. I didn't experience any significant fade. Now I tried my best to drive within the limits of the car (ie I didn't want the traction and stability control systems to save me). That's probably the best way to save your brakes. Also, I tried to avoid trail-braking as I did almost all the braking on the straights before the corners, which is another way to save your brakes.

2) The steering was not slow at all. All facelifted W203 C-class models (from MY 2005 and later) had a quicker steering ratio than the 2001-2004 models. It just takes 2.8 turns from lock to lock.

3) The ESP can be a real life saver. On one occasion, I got distracted by a darting Mini Cooper S hugging my tail in my rear view mirror which was clearly faster than me. I missed a braking zone and entered the corner way too fast (and I knew it). I started understeering severely, but the stability control saved my ass and prevented me from going off the track. As a relative newbie, it is much safer to track with ESP on. Remember, oversteering out of a corner is actually slower than than accelerating out of a corner within or just at the limit of the tire's adhesion. To have maximum pace, I try my best NOT to oversteer. Rather, I try my best to have just enough throttle to get the tires screeching just a little bit WITHOUT sliding.

But having said all this, I did turn ESP off for a few laps just have some fun. Yes, power oversteer is quite easy on the C55 because there is so much torque. I did a power oversteer out of a corner just before the pit straight, and I had compliments from spectators afterwards that it looked mighty good from their perspective....

4) Although the weight distribution is not 50/50 like a M3, the C55's weight distribution of 54/46 is not that bad (and much better than the current S4/RS4). To be honest, I've never driven a M3 at speed on a track so I can't really tell what difference would feel like (if there is a difference.....).

5) The body roll was pretty contained. One of the M3 owners that rode in my car even said he thinks the chassis of the C55 can take so much more than the stock tire setup will allow. Remember, MB-AMG put in a much more stiffer suspension/damper setup in the C55 in an attempt to match (or at least become competitive with) the M3. The previous C32 had a much softer setup.

I agree that driver skill and technique play a HUGE part in your pace around a track. However, I'm NOT that experienced (maybe I'm just naturally talented??? .....I doubt it). I still think that the handling superiority the M3 has over the C55 can only be taken advantage of by the most skilled/experienced track drivers. For the average Joe, the C55 may actually be easier to driver faster around a track.

Another factor which plays a huge role is TIRES. Wider and sticker tires can make a big difference.

Yes, the C55 came out with the facelifted W203 C-class cars. Compared to the C32, the C55 has the following upgrades to help improve its track pace:

1) wider front track
2) 18" rims instead of 17" rims
3) more direct steering ratio
4) revised ESP system that mimics a mechanical LSD (when you push ESP off, the new system will brake the drive wheel which is slipping......then the open differential will transfer more of the power to the other drive wheel which presumeably has more grip....)
5) 20% stiffer suspension and damping (which means a much harsher ride than the C32).
6) revised AMG Speedshift Transmission with a proper full (M)anual mode which gives complete control of gear selection to the driver.....in other words, there is no upshifting even if you hit the rev limiter, and there is no downshifting even if you kickdown. In M mode, the only thing the transmission will do on its own is downshift to prevent the car from stalling if you revs are too low.

With all of these improvements, the C55 is 15 seconds faster than the C32 on the Nurburgring and 2 seconds faster on Hockenheim (courtesy of Sport Auto Supertests). And remember, the C55 is NOT significantly faster than the C32 in straight line acceleration, so that these gains must have come from major improvements in handling.

Great writeup. The outgoing M3 convertible is still a beauty.

M

Thanks for posting PC_V, that was quite an interesting story. I'm glad you had a great time at the track and was able to go toe to toe with those other cars.

I'm quite humbled at the performance of the C55 vs the M3's. I'd expected them to be much more effective on the track compared to the C55, despite the C55's disadvantages.