Halloween special: C43 AMG vs Nissan 200sx (Stage 1)

[Adam230K]

Another one of my mindless racing threads!

On our way back into London, we merged into the motorway and to my delight we spotted a beautiful C43 AMG, which prompted me to nudge my mate: "this will give you a run for your money", and by God it did!

There was a (weirdly placed) traffic light beside a motorway entrance merger, and when we stopped at it he was revving his throaty V8 so we knew we were in for some fun.

Off the line, he had the advantage, the 200sx has horrible starting traction and the lack of forgiveness in the uprated clutch's biting point making standing starts quite bad, but once they both got going, it was obvious to all of us that the C43 is a massively underrated beast. We had 3 people in our car, he had 1 in his, and it held its ground even better than an e46 M3 that i've witnessed the 200sx have for dinner in the past and i've even driven this same car on a runway at 160mph+ where its held its ground against Maserati's and low-end Porsches!

The one attempt that managed to prove the 200sx was (very marginally) faster was after the speed camera lines under a bridge, they both slowed down for them, and then immediately after started pulling and the C43 was holding its ground unbelievably well, we pulled on him very very slowly but letting off as soon as we got level with him because both cars had reached filthy speeds. There was almost no difference at all between the performance of both cars, i'm so impressed with the performance of the AMg even til now when i think about it.

I'm still trembling because it was such a rush!! Brilliantly fun on very empty stretches of straight road, a good Halloween night for me :bannana:. (Wish it was my 540i, but oh well)

 

[whitenemesis]

Excellent run.

Always remember a car is never faster than the driver......

 

[Barbanasos]

How does your 540i compare with the 200sx?

 

[Adam230K]

It was similar, very similar, he cant pass me at legal speeds at all, we have to reach obscenely high speeds for a difference to show between us, and even then its not crystal clear. But we've only done 2 runs and we couldn't really tell the difference.

The one thing that i noticed that my car and the C43 had in common was the instant power on tap. When i did the runs with the 200sx we horned 3 times and went at the same time, so it was more controlled. Also when we did this i would always initially pull away (maybe half a car length) because his car only performs when its in boost, but we stay level after that initial 'jump' i get, and i've never really tried top speed runs to see if he would pass me or not, we always let off because we're on UK roads.

 

[Barbanasos]

Only out of curiocity as I don't think your car would take the C43. It would be close though, as the 540 has 286bhp against the 302 of the C43 and 6.2 to 5.9 0-60 respectively and it is a bigger car.

How much horsepower it the 200 sx 260 - 280?

 

[Adam230K]

I think the C43 would be marginally faster than mine too, so it was quite good seeing that as i now know how my car measures up. Maybe i can chip it to close the difference?

The 200sx at stage 1 is usually pushing 250-270bhp. Stage 2 will see 300-330bhp and stage 3 (new turbo) would get you to a comfortable 350+ depending on how hard you want to push the turbo, but thats probably going to half the life of a stock engine.

Edit: 200sx only weighs bloody 1240kg!!

 

[GrahamC230K]

So the stage 1 200sx can eat a E46 M3 and your 540i is on par with the 200sx, ergo your 540 would also be quicker than a E46 M3? Sounds like hocus pocus to me.

 

[Adam230K]

So the stage 1 200sx can eat a E46 M3 and your 540i is on par with the 200sx, ergo your 540 would also be quicker than a E46 M3? Sounds like hocus pocus to me.

Yeah probably is hocus pocus. I know this isn't an e46, but watch this from 2:30 and see what the 540 does to the m3 (both stock).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dn8-1-e9N0U

The 200sx did have 3 people in it when he did runs with me (and the c43), so it is technically faster (which i've said already) than both the v8's and i've seen it deal with the e46 m3 more than once.

E46 m3's aparently have a higher rate of power loss / mileage ratio than most performance cars, since its a very stressed out engine. Thats what the owner's excuse was anyway!

 

[Howard]

How does a car that weighs more and has less power beat the M3 ?

M3 in that shape is 320 bhp is it not ? and you are saying that a stock 540 at 280bhp beats it like that ? Hard to believe.

