A short drive with S320

The silver S320 on the right corner of my C36 --------------->

I had a short drive of the S320 (W220, a silver color Year 2000). Softly suspended by AIRmatic DC system, the big car did have a good ride and very little road noise. The steering was very light, quick and accurate (well, in a way). Two things stood out from my impression. First it was the road noise. The noise level, if there was any at all, seemed to stay at the same level, regardless of the road surface. This was very different from the LS430 which was silent on smooth surface, but noise level rose very slightly but noticeably as soon as the tires hit the rough surface. However I would not say the S320 was quieter. Second the engine seemed to have good power and torque combination that can haul the 1'800-kg car in all kind of traffic condition between 1'500 to 2'300 rpm. Rarely it did go over 2'700 rpm. Of course I was not in a hurry and went with the traffic flow. On the contrast the 3.6L engine in car seemed to be happy revving between 1'800 - 3'000rpm in normal driving condition. No doubt the C36 was built more for mid to mid-high range power. And it relied on the large engine capacity to provide the torque at low end. If you ask me to choose I prefer the reasonable responsive but lazy style of the S320 engine.

TM Spark Plugs

After a busy week it was a Friday. I took a break from the office and went out to meet a friend Peter. I had the Torque Master Spark Plugs refitted in the C36. The car immediately felt lighter but the engine felt more freely revving. It felt more like a smoother and more refined 3.0L V6 rather than a big-bore in-line 6. Before the C36 felt heavier and the engine torquey and powerful. So they are two different characteristics. Couldn't say which I like more but I think the 6 TM plugs would save more fuel. With fingers crossed I really do hope so. I would have the TM plugs to stay for one week.

Things I don't like about modern cars

I have been test driving or road testing different cars, old or new, as much as I can. Over the recent years, I see an ugly trend of car design which deviate away from the common sense. First it is the increasing weight despite the advancement of materials. Second it is the engine and the amount of catalytic converters to meet the emission regulation. Despite the advancement of technology, our new cars today are heavy and sluggish and not necessary more fuel economical. To say I was disappointed with the direction or trend in the last 10 years would be an understatement. The advancement and technology had been there, but marketing and regulatory side-tracked it. It is also called diminishing return. 10 years ago a 2.0L engine car only weighs around 1200kg. Today it is 1400kg that a 2.0L engine needs to pull. Who really needs or wants to pay for that 200kg baggage? Better crash protection, cleaner exhaust, more comfort? For all that added weight? It is not going to help fuel economy, responsiveness in acceleration & braking, and cornering finesse. Talking about trade-offs!

Cayenne

A friend Eddie asked me to put random thoughts about cars in the blog. One day he asked why there were so many Porsche Cayennes on the streets of Hong Kong. I was wondering why and two ideas popped into my mind almost instantly. First many or a large percentage of Cayenne owners are the first-time Porsche owners. Second many people want Porsche cars but cannot buy Boxsters or 911s because they have a family to lurk around. Porsche Cayenne is not cheap but it would be most people's best excuse to get themself a Porsche. Of course let's not forget the edge on performance, engineering and image associated with Porsche. It is a runaway success. A business owner in Hangzhou, China, told me over dinner he was the first owner in China to have the Cayenne Turbo S just two to three weeks ago. Next time I hope I could get a ride in his new Cayenne.

Michelin Pilot Sport 2

The C36 spent a few days at the garage for a timing chain and chain tensioner replacement. Most of the time it was waiting. However last Saturday I got a good chance to try the Michelin Pilot Sport 2 tires on my C36, thanks to Joe Lau, another owner of a beautiful black 1994 C36. Test drive back and forth confirmed the tire change was inevitable. I hated to see the still brand new Yokohama AD07 goes. However there was no way I could tolerate the stiff wooden ride despite the huge grip and confidence the AD07 had given to the C36. Because of the wet weather I did not drive the car too much. The car ran smoother on rough road and had a lot of steering feel in the wet.

Update June 1, 2006
After close to 1'000kms the handling and ride of Michelin tires did not deviate too much from my first impression. PS2 is not as harsh as the AD07 in the ride department. There is always an smooth, well-damped insulation between the road surface and the chassis. However this feature does not mask the fact that the C36 does have a suspension that is too stiff to cope with the broken pavements of Hong Kong, and yet too soft to cope with its own weight in tight corners. What Michelin excels over Yokohama is the ability to provide snappy turn-in and a more stable contact patch on rough and broken surface. In the grip department of course AD07 is a winner (Michelin really not far behind) but really in the daily city driving I do care about ride and handling more than utimate tire grip. (to be continued.....)

DC2 is back home!

