E55-S934
OVER 700PS ON S3S, WEIGHING 4200lbs/THE DAILY DRIVER!?
Its been a while since my last presentation so I figured this time around I better hit hard to show I haven't lost it. With endless benchmarks being made by our products it almost a standard now. I present to you the E55-s934.
This was one of my personal daily driven vehicles, the 5.5 liter belt driven supercharged V8 which kept me in the right state of mind rather I was picking up groceries or having a night out at town. Its important that we live and breathe automotive performance on the daily basis, which may explain our high standards. This car is an ideal platform because while being manufactured by the famous automotive marque, every nut and bolt is applied with performance and effieciency in mind. At only
2700rpm the car is at a peak power point and keeps it to the ground holding composure and giving the driver a comfortable ride.
The factory power is fine.., but, if you take a look in our employee designated parking area it doesn't quite fit in with the crowd of Zondas, Ferraris, Porsches, S7s etc. With that said, I figured it was a good time for an upgrade. I wanted to keep all my factory necessities, like navigation, audio, spare, TV screens, etc
. Taking out the bowling ball and golf clubs would prove to be beneficial though lol. So basically what we focused on was suspension dynamics and power output. Most of the cars that we considered the opposition were atleast
700lbs lighter, so adding 3-400ps to our maximum output was nearly required. But of course we didn't want to rely on power to reach our goal.
We replaced the air suspension and variable damping with a complete race compliant suspension kit. We had to figure out how to maintane the comfortable street oriented ride. The removal of the the Airmatic system, its brain and its sensors, there was no more auto-adapting stabilizers, adaptive damping, payload sensing, road condition sensing, etc. Our favorite course, Nurburgring could possibly simulate the bumps that may be ran across on a city street, or a country road. This was our ideal test track anyways, thus we put almost 200 miles on the car just from testing there.
But with the bound occurance of the long straights of the Ring. We had another dillema. The high capacity gearbox with five forward gears and Speedshift Programming with its high-speed gear transitions wasn't quite good enough. We solved the problem by auto setting to thirteen then replacing the fifth cog with one that was 0.934, which allowed us to travel at a recorded speed of
321km or 200mph+. Put the 5 gear in the title of the car because it was the finishing touch, and would be one of the most appealing features. But this is not the only benchmark. The car sits on S3s, making it 100% streetable and they stick to the ground as if they were R3s.
THE CHALLENGE
(Track Meet)
The Smart breaks were also bypassed with the installation of race compliant disc, calipers and SS braided lines. We need to out break and corner just as well as the supercars that are 700lbs lighter. This is where the challenge was born. There were some doubts around the office. The Zonda driver wasn't convinced and neither was the S7's. Being an S7 owner myself I could understand the skeptical aura my associates had hovering around them. As we began to circle around the car displayed in the showroom, majority noticed a change of physique. It was low and wide and had the stance of a British bull-dog. The loaded interior is what I believe threw many off but the S3s did even more, which aren't very different from the
ZR-rated 245/40 fronts and
265/35s in back that the E55 is equipped with in its bone stocky/factory state.
While the crowd of employees and guest surrounding the car, interested, but skeptical I announced my challenge.
"I'll race whoevers up for a battle on the Ring, to convince you all.., This car will make history at MKT"
We gathered two drivers that day that were willing to take the trip to Germany. One piloting a Saleen S7, the other a Pagani Zonda C12S 7.3. Later on we gathered up with 2 friends that joined us, one driving a Viper Competition Coupe, and the other driving a Vintage '67 shelby Cobra, which I believe was going to be a challenge to keep up with in the corners. When we arrived, we met another mate that was interested in the drive also, he was accompanied by a CTR2.
The agreement was that I would wait at Tiergarten until the last car passed, and wait a minimum of 10secs to launch and began the battle. First the Copetition Coupe, about 5secs later the Cobra came around, another 5secs the CTR2, then the S7 and last but not least the C12S. I waited my ten seconds and the hunt began.
The Wolf waiting to hunt the rabbits at Tiergarten
A light tap of the brakes is recomended at the crest before Flugplatz depending on your position on the road. Here I believe I was moving at about 130mph/209km.
Here is where I started to think, 'Man.., I think started to late.'From the cockpit of my E55 s934 I see nothing but a lonely open road.
Notice the arrows pointing far off in the distance at the opposition. Before schwedenkreuz I clocked about 185-190mph.
My thoughts immediately changed after Aremberg, as the fat rear end of the C12S comes into sight.
