Automotive

Last week we decided to take the beast out for a track day. Confidence the brakes and tires would survive the abuse were actually very low so my friend went to buy some secondhand half worn ones for the back. Our Armenian distributor was happy to help us out for a very cheap set (hope we make it to the track at least).

The beast ? Mr B's 2004 E55 AMG with 476 hp ... and probably over two tons to haul.

but that Delta Integrale

The Integrale always has been a dream for me ... i once had a crazy drive along with a real rallyedriver .. in the crazy years

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The Abarth was top !!!
Bim

Looks like you had a great day at the track.
Bill

... but mr. B decided to go for a last drive in the rain ... as did the Integrale

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Circuit de Clastres not too far from Reims ... a very safe track, only one left-hander with off camber and a very tight left at the end ... that was quite kinky.

I really like that classic Abarth. Beautiful, simple, yet so purposeful.
And the "ABARTH" printed on the rear differential is just cool.

.. it was a very small event organized by a guy who runs a small workshop and services but Ferraris, Porsches, Jaguars and other exotic stuff.

Two people in there shoulder to shoulder

You look good inside the Abarth!  How do you feel inside it? 

After chasing down the white rabbit, it looks like Alice took the red pill and became really big! 

Thanks for the additional photos Bim! 

But better than a 308/328 or 512BB anyway

Those rabbits do a lot of damage when you hit them at speed.  I've seen an entire front bumper crack and split in the lower half due to hitting one in a country road in California. 

Seems like the rabbit you encountered lived to hop another day! 

Talk about strange cars to drive on the track; E55 Wagon?  CLS63 Shooting Brake (if confirmed)? 

I didn't know the E55 called "The Beast" in Europe too.  It has the same nickname here in the States.

But he didn't take it on the track ... only people mad to take a heavyweight are me and mr. B apparently ... i found it very amusing it took that black 911 Turbo Cabrio with 500 hp over 5 laps to close a 200 metre gap on me ... even though i was carefully on the brakes you can't hide the fact that the E55 is HEAVY ...

4500 lbs .. how many kilos is that actually ???

Bim, that's some intense driving, you can see parts of the rotor was melting into its own cross drilled holes. 

I've seen Porsche 911 Turbo (996 chassis) rotors with cracks in the cross drilling that almost reached the cracks that dispersed from other holes.  That was a very thoroughly used brake rotor. 

Generally, the E55's brakes with SBC does seem to overheat a lot and surprisingly quickly during racetrack use..  I don't know why this is the case.  Maybe the SBC computer pulsates the brakes in a way to make them overheat?  Also, the E55's front calipers have 8 pistons, each caliper has 4 small pads inside each caliper, most people assume there are two pads, but there are actually four.  So the front axle of the car has 8 small brake pads! 

When they switched to the E63, each front brake caliper was only six pistons, and only two large pads per caliper. 

How did you like the E55?  Was it a dog on the track?  What kind of tires did this E55 have?  Open differential or limited slip differential?  What was good about the E55?  What was bad?  Since it doesn't have a dry sump, were there any engine lubrication issues?

one ton=2000 pounds (lbs)
one tonne=1000 kilograms=2204.6 lbs
4500 lbs=2041 kilograms! 

.. the driving becomes intense .. even if you think of taking it easy (bear in mind this heavy car isn't mine) it is not comparable to any road driving (except for that one time last year LOL).

The SBC (Sensotronic Brake Control) Braking System on Mercedes-Benz vehicles was adopted for the W211 E-Class from 2003-2006, the SL-Class cars for many years, and the Maybach cars.  It's a fully computerized brake system with a lot of safety benefits, but at the detriment of performance.  Performance issues seem to be overheating and a less communicative braking feel from the pedal that has a force feedback system to simulate normal brake pedal response.  There is no brake booster, but the SBC computer literally has its own pump that activates the brakes on its own. 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Bim.  I'm glad to hear it met your expectation and that the grip was better than what you expected.  I imagine I would find the 211 E55 to be a difficult car to drive on the track, the suspension is vague (due to being an air suspension), the car ponderous (due to its weight and heft), the steering slow and not very communicative.  On the other hand, the car is reasonably balanced (it's heavy front and rear), it's insanely fast, and it can be a hoot to drive/pilot/helm. 

Lastly, it's amazing an eleven year old car from 2004 is still so current in today's world in respect to power.  476 horsepower is still a very respectable figure in today's world.  The E63 is in the 500 horsepower range today.  Today's big improvements come mostly in fuel economy figures.  .  Have we reached an end to the crazy horsepower wars?  Have we driven that quickly to the Pearly Gates of horsepower wars?  Only time will tell... 

New technologies make it easy to obtain more and more power ... don't ask me when or where it will end ... maybe they should start changing the test procedures for fuel consumption because it's laughable and idiotic ... NA cars get closer and lower to the official figure than Turbocharged cars ... .

;-)

That's a sharp looking red car you have there! 

.. it looks sharp , the closer you get ... errrr .... things are getting worse, much worse ;-)

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Can't say much more ... should be some kind of a world first ... usually manual .. but now with flappy paddles apparently

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