Check out the following link...

http://web.missouri.edu/~c690272/times.html

How accurate are the times listed for your particular Benz's?

Matthew

[This message has been edited by Webmaster (edited 05-20-99).]

Hmmm...I would like to run my cars against those times listed! I have found that most MB cars are rated conservatively. I think the cars in showrooms now are not rated quite as conservativly as the last generation. As I've said in the past, I have timed repeated (repeatable) 6.4 second 0-60 dashes in the 400E. I have worked it as low as 6.2, but 6.4 is what it does under real world conditions. The 6.2 was 1/4 tank of gas, just me in the car, nothing else in the car, 40 degree F night, etc. Since the 400E is rated at 7.1 seconds (0-100kph or 0-62mph) I'd say their ratings are conservative. Even on other people's cars I can usually get 6.7 or so.

Then there is the 500E.... I have not timed it yet but it is easily in the 5's 0-60 and somewhere around mid 13's-14.0 in the 1/4 by the "butt-dyno". I base this on that on a familiar stretch/distance of road when I drop the hammer with the 400E I will be at about 65-70 mph by a certain marker. I will be at 95-100 mph in the 500E. If you look at Starfest events you see 500E's running in the mid-upper 13's in the 1/4 for stock ones and mid-low 13's for the tweaked variants.

I have also had some fun with a certain individual on this site with a 98 E430. (you know who you are!) We were dead equal to the point where we were nearing the E430's speed limiter. Times rated for the E430 and 400E are rather different. At the time we did that little "test" he had less than 10K on his motor. Perhaps now that it has about 15K it might of picked up a few HP's... Still, the fact that they were so close despite the E430's "rated" advantage...

I have yet to really run the 500E against that un-named E430 owner, or some other friends with high performance cars, but it is as far (or farther) beyond the 400E as the 400E is beyond the 300E (m103). The 400E will run a back-n-forth battle with a 98 Mustang Cobra. The Cobra has me off the line, I catch him around 65mph-70, were equal for awhile, then I pull ahead somewhere around 110-115 and he begins cursing the aerodynamics of dearborn. Of course, if things get twisty, the snake tries to slither into the ditch where the 400E just hangs on but that is a different story... I'm sure the 500E will show him the trunk-star from word go but I have not yet proved this.

Perhaps Benzmac's golden touch has helped my cars, perhaps I have been lucky in the cars I have bought, perhaps I just drive them to get every drop of performance possible....I can't say for sure, but I can say that I can consistently beat the times as rated by MB. Usually the times in some of the magazines as well. I'm sure not complaining!

Lee

According to their chart my C36 is faster than your 500E. Remember these numbers vary depending on driver skill, testing conditions, and manufacturer vehicle variances. Buying a car that will do 5.5sec 0-60 doesn't mean it's going to happen every single time just like a light switch. Or that all models of that vehicle will do. This is specially so with manual transmission cars. The other day at the dragstrip there was a 93 500E that wouldn't break into the high 14's. The best he could do was 15.1. It was a hot day, 95 degrees, but my C36 did 14.8 without any adjustment to the car(like lowering tire pressure, brake torquing, cool down engine, etc) and while waiting in line with the A/C on. Car and Driver got 5.5sec 0-60 for the 500E while Road and Track got 6.2. Car and Driver adjusts their times to weather conditions while Road and Track prints them without any weather adjustments. Therefore the real test of who's faster than who is out there on the street.

Remember 92's are faster than 93's...j/k Also, you CAN shut your ASR off, he couldn't. (unless he had done something to it) Temp seems to make a BIG difference on the DOHC engined MB cars. Almost "turbo" kind of difference. Either that or my "butt-dyno" is overly sensitive but we don't need to go there. You did hit the nail on the head with driver skill and just a strong running car. Driver nerve and knowledge of his car under all conditions is a huge advantage on the street/track. If you know exactly where your strengths and weaknesses are and use both to your advantage you can take a car that is a little less up against cars that are quite a bit more... I seem to remember a Starfest event or a One Lap event where a Renntech car was being beat by a bone stock ML320 around a race track. The ML had a professional driver at the helm and the Renntech car's driver could of probably used some Skip Barber time. (either that or the ML offroaded accross the infield!) My experience with my car and my friend's Cobra illustrates that. If his launch isn't perfect and his shifts are not well timed I will catch him much earlier if not from "go" in the 400E. He may just be SOL vs the 500E.

While we are on the topic of magazine times...has anyone else noticed how in Motortrend the American cars are faster (than what you encounter on the street) and the European cars (especially MB) are slower? But in Road & Track it is usually the other way around.... C&D seems to be about in the middle on both counts. Another interesting phenomenon...when Lexus unveiled the GS400 it seemed all the initial press cars were doing just under 6 seconds to sixty. The more "off the shelf" ones are all over six seconds to sixty. Things that make ya go hmmm... If they were "hot" then it certainly wouldn't of been the first time a manufacturer had sent a "massaged" car to a test/review/press event. I think I'll stick to the old racer saying "The BS stops when the green flag drops!"

Lee