SLK55AMG beating in the wet!

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Chilly

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Its been a while since I've driven the s3 hard so i figured that a good old italian tune up was required!

So this morning whilst on the way home i was cut up by a 63plate SLK55AMG coming off the M4......... Girly car if you ask me the guy looked like a total Richard head....... aka **** to his mates.

Anyways Richard just so happened to be heading my direction so thought it was time for a bit of fun. Holy ...... i forgot how capable the S3 is in adverse conditions, not only was he slipping and sliding all over the place the "beast" never put a foot wrong. It was just so sure footed and planted. Needless to say Richard was getting more and more frustrated but just couldn't pull away not even on the straights. Gave him a quick flash of the lights to let him know he'd been had just as i turned off.

Now i know before anyone complains HE STARTED IT! just had to clear that up but forgot how much i love these motors!

Everything was kept all legal and above board Mr Policeman officer
 
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Ha ha that's how we party.
I bet dicks version of events are different when he's telling his chums
 
I traded in my SLK350 for my A3 3.2 Quattro. The Merc was fast in the dry but evil in the wet, very tail happy and that was only 272 BHP. On a country road I believe that the S3 would still be a match for an SLK55 due to the handling.
 
Sounds cool, I had a 2006 SLK AMG 55 on my rear bumper on some backroads in the dry when I had my 07 R32 and had to engage what Gilles Villeneuve used to call the Gap Theory to get away from him!

I was expecting to be slaughtered but it is amazing how even haldex 4WD which essentially FWD with great traction can inspire a lot of confidence and embarrass powerful rwd cars!
 
If the guy had bottle and really knew how to drive that car I doubt you would of kept with it unless your at least stage 2 plus, even then he would still pull away after 100 mph, maybe a little earlier.
 
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Alex_007 said:
If the guy had bottle and really knew how to drive that car I doubt you would of kept with it unless your at least stage 2 plus, even then he would still pull away after 100 mph, maybe a little earlier.
Click to expand...

That's the difference between the audi and the merc though.
The audi is far more sure footed in those conditions due to 4wd so able to drive quicker that the merc while remaining safe.

If the merc driver had more 'bottle' he would probably put other motorists and passengers at unnecessary risk on a public road so he couldn't really safely push it too much whereas, by the sounds of it, there was no issue for the audi.
Power is only relevant if you have the traction to put it to the ground.

Win for awd cars.
 
kanecullen89 said:
That's the difference between the audi and the merc though.
The audi is far more sure footed in those conditions due to 4wd so able to drive quicker that the merc while remaining safe.

If the merc driver had more 'bottle' he would probably put other motorists and passengers at unnecessary risk on a public road so he couldn't really safely push it too much whereas, by the sounds of it, there was no issue for the audi.
Power is only relevant if you have the traction to put it to the ground.

Win for awd cars.
Click to expand...

If you know how to drive a RWD car properly then your only putting others at risk as much as someone in an AWD , if you know how to go sideways in a RWD and control it then no difference,

I'm not just talking about on bends either , on the straights the AMG 55 would pull away all day long from a standard s3. Stage 2 plus S3 would keep up till around 100mph then the merc will be off.

Lots of people out there with fast cars and don't really know how to drive them properly.

I've seen hardly modified diesels doing quick cars on a track purely because they don't know how to drive when it comes to really giving it some .

All I'm saying is a 55 merc and a proper driver it would be a different story.
 
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Alex_007 said:
If you know how to drive a RWD car properly then your only putting others at risk as much as someone in an AWD , if you know how to go sideways in a RWD and control it then no difference,

I'm not just talking about on bends either , on the straights the AMG 55 would pull away all day long from a standard s3. Stage 2 plus S3 would keep up till around 100mph then the merc will be off.

Lots of people out there with fast cars and don't really know how to drive them properly.

I've seen hardly modified diesels doing quick cars on a track purely because they don't know how to drive when it comes to really giving it some .

All I'm saying is a 55 merc and a proper driver it would be a different story.
Click to expand...

Incorrect i am afraid Alex the fact that you would be (and he was!) going sideways means you are breaking the limits of adhesion on your driven tyres. Put bluntly great driver or not he had 400bhp pushing through 2contact patches equating to 200+Bhp per driven wheel.

The S3 on the other hand has 265bhp across 4 contact patches equating to 66bhp per contact patch meaning that you are far less likely to break the limits of adhesion even whilst on "the edge" .

As a brief conclusion due to the limits of adhesion it wouldn't make a difference if Richard had 400 or 4000bhp he would still struggle to apply the relevant power required to keep up. theory is a touch crude but its basic physics.

TBH I'm surprised he didn't hedge it!