I assumed the S7 couldn't be too far ahead of the Zonda and I must have made it through the turn faster than both of them.
I had the nose of the E55 practically on the back of the C12S throughout the entire north because it was to narrow to pass,
but once we made it to Breidshceid, I out breaked him. Fighting to save his postion he moved back into the inside abruptly and kept me in the rear.
A sight you dont see everyday. This is a furious battle probably one of the best I've ever had out of my 20k miles experience on the Ring.
The thing I know that they dont is as soon as the road straightens.., this tandum of 3 is over. Note thats not understeer, its me being aggressive lol.
I executed my Lewis Hamilton move sweeping pass both targets, while the S7 fights back and gets uber close on the outside.
Fast-forward to Karussell where I began to put heavy pressure on the CTR2. I can see the Viper and im motivated to push even harder.
The E55 being in your rearview can cause you to lose your composure
. Maybe if his CTR2 was equipped with Sukerkins setup, this driver could've held on
a bit longer lol.
Three down and two to go. Here I overtake the Shelby on the first attempt easily moving to the inside and overtaking.
The car has done exactly what I intended.., be able to overtake on the straights and the corners.
The job is not done yet. As the viper swiftly moves through Shwalbenschwanz, the driver is now aware of my presence and progress.
But Im confident that once I arrive at Dottinger Hohe theres absolutlety nothing he can do to keep his position. I'll shift a 7250rpms
instead of the red 6000 and continue to accelerate even while going up hill all the way to 201mph.
And thats exactly what happen. I reached 200mph darting straight pass the Competition Coupe as if it were standing still.
Mission accomplished with a 7'28.xxx, six seconds slower than the E55 s934's record time of 7'22.112.
SPECS
V8SOHC 5438cc
721PS / 6100rpm
730.45ft.lb / 2650-4000rpm
Weight - 1910kg / 4200lbs
Test Miles - 178 on Nurburgring
PARTS
Semi Exhaust
R-Brakes
Brake controller
N/A Stage 3
Port Polish
Engine Balancing
R-Chip
FC Trans
3Plate Clutch
R-Flywheel
FC LSD
Carbon Driveshaft
R-Suspension
S3 Tires / JAO223 Wheels
SETTINGS
Suspension:
Rate: 4.4 / 6.5
Height: 101 / 104
Bound: 4 / 6
Rebound: 5 / 6
Camber: 2.8 / 2.1
Toe: -1 / 0
Stabilizers: 4 / 5
Transmition
Auto to: 13
Adjust 5th to: 0.934
- 3.922
- 2.496
- 1.749
- 1.276
- 0.934
Final: 2.650
Limited Slip Diffrential
Initial: 10
Accel: 20
Decel: 18
Brake Bias
Front: 6 Rear: 8
DRIVERS LOG
! First I would like to notify all that there are possible problematic areas on this course. Flugplatz, and Fuchsrohre are blind hills with crest. Because of the weight of the E55 I recomend using a light break tap before the crest on Flugplatz or speed of 130-140mph, and braking before you get to the steep up hill area before arriving at the crest of Fuchsrohre. Before Fuchsrohre the car is going up hill and is more than likely going to be unleveled from left to right and front to back because of the bumps on this inclined strip. Braking at the last moment is not ideal for this turn, which causes you to leave the ground and kinks to the left.
! For the more seasoned drivers that have a style where drifiting may be applied, you should love the way this car revs. You will have peak power at 2700rpms and 6000rpms is where the red starts. But I shift at
7250rpm to get that extra drive, which has proven to benefit me during developement where I competed with my own ghost. With all that mentioned, second gear is where you will find some of your drifting roots. The rear wheels will break traction only if you exceed pass
6000rpm. If you shift at 6000rpm no wheelspin should occur. So basically you have extra wheelspin availabe to slide the rear end out whenever you need it. Amazingly 1rst is the only gear that has wheel spin but you'll never use this gear as I didn't. Third rides out fine and smooth, but shifting to short, out of second may lead in a chirp here or there.
Victory dance at Tiergarten, celebrating one of my greatest laps around the Ring!
.
) but, given that the default values are equal to no Wing, why is it that just fitting a Wing reduces your A-Spec points? Or is that a false memory on my part?
.
) on this car but PD says "No!". I imposed a limitation on myself of not using Racing Brakes and Balancer as it would be too tempting to jack up the rear bias to get the car to turn.
!
