SL55 vs. 360 spyder

Ever since i got my F2003-GA i have wanted to do 1 thing ... race a mercedes. well i finally got my chance. I finally picked up my car from the body shop (just added new aero stuff . will post pics soon) and i pulled up next to this silver MP4-17. the guy driving looked like a young dot comer, and he had a real good looking girl standing next to him. of course we know whay the silver mclaren mercedes means ... hes lacking something in his pants. anyway we get up to the light and i tell him i always wanted to race a mercedes. Being an ignorant guy he laughs and said "you think your ferrari could keep up with my mercedes?" anyway he revs up his car with a big smile on his face and when the light turned green we both punched it. usually when i punc my car, the wheels skid out, the slip control turns on and it starts up again. i guess since i put on band new tires on my car, it just took off. i ended up killing the mercedes by one full car length . lets just say he didnt have a smile on his face when he caught up at the next red light. its just a shame i didnt get a chance to talk to the girl he was with.

 

I think i'm gonna go out buy a Subaru WRX STI, dump $10k-$15k in the motor and go out looking for an SL55. See how he likes a $50k investment runnin circles around his $160k AMG.

 

Yeah...I mean, that's what I thought. Sounds a bit too good to be true.

 

Holy mackerel! Someone here actually knows what it is!

It sure wont win many beauty contests, but with the Lotus cylinder head (Dodge made about 1400 of these cars with this head), it can easily make some pretty respectable power levels. I havent dynoed the car in its current state, but in past runs its made over 400 wheel hp and 460 wheel ft lb which is enough for a fun ride.

In any case, ya gotta like sleepers, even grandma-mobiles

 

I tried to have some fun with my grandma Ford Mondeo 1.8 ...didnt happen.

 

540s (old) have 282hp and 320ish ft-lbs; new ones have 322hp and 345ish ft-lb

 

Mako, the Zonda is nowhwere near 200K. Its around 500K. If your looking at the price i quoted, it is for a used Zonda C12, which is the earliest version which uses a 400hp Benz motor. The C12S is around 500K, but looks exactly the same.

 

Of course I know what it is! It's one of the greatest sleepers of all time. My little sister currently drives a Spirit, and my grandparents used to have one. Neither of those are R/T's, mind you. I've had a thing for fast sedans for a long time (hence my C36). You should keep that car, it'll be a classic before you know it!

You weren't trying hard enough. Ever had an '89 Chrysler New Yorker in four wheel drift? A little opposite lock? If you've got the passion, anything with wheels will do!

 

Yes...I too like quick sedans. A car that looks fast....welll...should be fast! A car that doesnt look fast and is...now thats something cool in my book

The C36 is a nice ride. In fact, I was checking those out on the net the other day. (My wife has a 2002 C320 wagon.) Well be looking to replace it when it comes off lease, so Ive started to keep my eyes peeled early.

As far as the R/T becoming a classic.....I sure hope so! (My father and I both own one.) Since only about 1400 were made, it should be worth something someday. Or maybe not! But, itll be fun to have in the meantime.

Heres a properly boosted R/T versus a Dynojet

 

I don't think you guys are getting the point....I have both Ferrari's and the SL55....read on...

 

I don't know what R/T car you're talking about but sounds very interesting maybe you can provide some more info. My current daily drivers are both MBZ a 95 C36 and a 92 500E, both considered to be sleepers and hopefully someday classics, more likely the 500E. I enjoy them both very much but am seriously considering giving them up for a 03-04 E55. Question is would it be smarter to get a car that will definately satisfy my appetite for performance but will also deprediate dramatically or would keeping both my MB's which will likely keep their value and still be fun daily drivers?

 

If you really want to pick nits the 360 to SL55 comparo is not fair from the standpoint of SL55 is a modified "factory-tuner" version of the SL500, so in fairness a Stradale version would be the proper Ferrari for this example. The performance gap would widen considerably if you put "tuner" version agenst "tuner" version, advantage Ferrari!

All jokes aside, The SL wether in AMG, plain old 500 or SL600 guise, is a wonderful car for its intended purpose. It is very plush, loaded with great ammenities and can run hard against just about anything. The prices ($95,000 to $150,000+) are very fair given the performance numbers and quality of the vehicle. In summary I'm a fan of the MBZ, but beleive there is much more to automobiles than performance specs and lap times.

-007

 

I thought someone else had a C36 on this chat...
Mine's a '96 and I love it! For more info on the Dodge Spirit R/T:
http://www.allpar.com/model/spiritrt.html

Obviously, 4sfeds is modified.

