Hi,
Racing season opened at the local drag strip last weekend. I took the 6.3 and my G-Tech meter out for a few runs. The G-Tech seems fairly consistent/accurate. The car weighs 4165 lbs with me in it and runs the quarter mile in the 15.0-15.2 sec range. The indicated HP ranged from 240 to 275. Mine is modified with different cams, a polished intake and different ignition.The odd thing is that slower ETs give higher HP readings. My best run of 15.0 only showed 240HP. Has anybody else used a G-Tech on a 6.3? How accurate are these things really?

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W.R.Durrance
ASE Master Tech
Mercedes Tech 20 Years
68 250SE
68 SAAB 96 Ice Racer
69 300SEL 6.3
70 300SEL 3.5
81 300TDT

Hi there,
Is the 6.3 the legendary "Hammer"? I don't have a G-tech but I have read in some Chinese maganies that duing hard acceleration the front end of the car will slightly lift up and this will cause G-tech to miss/gain a couple of 1/10 to 1 second...compare with 5th wheel method.

Best regards,
ET

I've used the G-Tech on several cars with pretty consistent results (except for a recent problem with the damn thing not wanting to stick to the windshield). Once you get it set/calibrated on level ground it should do the rest. Your trap speed will be a bit higher than what it will read at the dragstrip as it measures your trap speed at the very end of the 1/4 instead of the last stretch of the run.

However, I have noticed that I can get slower ET's with higher trap speeds on several MB cars. One thing I've learned from G-Tech testing....temp KILLS performance in these cars. A full second 0-60 and 1/4 mile times variance is what I'm seeing between a 35 degree F with low humidity and 85-95 F with high humidity. Get the engine above 100C on any of these cars and expect to lose another .5-1.0 second. (at least on the computer controlled ones) Engine even sounds much more muted when the temp is high and/or the engine temp gets up there.

Durrance,
did you notice the trap speeds going up with the higher HP readings? During the course of several runs under the same conditions frequently I see slower ET's yielding quicker trap speeds and vice versa. Of course, when conditions are better (read: colder) you are just plain faster all around but I'm talking about within the same time/temp range in a series of runs.

Hope this helps....Lee

ET.

The "Hammer" you spoke of was the AMG Hammer, a car that was first created when AMG stuffed every go-fast piece they had (to include a 5.6 V-8 with twin cam 4-valve heads of AMG's own design) into an '86 300E and charged upwards of $150k for it. A righteous piece.

MBZ responded with the Factory Hammer, which we affectionately know as the 500E/E500. Perhaps just a tick slower, this Hammer also cost more than $50k less!

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Best regards, Michael
'92 500E
'88 300TE

Hi Michael,

Thanks for ur reply. Have u seem/ tried a Hammer before? Here at Vancouver I havn't seem one yet. It will be fun to take a pic of the Hammer, the 500E, and E55 all together.

Best regards,

ET

[This message has been edited by ET (edited 05-04-2000).]

Tell me more about the "hammer". I tried to find some info on it but was unsecessful. It has to be a amazing machine. Also How many were made and how much are they now. Btw is there a good book on all the mercedes models from past to present. I would like to know more about the history of mbz.

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300E
Soon To be E55
27 foot Grady White Offshore Sportfish.