Couple of Videos from Mallory Park in a C63

[nightSpirit]

Another month another track day in the big Merc. This time on the AD08R road rubber as I couldn't face taking the 507 wheels up in the back of the car

Great day and nice enough track, just too short for the 63 to stretch its legs. I was topping out at 115-120 with a best lap of 55.96 seconds timed with 10Hz Qstarz GPS and RaceChrono.

https://youtu.be/W-Ggf_RNtEU

https://youtu.be/LJC_F5B7pPY

https://youtu.be/4QnZ3mWpvBU

[Smokey32]

That skyline looks rapid in the second vid.

Nice vids. Car doesn't sound as loud as I imagined it would.

[nightSpirit]

Smokey32 said:

That skyline looks rapid in the second vid.

Nice vids. Car doesn't sound as loud as I imagined it would.

Yeah it was a 32 GTR and he was generally quicker everywhere but then I'm probably carrying 600kg of ballast

Exhaust sounds better outside the car I've been told! haha.

[Audio Addict]

Good to see another C63 owner tracking their car, i've got a 2008 C63 with a few mods.

I was at Brands Hatch on Wednesday which started out wet in the morning but luckily it dried out before lunch so I put my track wheels on with a set of Toyo R888R

[C70R]

I must concede that a 1700+kg automatic wouldn't have been my first choice of track car, but you seemed to have plenty of fun. How does it feel in the corners, particularly the slower ones? It looked like you were cajoling it around a bit on those videos.

[Audio Addict]

I know you wouldn't think a big saloon would be that great but i've been impressed with mine on track. I've got H&R cup coilovers (lowered 30mm all round) and a Quaife LSD which helps. As long as you keep the car balanced its good in the corners........it can also be a hooligan if you want it too

[nightSpirit]

C70R said:

I must concede that a 1700+kg automatic wouldn't have been my first choice of track car, but you seemed to have plenty of fun. How does it feel in the corners, particularly the slower ones? It looked like you were cajoling it around a bit on those videos.

I used to be of the mindset that you need a proper track toy to have fun on track and I've had everything from a Radical SR3, to a 400hp Lotus Exige. My mind was changed when I tracked my A220D Merc (auto) at Brands on stock rubber one wet January...it was so easy to drive quickly and in complete heated seat comfort! I've always fancied a big Merc with an AMG badge so it was a no brainer.

As Audio Addict says, you don't see many big cars on track and the Merc isn't that talented as a track car out of the box but fit decent rubber to reduce the under and oversteer and change out the dampers (I run PSS10s, dropped 30mm all round) and you'll have something that's not half bad at all! It's no featherweight and I'm sure that something like my old Clio Cup racer would give you a more thrilling experience but you can't deny the grin factor of hustling an 1853kg barge round a curcuit

Handling wise, due to the weight it will quite easily understeer if you carry too much into a corner but the feel through the wheel is excellent (not far off Exige levels of feel) so you can balance it. If you get too happy out of the corner, the back comes round but again it's fairly predictable and the car lets you know what it wants to do With this car you (not that I do much) need to really load up the front end in the corner to get it round more quickly.

[C70R]

Good to hear, and appreciate the openness/detail.

I do think this forum generally gets a bit obsessive over things like lightweight and weight-saving, to be honest. I suppose it's a bit like my mate, who hacks around off 20-something, but felt the need to spend a grand on a set of Callaway irons. Or another mate, who turned up to his second ski holiday with a £900 board (he'd spent about 20min on one previously).
I guess it's probably easier to focus on things like having the lightest car or the stickiest rubber, than to improve the organic bit behind the wheel.

[nightSpirit]

I log every track day I do using GPS and telemetry so I know how well (or not) I'm doing. The Merc due to its immense grunt can set decent times I've found.

The 'Ring taught me early on that the car means jack without the driver lol.

I've been there and done that shaving weight off looms and bolts and adding downforce etc. Great fun but very time consuming, before I would rock up and spend half a day messing about with settings whereas now I just swap my wheels over to the track rubber, dial the Bilstein up to 'hard' and drive all day!