Today I visited my DC2 at the KYB (one of the high end car tuners in HK) in the afternoon. All the suspension parts are replaced, with a few maintenance items to keep the car fresh. However I decided not to take the car home until after dinner.
Around 8pm I paid the bill and took the car out for a spin with Tiki (my wife). The handling problem was gone but the steering and chassis feel were less direct. It was okay as I like stability over over-sensitive dynamics. Then I asked Simon (owner of KYB) to do a demo of what the car could handle. The grip was great and the car was much more stable. But then we found out we had tons of old parts in the rear trunk. After they were removed and I drove the car home. Boy, the car was a lot lighter (at least by 25kg+) and somewhat more nimble and it could be felt. The short journey from KYB to home was simply a delight. Immense and responsive power, light-weight, nimble handling summarized the experience.

The ride of C36 continued to improve a bit today, I now played some music to a kind of sublime to bump-thump road noise. Believe it or not, it worked for me.

C36 with the SLK Alloys

Easter Weekend. Took two friends with cars to a Jinway (a HK tire shop) for tire and wheel service. My friend's Aristo GS300 JZ161 got a new set of 18" 5-Zigen wheels and a set of Michelin PS2 tires (235/40R18 and 265/35R18), replacing his two-year old 225/45R17 AD07 on an unknown set of alloy that came with the car when he bought two years ago.

Jinway showed me a fresh set of used SLK350 alloy (zero marks though) for my C36. 7.5Jx17 front and 8.5Jx17 rear. Not AMG style but look absolutely stunning in my opinion on the C36. They look great when I see the reflection of my silver C36 with the new wheel from the car parked next to me. They were also lighter in weight compared to the AMG Monobloc that came with the C36. I lifted them back and forth between old and new ones to confirm that there was a weight difference. The turn-in was lighter and more keen. The new SLK alloys made the slightly dated C36 looked younger, and actually made it more like a "C360'.

Yesterday I also changed my windshied wiper, too, for the forthcoming rainy season.

Small Fixes on C36

Mar 31, 2006 Fri

Brought the C36 to KYB for wheel alignment. Front cambers were found to be almost equal on both sides at 1 degree. That's a good sign because they were not adjustable. It also told me that the geometry of the suspension and chassis was intact during the last 11 years. At least I hope so. It would be nice to have a bit over 2 degrees to dial out the natural understeering. Of course the front castor could not be adjustable, both at 4 degrees. Simon of KYB dialed in a bit of toe in for the rear wheels (factory spec). Front toe were set at 0 degree instead of slight toe-in as specified by the factory.

After the wheel alignment the car's handling was improved and cleaner but not as much as I expect. At least the car felt more nimble but still understeer in most cases, making me a bit worried about carrying speed into corners. I was just wondering if I were driving the car the right way. I understand that the car was front heavy and tended to oversteer when accelerating out of corners. However the turn-in was really not very good, until the front loading started to lighten up.

AD07 is showing more grip everyday. However the side wall is a bit soft for the loading on the outside wheel during cornering. I could feel the front tire bited very hard but the side wall failed to support this level of grip. I have to put 32psi to help the sidewall stiffness.

I guess it would be slow-in-fast-out for the time being. The failure to carry speed into corner was disappointing.

Saturday - April 1st Rugby 7 weekend

Met up with Charlton with his white C280 and both of us sent our W202s to Pak Lok Garage for some small fixes at 10am. Tiki and I then went to the Rugby 7 game at HK Stadium.

Small fixes on C36 included: (a) horn, (b) ambient temperature display, (c) head lamp adjustment, (d) lamp inside glove box, and (e) windshield wiper. The attention to details at Pak Lok in getting the C36 back to perfect working condition was amazing.

Ah Shing (owner of Pak Lok Garage) met us up at the Tin Hau MTR with the C36 around 7:30pm after the Rugby game. I was told that the ex-owner of my 1995 C36 bought himself a 1997 C36. Judging from the condition of my C36 and a lot of money spent on it previously, I wonder if I was getting lucky. As a matter of fact I missed the chance to see the 1997 C36 about six months ago and I just knew it was the ex-ower who bought the car before I had a chance to see it. I was wondering if the 1997 model had a 5-speed but was told it was only a 4-speed electronic gearbox. In UK and USA 5-speed was offered in 1997 models.

C36 Another Small Fixes

Last Saturday I have the new Bosch ignition coils (total three, one for two cylinders) fitted. It was an easy job and the part cost was low. Now the engine purred smoothly while it pulled like a train. I had not fitted the TM spark plugs yet since the Bosch spark plugs in the engine were relatively new.

Somehow for whatever reason unknown to me the handling of the C36 has been improving while it approached my first 1000km. It feels more direct and the chassis is more responsive. I could not feel that car was front heavy at all. Only in tight corners I could feel that it was indeed a heavy car. It was not bad and I was surprised. Still the shocks were not responsive enough following the dips and crests of the pavement. Sometime I found the wheels out-of-sync and pounding the road surface. This was apparent in the hard driving, serious affecting roadholding and stability in rough pavement.

