Gained a few feet on an SL500!!!!!!!!

[Bryce M.]

So my friend was driving his dad's 2004 SL500 (w/ paddle shifter) and I was in my somewhat modified manual tranny 328is (list of mods should be at the bottom). We started from a 40mph rolling start and went to 110-115mph. It ended with me looking out my passenger window at the SL's front tire. My question, should this have happened???:confused I thought the SL's were pretty fast.
Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

[phantom3]

probably bad driving , maybe he had it in wrong driving mode
sl500 has 300 hp and probably about the same in torque , but weighs a little bit more than you ., nice run

[FirstClass]

Yeah the 2004's are the old model, but your friend sucks at driving, he should have still beat you I think. A new SL550 would have been a different story entirely. 382hp and craploads of torque:)

[Thats M Life]

driver error or poorly maintained car due for a serious oil change, he has 110 hp on you and 133 tq..thats a pretty big difference even though you weigh less (doesnt matter as much from a roll). not sure how much an intake/chip/exhaust give your car though

[evo connevo]

He's probably new to the paddles and shifted too early. That or his car is dying. Good race ntl

[hockey21]

i got to drive a sl55 amg at work and the thing MOVES, and girls love them- i pulled on a ctsv with it, and those are really fast

[EaglEye]

but weighs a little bit more than you

If by "a little bit" you mean 1000lbs, I'd agree :devillook
The "light"(compared to the bigger-engined models) 500's weigh slightly less than a 7-series, and a decent bit more than a 5-series.

[gti1689]

doesnt matter. the sl's weight is not as much of an issue from a roll.

[L3000C]

yeah the SL500 is not realy that fast of a car. However the sl55 AMG...........thats a different story...... not to mention Mercs are realy getting bad with there quality, its a shame.

[FrankW]

why is it everytime it involves a MBZ someone with no car or really old car likes to throw in "oh Mercs are realy getting bad with there quality" ? What are you FIVE? learn to spell btw.

and SL500 is slow. SL550 is quick, SL55 is fast, and SL65 can move the Earth.

[BavariaMotorist]

From 40mph, I'm surprised. My dad has an sl500 and it is really fast once you get rolling. From 0, it isn't THAT fast (0-60 in 6 seconds approximately)

I think in most automatic cars, the sport mode is better than any manual shifting, so if he was using the paddle shifting, that's probably what made the difference. They tend to give delayed shifts. It's like that in all new 3 series models even. Use sport mode for best performance.

[speedfreak81]

:bs There is no way you beat an SL500, either you're lying out your ass or the guy behind the wheel of that merc knew absolutely NOTHING about driving. I don't care what anyone says about; weight this, weight that my car is lighter blah blah blah....Buddy of mine has an SL500 and that car would eat a 328 for lunch and shit it out the tailpipes.

[Garrett M]

Sl500s dont come in manual

[dcroghan]

did you notice that his car only weighs 2850lbs?

[BavariaMotorist]

Well, whatever the case...good work I guess. lol

[Fred00]

The SL500 weighs about 4100lbs and has 306 crank hp. That gives us 0.075 hp/lb. In order for the thread starter to have the same performance he would have to have 0.075*2850 = 212.7 crank hp (I'm using the exact number 0.07463...). Someone with more Bimmer knowledge than me can probably tell us if that is possible with his mods.

doesnt matter. the sl's weight is not as much of an issue from a roll.
Yes, it is. Ever heard of power-to-weight ration? The acceleration is determined by the twisting force on the wheels divided by the weight: a = F/m. If the weight is doubled, the acceleration will we reduced by a factor 2. Of course we also have to count in the wind resistance for both cars, but weight is still a big issue, even from a roll.

[sharp218]

Fred00! Into physics my good friend?
F=MA is an excellent formula. Good post!