I wouldn't race one of those M3's in mine .

Don't think a 540 would take a C43 either , it's a much lighter car and has more power again.

I know you like to think that every car you have is the fastest on the planet , but i worry about you Adam.

Sooner or later you are going to become a statistic , and that would be a shame , even more of a shame would be if you took someone else with you .... Winter is coming , big engined rear wheel drive cars and winter don't mix.

Please take it easy.

 

[jonnyboy]

Sooner or later you are going to become a statistic , and that would be a shame , even more of a shame would be if you took someone else with you .... Winter is coming , big engined rear wheel drive cars and winter don't mix.

Please take it easy.

Well said

 

[Adam230K]

How does a car that weighs more and has less power beat the M3 ?

M3 in that shape is 320 bhp is it not ? and you are saying that a stock 540 at 280bhp beats it like that ? Hard to believe.

I wouldn't race one of those M3's in mine .

Don't think a 540 would take a C43 either , it's a much lighter car and has more power again.

I know you like to think that every car you have is the fastest on the planet , but i worry about you Adam.

Sooner or later you are going to become a statistic , and that would be a shame , even more of a shame would be if you took someone else with you .... Winter is coming , big engined rear wheel drive cars and winter don't mix.

Please take it easy.

I appreciate your concern, but just because i like to do write-ups like this sometimes it doesn't mean i race every single guy (in this case it was my friend racing another person), its just when it happens i like to share it (bit childish i know, but hey i'm not old yet).

I dont think my car is the fastest on the planet, and i certainly didnt say it was faster than an m3 or a c43, if you read up you will see that i said exactly the opposite.

This 200sx is also faster than my car, but i was trying to drive the point home about it taking a long time to over-take me.

 

[Howard]

i certainly didnt say it was faster than an m3 or a c43, if you read up you will see that i said exactly the opposite.

Sorry , i must have misunderstood this bit ...

I know this isn't an e46, but watch this from 2:30 and see what the 540 does to the m3 (both stock).

I thought you were saying that a stock 540 ( like your car ) is seeing off an M3 ..... particularly from 2.30 onwards ?

Ergo , your ( stock ) 540 is quicker than an M3 ? No ?

You do what you want out there fella , i'm just trying to give a little bit of advice.

 

[Adam230K]

Sorry , i must have misunderstood this bit ...



I thought you were saying that a stock 540 ( like your car ) is seeing off an M3 ..... particularly from 2.30 onwards ?

Ergo , your ( stock ) 540 is quicker than an M3 ? No ?

You do what you want out there fella , i'm just trying to give a little bit of advice.

exactly. like my car. not my car. I did not say anywhere in this thread that my car is faster than an m3. i'm just showing the clip to open up the minds that work like this:

"You have 286bhp. you do 0-60 in 6.2 secs. therefore the x is faster than you, and you are faster than y." So the point i'm trying to make from the clip is: Real life sometimes presents things you dont see in figures. Thats ALL i was saying .

Also that shape M3 only had 276bhp (320bhp for the 'evo' models). The e46 M3 has around 338bhp but is heavier.

I understand what you mean, and appreciate what you are saying. But i'd rather you didnt try to deduce things from what i could be meaning to say, and actually take what i'm really trying to say (if that makes any sense).

 

[Howard]

exactly. like my car. not my car.

Splitting hairs again mate ..

It's a 540 , you've just bought a 540 , there's no mods on the YouTube one , no mods on yours either ....

Same car , both stock , everyone can see what you mean ....

Winter is coming , better practice your powerslide recovery , sounds like you're going to need it

 

[Gridlock]

People always underestimate the C43 - I've seen some very surprised looking 350Z, M3, Focus RS etc drivers.

In my rear view mirror :bannana:

If you lock it in 3rd or 4th it's a torque-monster on dual carriageways and motorways, and if you get it right it'll sprint off the lights like my Golf. Wish I had managed to get to the dyno day I missed recently.

The official 0-60 time is a joke, as soon as I get my Stack-like thingy working I'll see what one with 140K on the clock does..

