I did not do a baseline before the mods. The dyno was an awd dynojet 248/224; I'm not sure how the correction rate was factored. The number seemed high to me, but I don't really have anything to compare it to. The shop had also dynoed an XKR with the 4.2L S/C with similar mods and said it put down almost the same #s.

The best way I've found to launch is off idle with no power brake. I think it pulls timing if I do power brake. I just air down the back tires (particularly the left side) to about 24 lbs. and hammer the gas.

 

Finally got to run an E55 AMG:


He was coming, but ran out of room. Score another one for the STR!

 

Great Run!!!! Very nicely done! keep em coming. I enjoy your videos. Looks like the AMG was catching up somewhat. Was his modded as well? Also, looks like you got him on the launch. Do you think you could still take him if he had a better start?

 

and he was coming on strong !!

Just a quick but serious question: do you ever worry when you are giving your car a bootful, that you might damage something? After all, this is full-on, no mucking about racing and these cars were not designed for that.

I suppose what I'm asking is, are they strong enough to take this much thrashing?


Looks like tremendous fun, every time I look at your vids I have a hankering to go for a drive in mine !!!

Cheers
Dave

 

Wow! The E55 is a mid 12 second car?? What was his time. I can't believe you beat him!!

Good run.
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W00t! You need some of these:

 

Great race & great launch! Glad you got him in the 1/4 mile.

I've seen but never raced any Mercedes AMG E55s at the track. There were two of them at Maryland International Raceway several years ago (along with a BMW V10 M5). All three guys were buddies having a good ole' time. All of the vehicles were modded and had ECU tunes running trap speeds between 119 (worst) to 125+ mph. Both E55's had aftermarket exhaust systems that sounded INCREDIBLE!

Because of my new job, I have not been able to get to the track since this Spring but I ran a very early AM short "light-to-light" race against a AMG C55 last month. The race was from a stop to ~50 mph. To be honest, it was not even a race. He took me from start and walked away with authority. He was a pretty cool guy. I gave him a thumbs up and he rolled his window down. He mentioned his car was tuned by Kleeman and that his best 1/4 mile run is 12.4. I asked him if he had anything besides a tune ....he just smiled ....then he paused ....and then said yes, but nothing too major. His exhaust sounded like deep muted thunder and twas beautiful

 

Awesome video as always! Keep it up

 

Sorry for not quoting out each post:

Details on the run: I don't have the time slip around, but it was not a good run for either of us. We were both pretty heat soaked and the DA was about 9000 (yes, that's a nine with 3 zeros). I crossed the line less than .1 before the E55, but he did out-trap me by ~3 mph IIRC, and I believe he even had a better ET; so I basically beat him on R/T which was still less than a half-second difference based on memory (my R/Ts are usually around .1). The E55 was bone stock. Later that night, the E55 ran a 13.48 as his best time, and my best is a 13.61 (again, hooray 7-9000 ft. DA). I think he also trapped 104, and my best trap is 102. There is no doubt in my mind that a stock E55 is still a faster car than a pulley/exhaust/intake STR, but on this run I was victorious regardless. When both on our game and getting clean runs with minimal heat soak, it would at least be a close loss for the STR (within 3 or 4 tenths).

I'm really not worried about beating on the car that much. I do preventive maintenance (tranny fluid change, diff fluid change will be soon, keep up on oil changes and coolant exchanges and make sure the suspension, tires, etc. are in proper condition for harder driving). The car short-shifts 1st and 2nd gears and runs incredibly rich at WOT, so the engine and transmission protect themselves pretty well. It has a redline for a reason: to keep itself in a safe operating range .

C55s are nice, but they shouldn't be that fast without a lot of mods. They don't have the supercharged 5.4, just the NA version. He must've been packing quite a bit more than he appeared. Kleemann is actually based in Colorado Springs (about 70 miles south of me), and the E55 owner mentioned he would be paying them a visit in the near future.

I wish I could keep a tally of my kills, but half of them seem to be Camaros . At least when the bracket racing portion starts, all the Mustangs, Camaros, Challengers, etc. are stuck in the 14.00 and slower class so I don't have to run them when the competition begins.

On a sad note, one of the track officials informed me that I would no longer be able to take video with my GoPro aimed at the side. He said I can only point it straight ahead or straight back, so I may not have any more good footage to share . I guess there have been complaints about videos getting on youtube without owner's consent or showing license plates or what-have-you; even though the audience is able to shoot and post video and show the same thing . I still may try to sneak in some bumper cam views, but I don't want to get on their bad side.

 

good stuff quartz, glad to hear how the STR measures up,

Sounds like a twin-screw upgrade is necessary for some of us wanting to go from ok-quick STR, to genuinely-fast STR...


those E55's are monsters though; easily modded to nearly 600hp at the crank with just bolt-on's and a tune...

 

Yep, I would need a twin screw to keep the same result against one with headers, a pulley and tune.

On a side note, I have found somebody local willing to dyno tune Jaguars. He quoted another member $1300 to dyno tune his XFR 5.0 with $400 re-tunes; I am hoping to contact him later this week about the STR and what he can do. I believe he said he had the software to do it, but no experience with them so that price may be a little steep for me.

 

Thanks for continuing to take the vids! There is a definite lack of videos of "R" Jags of all models on youtube, so I really appreciate the quality video and the info you provide.

 

Nice E55 kill! I like to think of my STR as a less expensive alternative to the E55, I'm glad to know I can hold my own in a small street light race with a stock one. Great stuff!

 

Well I would be careful because the E55 is a much quicker car and my 2005 STR has not be able to keep up with one on the street!

At least don't bet against one!
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It wouldn't be an embarrassment, that's for sure (as long as the E55 is stock).

Typically, yes, but anything can happen; whether they sit at the light, spin a lot, are super heat soaked, etc.

 

Hey quartz saw every video on your youtube channel like 10 times!! loved it. I have the same exhaust setup installed today. It is crazy awesome. I love it. They jacked up my pulley though, hopefully they can fix it so i can go FAST LIKE YOURS!!

 

Made to the 3rd round of bracket racing tonight before losing by .03 to a cammed G8 with NOS; so I got 5 more total runs in. No video, as the track officials don't like the camera pointed to the side. Best run was a 13.79 @100.64 with a 2.03 60' with a DA of about 8200 feet. Calculates out to a high 12 with a trap around 107 at sea level. Still have a couple more trips out this year, gonna try to see if I can sneak in a few more videos if I run interesting vehicles.

 

Hey guys. I haven't been on here in a while and was surfing the thread when I was thinking the same thing. You have at least an extra 40lb ft of torque versus my car that I used to have. My car would have never pulled on those guys like yours does. That's awesome that it's all coming together great!

 

If I had known my numbers were going to be more on the extreme compared to others, I would've done a baseline first; but there's no going back now .

My biggest issue right now is heat soak preventing me from running consistent times. I've been using ice packs on the coolers between runs, but I think I may have to take it to another level to bring the times down and consistency up. The deeper in the bracket race you go, the less time you have between runs. Luckily the drag strip is on the east side of a mountain, so the sun goes down and it gets cooler quicker than if it were on the plains. I have 3 more trips planned in September, and the times could get a lot quicker if it stays cool and dry out. I may try going to a bigger IC pump and separating the supercharger cooling from the rest of the cooling system this coming winter. I like the chiller killer idea, but I'm not as keen about hacking up my A/C.

 

Two things I am playing with right now meth/water injection both in the intake stream and on the heat exchanger. I have a separate washer fluid pump in my coolant reservoir that uses misters to spray fluid on the heat exchanger. You wouldn't be able to do it on the track, but right after a pass would be good.