On a straight road on a dry day then yes he probably would have pulled away but today, the day when it counted on a wet windy day across 10+miles of damp twisty tarmac he couldn't and I'm afraid thats what counts!

Thats the difference between real world drivability combined with point to point speed and the Pink and fluffy magazine world of statistics.

Oh and ive owned a near perfect weight distributed 53/47% split with awesome handling 350z and my S3 absolutely battered it in all conditions even though it was more powerful.
 
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chilly said:
Incorrect i am afraid Alex the fact that you would be (and he was!) going sideways means you are breaking the limits of adhesion on your driven tyres. Put bluntly great driver or not he had 400bhp pushing through 2contact patches equating to 200+Bhp per driven wheel.

The S3 on the other hand has 265bhp across 4 contact patches equating to 66bhp per contact patch meaning that you are far less likely to break the limits of adhesion even whilst on "the edge" .

As a brief conclusion due to the limits of adhesion it wouldn't make a difference if Richard had 400 or 4000bhp he would still struggle to apply the relevant power required to keep up. theory is a touch crude but its basic physics.

TBH I'm surprised he didn't hedge it!

On a straight road on a dry day then yes he probably would have pulled away but today, the day when it counted on a wet windy day across 10+miles of damp twisty tarmac he couldn't and I'm afraid thats what counts!

Thats the difference between real world drivability combined with point to point speed and the Pink and fluffy magazine world of statistics.

Oh and ive owned a near perfect weight distributed 53/47% split with awesome handling 350z and my S3 absolutely battered it in all conditions even though it was more powerful.
Click to expand...


Good point and from memory a 2005/2006 SLK55 AMG has 360BHp and from all the trips that I remember my ex boss driving his one he just seemed to get loads of wheelspin and spend all his time complaining he couldn't fully disengage the traction control!

Awful IMHO, he paid €136k for it new!! It's worth €20k now and he had €100k balloon on it.....
 
Haha love it that's what I tell my mates when they try wind me up we have the power all year round not just on that sunny dry day in the middle of summer :p
 
This -->

at 1'00"






PS: Banter. Please don't hate :)
 
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Ha ha love these threads,Quattro FTW lol
I am yet to read one where the author loses :beerchug:
 
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Alex_007 said:
If you know how to drive a RWD car properly then your only putting others at risk as much as someone in an AWD , if you know how to go sideways in a RWD and control it then no difference,

I'm not just talking about on bends either , on the straights the AMG 55 would pull away all day long from a standard s3. Stage 2 plus S3 would keep up till around 100mph then the merc will be off.

Lots of people out there with fast cars and don't really know how to drive them properly.

I've seen hardly modified diesels doing quick cars on a track purely because they don't know how to drive when it comes to really giving it some .

All I'm saying is a 55 merc and a proper driver it would be a different story.
Click to expand...

naturally this comment explains why the FIA WRC championship is dominated by 4WD drive cars... I think it goes without saying that if a driver entered the WRC with some modicum of driving talent then they would easily win it in a rear wheel drive version of the cars

bearing in mind the OP was commenting on a drive across the wet and twisties I think its fair enough to praise 4WD in this case
 
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Whilst it's admirable I don't think it's that big a boast to beat that car in the wet; if you couldn't beat it an SLK 55 AMG the wet with a Quattro / Haldex car then you probably shouldn't have a driving licence ;-) [/joking!]
 
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chilly said:
Incorrect i am afraid Alex the fact that you would be (and he was!) going sideways means you are breaking the limits of adhesion on your driven tyres. Put bluntly great driver or not he had 400bhp pushing through 2contact patches equating to 200+Bhp per driven wheel.

The S3 on the other hand has 265bhp across 4 contact patches equating to 66bhp per contact patch meaning that you are far less likely to break the limits of adhesion even whilst on "the edge" .

As a brief conclusion due to the limits of adhesion it wouldn't make a difference if Richard had 400 or 4000bhp he would still struggle to apply the relevant power required to keep up. theory is a touch crude but its basic physics.

TBH I'm surprised he didn't hedge it!

On a straight road on a dry day then yes he probably would have pulled away but today, the day when it counted on a wet windy day across 10+miles of damp twisty tarmac he couldn't and I'm afraid thats what counts!

Thats the difference between real world drivability combined with point to point speed and the Pink and fluffy magazine world of statistics.

Oh and ive owned a near perfect weight distributed 53/47% split with awesome handling 350z and my S3 absolutely battered it in all conditions even though it was more powerful.
Click to expand...

?

I'm saying that the risk factor is the same as an AWD car if you really know how to drive a tail happy RWD .

The 55 would leave a 350z.

Also stated that the 55 couldn't pull away on the straights which just shows the driver of the merc wasn't really giving it,

If it was the rs3 or rs4 then the merc wouldn't have a chance assuming both drivers were capable .