I checked my favorite Mercedes parts supplier at Mongkok - Valiant. They got me a quote of C36 original factory suspension (a set of four shock absorbers) which were in stock. But they would set me back around $10K HKD. Wow! I hesitate but decided that this was a safety issue worth spending. However since Easter Break is around the corner and decided to purchase the factory shocks shortly after the Easter holiday

And my good friend Simon found me today a set of fresh used C32 AMG wheels for a fairly reasonable cost. I would consider only if I could prove that it is significantly lighter than the AMG Monobloc.

I have driven the C36 for the whole week. My second fuel stop yesterday showed that the fuel consumption has dropped to HK$1.65 per km (or HK$785 for 485km traveled). Not bad at all. Considering a good mix of city, highway, 15 min of full throttle blasting with Evos.

C36 Updates 7

I suspect the handling could be improved with the shock replacement and/or lighter alloy wheels. The Bilstein shocks that came with the C36 were quite new and were suspected to be a source of the slow response of the suspension. I will try to find out next week if there are any Original Mercedes or AMG shock absorbers. I had bought two sets of Bilstein shocks before, Sports and Standard, in 2005. None of them worked better than the original Mercedes stock shocks that I fitted on the C200 and C240, in terms of handling and ride quality. And the difference is very easy to tell.

On the contrast, the Yokohama AD07s have developed fantastic grip. The grip is a bit much for the daily driving.

Here is the US C36 Spec from www.mbusa.com. Click to enlarge.

C36 Updates 6

Filled up the tank yesterday the second time - $710 for 420km traveled. $1.7 per km was reasonable because it covered a variety of road testing and fast running. No doubt if I drive aggressively it would be more than $2 per km. I still believe I can do 450 km per full tank if I am more careful with the gas pedal.

Last night I removed the spare wheel and tire from the trunk to lighten the rear load. Boy, it was a heavy piece, at least 15kg. This makes me think twice about not changing to a ligter alloy wheels. Why I removed the spare wheel and tire? It was because I would like to make the car lighter and the rear more agile (more tail happy).

My First Blog on C36 and.....

The image on the side is my last daily ride (C200), preceding my current C36. Both in Silver.

Yesterday the suspension overhaul has started on DC2. All the arms and bushes are to be replaced. Will get the car back on Saturday. Then I can tell if the handling issue is resolved.

Today I road tested a silver 2003 Mini Cooper 1.6L auto. It was a nice little car with nice sharp handling. But I was not impressed by its engine response with a couple flat spots, especially after driving the C36 for a while. In terms of ride it was comfortable but the body structure could be better.

Then the auto 1991 MX5 in red was not that impressive. It was just old, dirty and required a lot of work. Paint work and engine were okay. I was offered to have the car for a period of time.

The C36 remains a comfortable ride, abeit a bit heavy. However there is a slight ride issue. Even the shocks have been replaced (with Mercedes orginal Bilstein AMG shocks) the suspension is not well planted on the rough road surface with a bit too much wheel bouncing. However the traction and handling are sharp, and a bit too grippy for my taste as a daily car. In a nutshell it is just a bit busy and noisy in terms of suspension, otherwise it is very comfortable and a fine ride.

C36 with Nakamichi CD-300

Today I went to Mongkok to fit the CD Receiver Nakamichi CD300. It has a RDS radio and a CD player that can play MP3. RDS is an important feature for me but then only Kenwood, Sony and Nakamichi have RDS. I only had limited choice. I choose the HK$2,200 Nakamichi CD300 with RDS and MP3 - a new release from Naka. Its look is not stylish but who cares since it is in a car of more than 11 years old.

I have decided to not use the amplifier to keep the car light weight and simple. But the Focal speakers remain.

The low end torque is really impressive, not bad for a 3.6L.

The steering is still vague and the whole car does not feel sharp. I check the front camber visually and it does not look like it has enough negative camber. The car still track true and straight but it does not have much feel when the steering wheel is turned. Definitely it needs a wheel alignment check.

C36 Updates 3

It was raining the whole day but I decided to spend the whole day with the C36 which I first got the evening before. First thing I did after breakfast with my wife was to fill the gas tank full of Caltex Gold.

The search for replacement tires started actually a week ago. C36 came with 225/45R17 in the front and 245/40R17 in the rear. They were in bad shape, especially the front Bridgestone OEM, and were of 2002 vintage, micro cracks all over and quite slippery in the wet. My planning was to look at Michelin Pilot Sport 2, Pirelli P-Zero Rosso and the Yokohama AD07, and in that order was my preference. I checked two tire shops, one in Causeway Bay and one in Tse Wan Shan. After many phone calls, checking prices and recommendations, I decided on a freshly made AD07 - manufactured in the 4th week of 2006! AD07 was my third choice on the list because the they don't have the full set of Pilot Sport and the date of manufacturing for the P-Zero were in early 2004.

