Vlad
MB Enthusiast
Well today was the day....collection of my AMG Hammer after 18 months of it being away, having a very slow engine re-build.....something I was happy to go along with, as it kept the bill down...slightly 
Anyway, what a beast.....I knew that it would have a nice V8 rumble but never expected to hear what I heard when I started the car for the first time...OMG is all I can say....it sounds like a highly tuned small block Chevy V8. A real Nascar bellow, which turns into a snarl as you acclerate....definitley does not sound like a normal Merc V8.
The guys who rebuilt it are Ferrari specialists and they have a workshop full of exotica...Daytona, 275, Lusso, F40, 348's etc and I have to say that at idle the Hammer beat them...mental sound!
Drove 200 miles back down from Manchester to Reading with no mishaps and had some fun on the way...one guy in his new BMW 535 must be wondering whats wrong with his new Car
Observations so far are as follows:
100mph equates to just a sniff off 3000rpm...very long gearing...the economy amazed me I got 150miles out of a half tank...my old 280 used to be around that mark. Ok I was driving on a light throttle at a steady 80 or so, however, there were bursts of acceleration from time to time.
At kickdown it takes off like a scalded cat....before anybody says "shouldn't you be running it in. I was very careful on the drive home, but as the guys who rebuilt said, don't be afraid to give it some beans and I never got above 4000 which had I been in top gear would have been @ 120mph
Nice meaty steering and the AMG steering wheel is just right in terms of size and thickness.
Suspension....I was expecting it to be very hard...very surprised, that although its stiffer it still is very compliant.
Bearing in mind that its been 9 years since the car was last on the road, it does surprise me that all of the electrics work and nothing, as yet, has given up the ghost in terms of electric windows, sunroof etc
Never got hot in traffic around Birmingham on the M6 and idles happily even when hot
And to cap it all there is not a squeak or rattle from the car, apart from a vibration at very low revs where one of the downpipes is fouling the bulkhead...apparently I need a new transmission mount to lift the gearbox slightly.
Some further work is needed, such as a new Steering Damper, new pipes from the automatic gearbox to the cooler as they are weeping slightly, new transmission mount as mentioned and thats about it.
If the weather is OK tomorrow, I'm going to take some pics, especially of the engine bay.
Anyway, what a beast.....I knew that it would have a nice V8 rumble but never expected to hear what I heard when I started the car for the first time...OMG is all I can say....it sounds like a highly tuned small block Chevy V8. A real Nascar bellow, which turns into a snarl as you acclerate....definitley does not sound like a normal Merc V8.
The guys who rebuilt it are Ferrari specialists and they have a workshop full of exotica...Daytona, 275, Lusso, F40, 348's etc and I have to say that at idle the Hammer beat them...mental sound!
Drove 200 miles back down from Manchester to Reading with no mishaps and had some fun on the way...one guy in his new BMW 535 must be wondering whats wrong with his new Car
Observations so far are as follows:
100mph equates to just a sniff off 3000rpm...very long gearing...the economy amazed me I got 150miles out of a half tank...my old 280 used to be around that mark. Ok I was driving on a light throttle at a steady 80 or so, however, there were bursts of acceleration from time to time.
At kickdown it takes off like a scalded cat....before anybody says "shouldn't you be running it in. I was very careful on the drive home, but as the guys who rebuilt said, don't be afraid to give it some beans and I never got above 4000 which had I been in top gear would have been @ 120mph
Nice meaty steering and the AMG steering wheel is just right in terms of size and thickness.
Suspension....I was expecting it to be very hard...very surprised, that although its stiffer it still is very compliant.
Bearing in mind that its been 9 years since the car was last on the road, it does surprise me that all of the electrics work and nothing, as yet, has given up the ghost in terms of electric windows, sunroof etc
Never got hot in traffic around Birmingham on the M6 and idles happily even when hot
And to cap it all there is not a squeak or rattle from the car, apart from a vibration at very low revs where one of the downpipes is fouling the bulkhead...apparently I need a new transmission mount to lift the gearbox slightly.
Some further work is needed, such as a new Steering Damper, new pipes from the automatic gearbox to the cooler as they are weeping slightly, new transmission mount as mentioned and thats about it.
If the weather is OK tomorrow, I'm going to take some pics, especially of the engine bay.