Not just talking about bends .

I'm not knocking the S3's , I think they are a lovely motor to look at , wouldn't mind a sportback one myself.
 
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voorhees said:
Ha ha love these threads,Quattro FTW lol
I am yet to read one where the author loses :beerchug:
Click to expand...

internet superstars....

must be the morning for it... got a nugget on the Z4 forum, just picked up his 3.0 RWD and already out 'wasting' R8s, 911s etc...
 
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I have no other input to the thread other than this:

All the talk of whether or not you're in proper control of a RWD car when it's sideways is kind of irrelevant, as sideways is not the fastest method through a twisty B-Road...
 
batch said:
I have no other input to the thread other than this:

All the talk of whether or not you're in proper control of a RWD car when it's sideways is kind of irrelevant, as sideways is not the fastest method through a twisty B-Road...
Click to expand...

I don't think anyone said that RWD is or isn't the fastest method through a twisty B road unless I've missed something then I apologise.

Was talking about RWD being as safe as an AWD if you know how to drive it properly.
 
RWD bmw m3 m5's Are not that bad at all in the wet.

Mercs have always been a lot more tail happy but tend to make up for it on the straights .
 
Alex_007 said:
If you know how to drive a RWD car properly then your only putting others at risk as much as someone in an AWD , if you know how to go sideways in a RWD and control it then no difference,
Click to expand...

Sideways was mentioned, all I was saying was that this approach won't get you cross-country fastest, not on Tarmac at least. If the S3 has kept on his tail (dubious action in this weather anyway) then the AMG driver is clearly not very confident in his ability anyway...
 
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Alex_007 said:
RWD bmw m3 m5's Are not that bad at all in the wet.

Mercs have always been a lot more tail happy but tend to make up for it on the straights .
Click to expand...


When I got my E46 M3 having had two S3s I thought there was something wrong with it when I first started driving it the way it kept breaking traction, it wasn't until I put two brand new Pirelli Rossos on the back that I had any confidence in it but they only laster 8000 miles.........
 
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Wow! some people get FAR too serious over this!

Alex_007 i think you're missing the point ........ never mind son!

Its not a case of which was faster a 350z or a Merc 55amg, or a case of if you had all the talent in the world in a RWD you would beat joe average in an Awd (also suggest you look into how the A3 Quattro system actually works!) , or a case that BMW's are better in the wet than Mercs. The point was there and then the guy couldnt pull away! nothing more nothing less.

Seriously Alex if you have nothing better to do than argue the above points out over a forum on a bright sunny sunday morning you cant call yourself a petrol head........ when did you last get up for a 5am crisp morning blast...... erm probably never dude! you could debate this all day or alternatively Get the M5 out son and go for a spin(excuse the pun:))

This is all just a bit of fun who gives one if he could pull away, the point was we had fun!

I thought it was the perfect was to finish 12hour nights and start my days off thats all so thought i would share with the forum.
 
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chilly said:
Wow! some people get FAR too serious over this!

Alex_007 i think you're missing the point ........ never mind son!

Its not a case of which was faster a 350z or a Merc 55amg, or a case of if you had all the talent in the world in a RWD you would beat joe average in an Awd (also suggest you look into how the A3 Quattro system actually works!) , or a case that BMW's are better in the wet than Mercs. The point was there and then the guy couldnt pull away! nothing more nothing less.

Seriously Alex if you have nothing better to do than argue the above points out over a forum on a bright sunny sunday morning you cant call yourself a petrol head........ when did you last get up for a 5am crisp morning blast...... erm probably never dude! you could debate this all day or alternatively Get the M5 out son and go for a spin(excuse the pun:))

This is all just a bit of fun who gives one if he could pull away, the point was we had fun!

I thought it was the perfect was to finish 12hour nights and start my days off thats all so thought i would share with the forum.
Click to expand...

What are you on about? I'm not arguing with anyone , it's a debate, wake up will ya .

And no I aint gonna get up at 5 am and go for a blast, I'd rather stay in bed, I like cars but not that much. I go out on weekends and don't usually get in till that time let alone get up at the time just to go for a 'blast ' as you call it.

And if I wanted to properly give it some then id go to a track and prob go through a set of pads and tyres at the same time .
 
paultaylor said:
When I got my E46 M3 having had two S3s I thought there was something wrong with it when I first started driving it the way it kept breaking traction, it wasn't until I put two brand new Pirelli Rossos on the back that I had any confidence in it but they only laster 8000 miles.........
Click to expand...

Yeh it's about the tyres, they're fun to drive though.

My pal has the e30 bmw m3 currently having a e46 m3 turbo lump planted inside it, that should be fun .

I personally would of kept it original but each to there own.
 
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