New tires were installed. The tire shop recommended 32 psi front and 34 psi rear for the C36. There would be trial and error on my part.

I have to thank Peter Wong for his help here on tires. Of course worth a mention were Eddie Wu and his recommendation.

In the first 30km I did on the first day both ride and handling felt wooden. It was comfortable and grippy alright. I was a bit disappointed, but then the tires needed to break in.

After noon I took the car then to the Wax King, my favorite place for detailing and a good wax job. The C36 was given a thorough paint restoration and Austo wax job. The interior received a detailed cleaning, steaming, leather and dashboard treatment. The A/C coil also received some sort of "Wynn" treatment. Now the interior felt fresh again without the old car stuffy stink. The 11-year old looked more like a 5-year old now, inside-out. It just felt great.

An engine flush and oil change (Fuch GT1 0W-20, recommended by Peter Wong) were performed. The engine felt more lively and frictionless.

I got a lot done in one day for the newly acquired C36, despite the poor lousy rainy weather.

I took the car out with my wife to have a dinner. She could tell the difference.

First night out on C36

It was a Friday and it rained. It was a full and busy day at the office but I couldn't wait to get out to the Pak Lok Garage to greet and collect my C36. Tiki asked me to collect the car Saturday morning but indeed I couldn't wait another minute.

By the time I reached the garage it is already 7pm. I grabbed the key, took a quick look at the new roof lining, the stiffened front chair (new springs fitted because they sagged) and also the new leather on the steering wheel. In 5 minutes I was ready to go with my wife Tiki for a pizza dinner.

Boy, it was slippery. The low-rev torque made it fun and easy to spin the rear wheels in the wet, especially from the traffic light. And the tires came with the car are at least 4 years old, after checking the datecodes. Tire replacement was imminent.

The ride quality and the refinement was another sweet surprise. The damping was excellent but the magical Mecredes floating ride characteristics (C200 had it) was all gone. Damned. But the new ride quality was very much acceptable. No complaint.

The C36 tracked straight and true, but I found the car vague in the center and had not much steering feel. I was not happy with that because the C200 and C240 had better handling. I could only blame this one the poor tire condition as well as the wheel alignment. I was not eager to drive fast.

Another observation was that it was easy to get to 100kph and sometimes 130kph. But it felt like 80kph. It did not feel fast, especially when other cars were doing the same speed as I did. I was wondering if the speedometer was inaccurate. I needed to follow some minibuses in the tunnels so I could check their big speed display against mine when we would be doing the same speed.

Anyway I was tired of the work in the office and I was ready to go home after a lot of delicious pizza.

C36 - The First Encounter

Ah Shing of the Pak Lok garage rang me up the evening before - the C36 was waiting.

Tiki and I went to Pak Lok (our Mercedes specialist) Garage around 11am to look at the Mercedes C36. Boy, it was dirty after sitting for six months in a resident at Shek O. It had no license nor insurance. At our own risk, we took it out for a brief test drive and fueled it with $200 worth of Caltex Gold. The fuel level was extreme low.

The C36 actually felt fine and didn't feel like a 11-year old grandpa. It was more like a 8-year old uncle. The engine idled smoothly and had plenty of low-rev grunt. Gear change at sports mode was very snappy and reasonably smooth in econ mode. Ride quality was much higher than I expected. Pak Lok told me that the shocks and the suspension bushes were recently replaced. Engine temperature was stabilized at 90 degree Celsius which was a sweet surprise even though the ambient temperature was about 20 degree Celsius. The air conditioner worked very well.

Aside from the sagging roof lining, all the interior and the leather were in good condition showing negligible sign of wear. Tiki said the interior in general was better than that of the 2-year younger C200. Personally I like the light grey/wood insert color scheme in the C200 than the all black interior in C36. But there was no choice. All C36s came in with black interior, as far as I knew.

The ambient temperature display inside the dashboard was not working. The front lamp height adjustment did not work either and also pointed at the lowest angle.

The decision was made, after searching for more than six months. I wish I could find myself a late model C36 with 5-speed transmission, which was available in UK and USA, but not in Hong Kong. There were two 1997 C36 but I was told they had only 4-speed transmission. So I decided that I should go with the best C36 I could find, rather than one that meet all my requirements.

I always thought I could live with a small engine capacity car for daily use. However after road testing the all new Camry 3.5L I then understood that there was no substitute for "cubic inches"! I had looked at many cars, tried them, but eventually decided that C36 could be the right one, with more torque and power that the excellent C200 did not have.

And in the afternoon I confirmed to Pak Lok for the trade-in of my C200 with the C36. Within a week after Pak Lok had performed the interior treatment I would be the proud owner of this silver C36.