Cayman Replacement has been chosen! (rhymes with OMG)

[WolfpackS2k]

Haven't been doing much with the car other than some interior deep cleaning and reading the owners manual (and COMAND manual) lol. I'm STILL waiting on the title to be delivered to me from the seller's credit union - which is just ridiculous at this point. So I haven't been able to even get a temp tag yet.

Don't plan on really doing anything further (performance modification wise) to the car. Only plans are to get new brakes and tires, and a new tint (seriously this tint is horrible). Also waiting for a local shop to host another dyno day (they do a few a year) to see what she's got.

Modest goal is to have the car ready for VIR in the fall.

[nextcar]

Funny... I had an E55 AMG that I sold to buy my FRS!

As others stated, and incredibly obvious: the car is heavy and a monster in terms of acceleration... cornering and braking will be quite different for you. Tires will not last...

"ESP" is your friend... it is really easy to get into danger with that much horse power if you turn the nannies off.

Enjoy the car (you will!!!) but prepare yourself for the maintenance.

In the end I sold it because of the maintenance cost. These cars are cheap to buy used but expensive to maintain. They have the HIGHEST depreciation of any mass produced car! Over 90% are leased, and the people who like them/lease them always want and can afford the new model. Once they come off warranty, the maintenance costs scare off many buyers, and the number produced prevents them from being treated as rare.

Hopefully you will be able to do the maintenance yourself... I wore out my brakes under warranty (there was speculation that I had tracked the car ) and I was told that had it not been covered it would have been over $2500. Ouch!

[CSG Mike]

I'm a big fan of Merc V8's

[WolfpackS2k]

Originally Posted by nextcar

Funny... I had an E55 AMG that I sold to buy my FRS!

As others stated, and incredibly obvious: the car is heavy and a monster in terms of acceleration... cornering and braking will be quite different for you. Tires will not last...

"ESP" is your friend... it is really easy to get into danger with that much horse power if you turn the nannies off.

Enjoy the car (you will!!!) but prepare yourself for the maintenance.

In the end I sold it because of the maintenance cost. These cars are cheap to buy used but expensive to maintain. They have the HIGHEST depreciation of any mass produced car! Over 90% are leased, and the people who like them/lease them always want and can afford the new model. Once they come off warranty, the maintenance costs scare off many buyers, and the number produced prevents them from being treated as rare.

Hopefully you will be able to do the maintenance yourself... I wore out my brakes under warranty (there was speculation that I had tracked the car ) and I was told that had it not been covered it would have been over $2500. Ouch!

Maintenance costs and concerns are not much different than the Porsche. And yes I do most of my own maintenance on all my cars!

AMGs in general do depreciate a fair bit, but not the C63s. Compared on model year & mileage they're more expensive to buy than any other model except for E63 wagons (which are quite rare). Given that C63s were the least expensive AMGs from almost any given year, that means they have the least amount of depreciation. And their values have been going up of late, so I'm glad I got on board when I did.

[bfrank1972]

Originally Posted by WolfpackS2k

Maintenance costs and concerns are not much different than the Porsche. And yes I do most of my own maintenance on all my cars!

AMGs in general do depreciate a fair bit, but not the C63s. Compared on model year & mileage they're more expensive to buy than any other model except for E63 wagons (which are quite rare). Given that C63s were the least expensive AMGs from almost any given year, that means they have the least amount of depreciation. And their values have been going up of late, so I'm glad I got on board when I did.

Think he might have been more referencing consumables rather than maintenance. Hard to conceive that a 4000+ lb Merc is going to have same consumable costs as a 3000 lb Cayman. But you know that already - you only live once, and it's only money

[WolfpackS2k]

License plate finally arrived:

[MuseChaser]

I've owned three Mercedes. I currently own my last Mercedes. 'Nuff said. My pockets and patience just aren't that deep anymore. I have enjoyed them, for the most part.

[Jordanwolf]

Originally Posted by WolfpackS2k

License plate finally arrived:

Is good name; strong like bull, mighty like Thor.

[Hades]

Sad to hear what happened to your car - it really seemed like you enjoyed it. The engines on those porsches just don't seem up to track driving, I've heard a lot of QC issues (not just the IMS bearing issue everybody always throws around). Good choice on a replacement though - two more specialized cars is always better than one anyway IMO!

