German Car Zone

Just trying to bring you back down to reality and to remind you that BMW didn't create the Heavens and Earth...











It was Mercedes that did all that.

J/k.

Really? I hear it was Lexus

Blasphemous!

Since I hijacked PC Valkyrie's thread, back to topic...

Awesome that you are using the C55 to it's full potential.
I'm glad you put those M3's in their place Valk. Show them Munich boys the Affalterbach men are not to be trifled with!

Is it possible to turn the ESP completely off in the C 55?

Looks like you had a bloody good time there mate.

Oh man...this is just...



Look at that Volkswagen Caravelle in the back!

The stability control and traction control cannot be completely turned off in the AMG cars prior to the current "63" series cars.

When the "ESP Off" button is pushed in the C55, the engine power cutting aspect of the traction control is turned off. However, the electronic pseudo LSD mimicking system cannot be turned off. In other words, if one of the drive wheels has less traction and starts spinning excessively, the brake will still intervene on that spinning wheel which leads to transfer of power to the other wheel with more traction through the open differential. Without a mechanical LSD, this is probably not a bad thing. The good news is there is no cutting of engine power in this setting so the car doesn't get "bogged down".

Another thing that happens when you push the "ESP Off" button is the threshold of the stability control is raised significantly. In other words, the car will be able to understeer or oversteer to a much higher degree before the computer decides that you've run out of talent and saves your butt. For a pro driver who wants full control of large power slides, this is often a criticism of AMG cars. For me, I found that I could do quite a large power-oversteer angle when I push the "ESP Off" button. I'm just not skilled or brave enough yet to push the envelope even more, so it hasn't really become a problem for me yet.

There is a "dyno" mode where you go through the car computer to activate. In this mode, all electronic aids are truly turned off completely. The problem is that ABS is also disabled in this mode.

Ok, thanks for the info!

I'm not a fan of the C55, but in those pictures, your car looks great PC!

Great review. C55 really grew on me, it impressed me even more now. Great report, enjoy your car!