 

The best bang for the buck in the MB line is probably the E55 at $78,000.

 

i just want a ferrari that nobody's gonna mess with. that people are gonna say, man that's cars fast. in other words, i want an enzo.........but i can't afford it.

 

Those things pretty quick? Sometimes, I think I like the look of the last generation C class over the current class we now have.

Yes....a few things done to it...but all bolt on and hardly any $$$. By hardly any $$$ I mean far less than just a Tubi exhaust for a Ferrari.
The internals are very very stout on these cars. In fact, my long block is completely stock. I rebuilt it over the winter with new internals, but they were all also stock replacements. No need to mess with that stuff when its all forged from the factory.

 

C36's will run 0-60 in about 6.1-6.3 seconds, mid 14's in the quarter. It's strong off the line, but vicious from highway speeds on up. The car will do 120mph+ with no effort, and you can practically take your hands off the wheel (not literally!).

 

LOL! You bring out the Stradale to race an autobox Benz and justify that in your head! Hahaha

 

Also, the plot I posted before was a friend's R/T (which is nearly identical to mine). But, his dyno run was a full rpm run, whereas mine wasnt when I had a weak headgasket.......

 

Just walk away from a stoplight drag. You don't have to prove yourself, because YOU are the one in the Ferrari. You won before the drag race ever started. Think about it.

David




Precisely my view.

 

1) I think rodsky got it - and I would agree that the SL55 and 360 are targeted to different audiences. The SL is definitely more GT than sportscar-oriented. It's for cruising and the occasional throttle-stomp. The 360 is for zipping around, tight corners and revving the engine to a scream just because you can. And attention. Although I still find black on red leather SL's quite attractive...

2) Fly355 - I don't think you'd need $10k, maybe just $4-5k on an STi to pump up the acceleration bigtime (ECU reflash, bigger turbo and injectors, intercooler and you'd get straight-line at least). Young guys definitely talk more about Evo's, STi's, RSX's and 350Z's than a 996TT or SL55. But young males are also those cars' targets too, and a many college grads can swing one with their first *real* job.

3) We are experiencing what I will dub the Ubiquitous Car Guy Performance BS Effect:

Type A: when you have a car with relative straight-line strength (ie. Viper, Camaro, Base Vette, muscle cars, MB's, some say Lambos), then you talk 1/4mi, 0-60 and top speed. Or Horsepower. Or even less performance-indicative, displacement. Symptoms include arcane references to 10-15 second time measurements.

Type B: when you have a car with less HP/torque and better handling, (ie. Porsche, Ferrari V-8's, Evo's, Lotus, etc) then all the sudden the Great Judgement of Car Value is made by 'handling,' lighter weight, braking distance. This is easily distinguished by the line, "Oh yeah... well let's just see what happens when you throw in some twisties!" "Twisties" is the ultimate UCGPBSE code word for Type B's.

The law of the Car Guy Discussion Board Jungle is thus:

If you can't convince them your car is good with Type A arguments, use Type B, and vice-versa.

 

Ryan, classic! Ha!

 

Anyone on this thread who tried to defend either side of this argument is full of it.

All cars out there have a market, otherwise they wouldn't exist. Every buyer has some very specific reason for their purchase, whatever it is. People who buy Ferraris usually have very different reasons than people who buy Mercedes, ergo every purchase makes sense at some level to the buyer.

I love cars! I have lots of them, irrational as it may seem. On any given day I will choose one of the many that I have to drive in. There's no "better than" or "faster than" or "prettier than" at work here. Some days my Mercedes SUV is simply the best choice, other days I just love the sensations afforded by the 360, driving at neighborhood street speeds.. And on those days when I feel a little pissed off at the world and I want to just simply beat someone at a stoplight without any question I take one of the AMG's. But the best feeling I have is when I'm in one of my old cars (Dino, E-type) and people smile and wave when they see these works of art still operating in today's homogenized auto world.

 

alexpapas: if people accepted what you say, 90% of the postings on at least GenFerrariDisc would vanish. (Sometimes, i even get in the mood to drive a big Citroen convertible. Go figure)...

 

The industry standard has become 500 HP

You've either got it or you don't

Viper, MB, Gallardo, Ford GT all looking at 500hp as the new benchmark


360, 911, next NSX all need to commit to the new trend with their basic model.

How many years will Ferrari try to drag it out with 27HP little bumps to the 360's HP before they get to 500?