porschetobenz

So if one had the P30 package on a 2005-07 but replaced the springs and the rims, besides the interior, have you basically paid for the $6,000 option just for better brakes?
and if you do replace the rims and the springs I guess $6,000 is a bit much. The P30 suspension on my 2006 in sports mode is pretty stiff.....

Hmmmm, what to do when the SLK 63 comes out. By the time it does, the P30 will probably be $7,000.

DansSlk

Posts: 6,752

Country:

Thanks: 96

Thanked 221 Times in 173 Posts

Not 100% sure i understand your post mate but if i read it right then yes you will have paid $6k for the interior and brakes

__________________

porschetobenz

Yes Dan, you understood it. and now I understand why you wouldn't get the P30 on a pre 2008. The ride is very stiff. Everyone who has driven in my car has said so too. I don't feel bad that I have it as it has everything else, is the color I wanted and the price was right. It is a beautiful car...so I will consider what most here have done. Get brabus springs, lighter rims and better tires. I love the car but after driving two 911's for the past 7 years there is a drop off in responsiveness and driving in and out of curves i.e. hugging the curve. I just got the car so maybe I need more time to get the feel....I'm trying to figure out what it will take to get me close to the Porsches drive. Would 19" lighter rims, better tires and exhaust mods. do it? Or is it the inate responsiveness of a manual transmission that affects the handling that just can't be matched by an automatic?

DansSlk

Posts: 6,752

Country:

Thanks: 96

Thanked 221 Times in 173 Posts

Unfortunately its never going to compare to the Porsche.

Lighter rims along with better tires and suspension will improve the situation but the 911's engine location and phenomenal chassis thats had so much tweaking over the years sets it well above the competition including the 55.

The gearbox probably has some effect but the 55's is setup to replicate a manual as much as possible when in its auto modes (no shifting on corners for example) try driving in manual for a while you will probably prefer it that way.

__________________

porschetobenz

thanks Dan...I've tried manual mode a few times. it is very tricky trying to catch the revolutions at just the right time to shift. It hasn't been a synchronous, smooth shift in my hand, yet. I lose speed and it involves a lot of concentration..In the porsche, I was always used to winding up the tach. to 6500+ rpms before shifting. the porsche engine loved the higher shift points. but when i try that high on the 55, it seems like it isn't the way to go and it whines at that high an rpm. the gears shift in sports and comfort mode at around 3500-3900 rpm. so maybe i should shft there. but even still, i can't get that smooth, uninterrupted acceleration. In downshifting, i'm sort of in the same boat. I get concerned when i hear the engine whine at a higher rpm at the lower gear. in the porsche I knew it was fine. In the 55 I'm worried I may hurt the engine. So now I'm driving in the sports mode. oh well. i'll keep trying.

What's the use of the comfort mode? Gentler shock absorption? Starting in second gear and less "violent" gear shifts?.

I always worry that if I'm in any mode using the gear 1-6 that if I'm hauling butt in 6th and I accidently hit the gear shifter, can it go to gear 1 and blow the engine?

Thanks for reading.

DansSlk

Posts: 6,752

Country:

Thanks: 96

Thanked 221 Times in 173 Posts

It just takes practice to sync up with the good shift points, the more you use M mode the better you will get at shifting trust me.

The 55 is considerably different engine wise to the P car and being a big V8 it is going to want you to shift lower but the computer itself will run the engine to the redline before shifting in certain modes, you really don't need to worry about shifting anywhere in the range so long as you shift before the redline its not doing any harm.

Comfort mode changes the ECU's fuel mapping slightly and modifies the shift points for the transmission, the SLK does not have active suspension so its rates cannot be modified.

Its impossible to over-rev or stall the car via user error in any of the modes the computer always steps in, if you go to make a shift that would cause the car to over-rev it will be rejected, if you make a shift that would risk a stall it will be rejected or if you don't change down quick enough as you slow the car it will do it automatically.

The computer ignores your throttle commands at the redline so you cannot max the engine and do damage.

__________________

porschetobenz

Thank you Dan. That was great....It's good to know there is a limiter. Even the porsche had a self limiter that stepped in once you hit the red line. I haven't been able to get anywhere close to the red line in either C or S modes. The gear always shifts at around 3500-4000. Maybe 4500 max. Now maybe that is because I didn't seriously punch it and hold it. I don't know. I'm going to try to redline it in S mode and see if it gets there...but next time I'm free to spend some time in M mode, i'm gonna let it get way up there before I shift. Am I correct in thinking that once you get the hang of manual, the car will accelerate faster than either C or S mode?...With my porsche the car went like this: 0-40 in first gear. 40-70 in second gear. 70-100 in third gear all when nearly redlined. I have to see how close the SLK gets to that. Seems like another gear will be neccessary in that 0-100 mix. Anyhow, it's all great fun. Thank you so much for your feedback.

DansSlk

Posts: 6,752

Country:

Thanks: 96

Thanked 221 Times in 173 Posts

Warm the car up for a while in M mode being quite lively with the throttle then pop the car into S slow to 10MPH switch off ESP and pin the throttle to the floor and hold it there until you reach the desired speed you will get redline shifts as often as the computer deems necessary right up into 7th if you hold it for long enough.

S accelerates faster than M because in M you have the delay caused by the operating system not giving the messages from the steering wheel controller to the shift controller high priority, but the messages from the shift controller to the gearbox controller do get high priority.

Try a few runs for yourself and you will see what i mean

__________________

porschetobenz

OK I will....would you suggest leaving ESP off continuously or just for this experiment?

Do you prefer manual or sports mode yourself when you drive?

