CLK55 AMG power lag

[MiG]

Recently bought a late W208 model, 60,000 kilometres so barely used. Just had the brake discs replaced at service and otherwise nothing picked up (thankfully as it cost a bundle to service!).

Just wondered if the lag on acceleration is normal. There is about a second's lag between kick-down and acceleration, which is disconcerting when making tight overtakes. Once it does come, it does so in spades.

Was considering a K&N and maybe an engine flush. Any thoughts? Or is this a standard characteristic of the V8 lump?

 

[dickchailey]

My kickdown lags. I knock it down to 3 with the shift and boot it. Watch out - easy to get it out of line in the wet! Kickdown when it does come in can easly scare the pants off when the back of the car moves sideways. Much safer to drop down the gears and stay in control.
There was a post about fitting a manual push button kickdown switch but can't recall if it was a success.

 

[andy_k]

the trick is not to boot it on wet roads - feed the power in gently and you'll stay in a straight line (for the most part) and accelerate just as quickly

 

[Uberwagon]

You need to load up the gearbox before going for full throttle. When you overtake you need to take the final look while still being behind the car in front, you don't need to accelerate away from behind the car to then go beside it.

S ease away out into the other lane while gently accelerating and then press till the kickdown switch.

Does the 55 also have the sport and economy button? Mine lags in Economy but not in sport.

Dave!

 

[MiG]

Just leave mine permanently in sport mode... I think the overall result is that there is a lag and we all have different approaches to work with it!! Thanks for the tips ;-) Sometimes I do miss a manual gearbox... Just a shame that 80% of the time we sit in traffic!!!

 

[miro]

Recently bought a late W208 model, 60,000 kilometres so barely used. Just had the brake discs replaced at service and otherwise nothing picked up (thankfully as it cost a bundle to service!).

Just wondered if the lag on acceleration is normal. There is about a second's lag between kick-down and acceleration, which is disconcerting when making tight overtakes. Once it does come, it does so in spades.

Was considering a K&N and maybe an engine flush. Any thoughts? Or is this a standard characteristic of the V8 lump?

I doubt the lag is a second. IT just seems that way.

I have a multistage approach to power transfer. I put the first segment in at 1500rpm then 4000 rpm and then if needed, somewhat more.

Bear in mind what your peak torque figures are. They are nowhere near redline except for the AMG63 engine. The AMG6.3 V8 peaks near the top end.

If you hover at the RPM which delivers the most torque and lift your foot the car will drop a gear. Most automatic gearboxes can be operated by the amount of pressure on the accelerator. This includes the ability to drop the unit into neutral.

 

[sweeper]

Recently bought a late W208 model, 60,000 kilometres so barely used. Just had the brake discs replaced at service and otherwise nothing picked up (thankfully as it cost a bundle to service!).

Just wondered if the lag on acceleration is normal. There is about a second's lag between kick-down and acceleration, which is disconcerting when making tight overtakes. Once it does come, it does so in spades.

Was considering a K&N and maybe an engine flush. Any thoughts? Or is this a standard characteristic of the V8 lump?

Just check that the kickdown switch is working, on my C230k (tipshift) i find a slight delay if using full throttle (but not kickdown) in this case there seems a slight delay in shifting down, if however you floor it and actually operate the switch it changes down very much quicker (if you get the jist of what i mean)

 

[MiG]

need to find a nice stretch of open road at the weekend and give the theories a go... The choked up run to and from work hasn't given me the chance this week. Thanks for the tips.

 

[Adam230K]

You can get rid of that lag with a 'Sprint booster' if you are prepared to have a very sensitive throttle.

 

[Londonscottish]

Just leave mine permanently in sport mode... I think the overall result is that there is a lag and we all have different approaches to work with it!! Thanks for the tips ;-) Sometimes I do miss a manual gearbox... Just a shame that 80% of the time we sit in traffic!!!

Just use the shifter as and when. If I've got a tricky overtake to pull off I'll often drop mine into 4th or 3rd (or even 2nd if following something extremely slow). Voila - instant acceleration.

There's no law against manually overiding the auto box