The temptation to run it with C180 badges (for a week or so..) is very, very strong

 

[Adam230K]

Splitting hairs again mate ..

It's a 540 , you've just bought a 540 , there's no mods on the YouTube one , no mods on yours either ....

Same car , both stock , everyone can see what you mean ....

Winter is coming , better practice your powerslide recovery , sounds like you're going to need it

Ok ok... i'll let you have the last word .

People always underestimate the C43 - I've seen some very surprised looking 350Z, M3, Focus RS etc drivers.

In my rear view mirror :bannana:

If you lock it in 3rd or 4th it's a torque-monster on dual carriageways and motorways, and if you get it right it'll sprint off the lights like my Golf. Wish I had managed to get to the dyno day I missed recently.

The official 0-60 time is a joke, as soon as I get my Stack-like thingy working I'll see what one with 140K on the clock does..

The temptation to run it with C180 badges (for a week or so..) is very, very strong

Yes, i thought exactly the same thing myself. I thought my friend's 200sx would eat the C43, but the C43 stood its ground alot better then M3's that i've seen this same 200sx eat in the past.

 

[Howard]

Not the last word Adam , but splitting hairs like that is what we used to do in the playground, not the real world.

Glad you like your new car. Have you done a detailed picture thread of it yet ?

 

[GRAV888]

Another one of my mindless racing threads!

On our way back into London, we merged into the motorway and to my delight we spotted a beautiful C43 AMG, which prompted me to nudge my mate: "this will give you a run for your money", and by God it did!

There was a (weirdly placed) traffic light beside a motorway entrance merger, and when we stopped at it he was revving his throaty V8 so we knew we were in for some fun.

Off the line, he had the advantage, the 200sx has horrible starting traction and the lack of forgiveness in the uprated clutch's biting point making standing starts quite bad, but once they both got going, it was obvious to all of us that the C43 is a massively underrated beast. We had 3 people in our car, he had 1 in his, and it held its ground even better than an e46 M3 that i've witnessed the 200sx have for dinner in the past and i've even driven this same car on a runway at 160mph+ where its held its ground against Maserati's and low-end Porsches!

The one attempt that managed to prove the 200sx was (very marginally) faster was after the speed camera lines under a bridge, they both slowed down for them, and then immediately after started pulling and the C43 was holding its ground unbelievably well, we pulled on him very very slowly but letting off as soon as we got level with him because both cars had reached filthy speeds. There was almost no difference at all between the performance of both cars, i'm so impressed with the performance of the AMg even til now when i think about it.

I'm still trembling because it was such a rush!! Brilliantly fun on very empty stretches of straight road, a good Halloween night for me :bannana:. (Wish it was my 540i, but oh well)

It's a pity that there were no police around to nick the pair of the drivers. Total lunacy if you ask me. Idiots like this need to be banned from the roads to protect innocent people.
And for you to post this on a public forum
Maybe you don't care, but others do.

(My views and reply are my own views and do not necesarily represent the views of any of the other MBClubUK staff)

 

[timk]

People always underestimate the C43 - I've seen some very surprised looking 350Z, M3, Focus RS etc drivers.

In my rear view mirror :bannana:

If you lock it in 3rd or 4th it's a torque-monster on dual carriageways and motorways, and if you get it right it'll sprint off the lights like my Golf. Wish I had managed to get to the dyno day I missed recently.

The official 0-60 time is a joke, as soon as I get my Stack-like thingy working I'll see what one with 140K on the clock does..

The temptation to run it with C180 badges (for a week or so..) is very, very strong

Can you lock the g/box in 3rd or 4th - and use it like a tiptronic? I read in the manual (yes, the long winter evenings just fly by...) that you should only use it manually when labouring up steep hills in hot weather

I once manually selected 2nd and shifted into 3rd with a bit of a clunk; never used it like that again...

 

[Peter DLM]

Having had the pleasure of keeping an E46 M3 for 6 months a few years ago, one that had 60k miles on, I can guarantee that 540i or mildly kevved up 200sx would have trouble even seeing which way it went, let alone challenge it in any way shape or form.