"S accelerates faster than M because in M you have the delay caused by the operating system not giving the messages from the steering wheel controller to the shift controller high priority, but the messages from the shift controller to the gearbox controller do get high priority."
>>sorry, you lost me there...are you referring to the steering wheel shifters vs. the gearbox shifter? ie not to use the steering wheel shifter buttons?

Thanks.

DansSlk

Posts: 6,752

Country:

Thanks: 96

Thanked 221 Times in 173 Posts

Just for the experiment.

I drive in M for normal cruise and S when i want to hammer it.

The same applies for the shift lever the software does not prioritize the messages leading to delay.

__________________

alroumi

Posts: 6,271

Country:

Thanks: 288

Thanked 231 Times in 145 Posts

Like wise dan, in M-mode I downshift earlier so I dont have to press on the brakes that much to stop say at a traffic light.

__________________
06 Kleemann Designo Mocha Black SLK55 AMG
06 Porsche Cayenne S
07 Jaguar XKR Coupe'

I use the Torque and keep the HP for my Steak Sauce!

Cruzer 8

Posts: 572

Country:

Thanks: 31

Thanked 57 Times in 27 Posts

Just thought I'd jump in here all this pretains to the SLK 350 not the SL mine had no M mode and I very seldom used c mode SNOW, ICE,LOOSE GRAVEL all other times it was in the s mode, in s it would run almost to the limiter then up shift and if I tried to shift it by hand I had to shift at 4500 to 5000 that seem to negate the lag signal time so I only use the gearshifter for down shifting or if I wanted to hold the rpm for cornering this worked pretty good for me but you have to keep your eyes and ears in tune because if you hit the redline shift point the car will shift up and that extra burst will upset your set up for the next turn and require use of brakes ( and scare the ELL out of yourself ) So far I have put over 25k miles using the 7G and have not hurt it or the engines they seem to be a good match and pretty bullet prove.

__________________
GENE ---- See My Pic's
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

SL 550 Mars Red

Baron7700

Posts: 1,599

Country:

Thanks: 3

Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts

That is exactly how I drive mine. Since in normal driving upshiftin is the lag you have to do it early, and unless im flying that would almost mean just constantly hitting the lever right. I down donwshift manually tho, or like you said, will hold out a gear if needed.

So i guess I half manually shift my semi manual.

Does that make it to me a 1/4 manual?

porschetobenz

1/4 manual..funny...so Baron, if I understand correctly, you are in S mode continually but downshift with the gear shifter?

Baron7700

Posts: 1,599

Country:

Thanks: 3

Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts

mostly. I do alot up upshifting to, but not as much as downshifting. For upshifting, my car is used to me and does it by itself pretty much where i would anyway.

THe 7g is funny, you have to train it, and it has to train you, but once you figure out how to make it do what u want, i dont feel i have any gigantic disadvantages from a 6pd manual, except a clutch, and the true enthus feel.

porschetobenz

THe 7g is funny, you have to train it, and it has to train you, but once you figure out how to make it do what u want, i dont feel i have any gigantic disadvantages from a 6pd manual, except a clutch, and the true enthus feel.

I am finding that out. yeah, i still miss the 911 6 speed but I am having more and more fun with this car...i am finding though that the SLK doesn't take a sharp turn without feeling like the car is pulling away from the curve or the body can't cut as sharply without the end wanting to fly out. In other words, doesn't hug the road as much as the porsche. but maybe it's just me not steering it as well as I could.

DansSlk

Posts: 6,752

Country:

Thanks: 96

Thanked 221 Times in 173 Posts

That will be the engine not being over the driving wheels

__________________

Cruzer 8

Posts: 572

Country:

Thanks: 31

Thanked 57 Times in 27 Posts

This thread is moving around but is interesting ---- on cornering --- most car built for average road use have understeer built in because the average driver will slow down and turn the wheel into the corner to make the car come around ---- this is called a tight car in the racing circle on the other hand a loose car turns in quickly and this causes the rear end to slid out the trick is to balance the car so that it is not to tight or to loose and to fit the drivers way of driving.
We can't set up our daily drivers for all conditions as they change so we learn to drive with the understeer as this is much safer under normal conditions than oversteer.
We have to learn our cars handling quality's and then use them to our advantage --- SLK or SL the horse power and torque curve's ( rpm v speed ) and the weight distribution both of these cars will hold their own when competing with other cars in their class.
No one likes to think that a small (1500 cc ) can beat them on some course's IE autoX
but they can. But put them on a road course with some straights and ours will win, normally .
End of ramble ---- just find a good lonely stretch of road with some twisties with wide shoulders or a road course and have fun and learn what that amazing machine you have can do.

__________________
GENE ---- See My Pic's
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

SL 550 Mars Red

editor58

Posts: 82

Country:

Thanks: 0

Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post

[quote=Baron7700;51546]Just curious cuz i know its an extra option, but how many of you 55 amg's out there have the 030 package, im thinking about a 55 next year, and was wondering just how rare it really is.[quote]

I'm told it is rare. I love it. VERY tight. Excellent road handling and amazing braking.
Worth the $7K? Who the hell knows?!
At $81K total... who the hell cares at this point.

-editor

alroumi

Posts: 6,271

Country:

Thanks: 288

Thanked 231 Times in 145 Posts

[quote=editor58;55937][quote=Baron7700;51546]Just curious cuz i know its an extra option, but how many of you 55 amg's out there have the 030 package, im thinking about a 55 next year, and was wondering just how rare it really is.,Enjoy it in good health!

I wanted the 030 because of the stiffer springs and thicker steerign wheel, it was on my order sheet when I supplied it to the dealership but there was a conflict with the Designo wood so I removed the Performance package.

__________________
06 Kleemann Designo Mocha Black SLK55 AMG
06 Porsche Cayenne S
07 Jaguar XKR Coupe'

I use the Torque and keep the HP for my Steak Sauce!