[WolfpackS2k]

Took AMG to the track for the first time 2 weekends ago. VIR with the PCA Carolinas region. 4 20 minute sessions Saturday, 3 30 minute sessions Sunday. Tires were Hankook RS4s, brakes Zimmerman cross drilled & slotted rotors (nobody sells blanks for this car) and CarboTech XP12/10 pads (f/r). Was a bit chilly at VIR that weekend! 23°F Saturday morning, and still only 37°F at 1:30 when I went out for the third time. A little warmer on Sunday thankfully. First time out with this car and with super cold tires, you better believe I eased into things

Car did really really well. There are many places where I know I'm leaving time on the table but am okay with that because a) one of those turns is where I balled up my BRZ and b) the margin for area in some of the places is very small and I don't want to damage this car. Beyond that, I'm not a pro so I know there's probably a lot of time left that I'm not even aware of.

In a nutshell the car is fast, REAL FAST. I was able to go around 12 seconds a lap faster than in my Cayman. Car felt super stable in the climbing esses: on my best laps I entered them at over 130 and left around 110. Lap after lap, the car reached close to 150 on front straight and over 160 on the back straight.

People online seemed to be concerned about engine oil temps getting too high (tracking in the fall was by design to help prevent this) but I never saw higher than 266°F. Likewise the transmission never overheated (another possible issue for 2012+ C63s) though it did appear to jettison some fluid out of the vent hole. Brakes, however...oh boy. I had thought there was some sort of venting for the fronts (I mean it's an AMG) but there are not. As such, hauling 4000 lb down from 150-160 lap after lap did some damage. Measured back in paddock my rotor temps were 800°+ and I started boiling brake fluid while on track both days (fluid was fresh before event). Sunday morning I did another full brake fluid flush with Motul 660, but it still boiled.

Post event consumables condition:

• Tires look great, many events left in them
• The front rotors are shot. Cracks everywhere
• Front brake pads are down to 6mm, rears 9mm. Should be good for another event.
• rubber caliper piston dust shields are pretty rough. 3 per side all cracked. Planning to rebuild them all before next event.

Here's a video of my fastest lap (please disregard the overlay data as it's 1-2 seconds out of sync and most values are off entirely).

I was the only AMG out there and got many compliments from other drivers about the sound of the engine, and for tracking a big sedan like that in general.

[nikitopo]

Not sure if it really matters and as you said you were leaving time on the table, but the S209 was much faster up to this point (1:10 vs. 1:17). Maybe weight difference (400 lbs.) counts after all?

[EAGLE5]

I tracked my far less powerful but still tons of fun E60 550i. There's a lot to be said for a big V8 sedan at the track. There's a lot to be said for getting all brake service covered too, as I ate through two sets of rotors quite quickly.

[WolfpackS2k]

Originally Posted by nikitopo

Not sure if it really matters and as you said you were leaving time on the table, but the S209 was much faster up to this point (1:10 vs. 1:17). Maybe weight difference (400 lbs.) counts after all?

There are many factors at play here.
1) based on the times Car and Driver gets with cars at Lightning Lap, they are MUCH better drivers than me (I've driven Grand Course, so have compared times)
2) if I recall C/D's testing procedure they only go "out" for 3 laps at a time. I set my fastest on the 7th lap of a 30 min session
3) different days different weather
4) Oh yes, weight for sure.
5) My tires already had around 2000 miles on them, so some heat cycling. Also the Subaru can take 265 width tires in the front. With my stock wheels I'm limited to 245s (sucks).
6) My car isn't brand new. It's 10 years old and has 82,000 miles.
7) I am always conservative in T10 because that's where I totaled my BRZ 9 years ago

Again I know I'm straight up less talented, but there are other factors at play as well LOL. Keep in mind this wasn't a TT environment. Many other cars on track with controlled passing.

If I recall correctly, you live in Greece? Drive VIR if you ever happen to be visiting the US southeast. Such a great track!

Originally Posted by EAGLE5

I tracked my far less powerful but still tons of fun E60 550i. There's a lot to be said for a big V8 sedan at the track. There's a lot to be said for getting all brake service covered too, as I ate through two sets of rotors quite quickly.

If you get your rotors from FCP Euro, they're covered with lifetime warranty! (Yes, even for track use!!!). Just have to eat the shipping cost.

[serialk11r]

Holy crap man, 266F on a day that cold sounds like a very high oil temp to me.