[mclarenm8d]

I normally don't attempt "top fuel" burn-outs in my CL55, but before the recall flash they could be done - easily with ESP off. Heck, from a roll-on even.

Lately, what has been going on in my head is that the car didn't seem as snappy in first, but seemed to pull fine in second and third. This is post recall flash. I've suspected it wasn't as strong after the flash, but I kinda chalked up this to humid weather (but in hindsight my analysis doesn't make sense).

So anyway ... This evening, I let my brother-in-law drive the car with some friends who were wondering about the car. I put ESP off for him and then went on a rant about "go ahead and light up the tires, but don't get carried away because with the tall gearing I think a guy can break something when it grabs blah blah blah".

He comes back after the drive with - I can't get the tires to break loose.

So we take it out and sure enough, I can get the tires to slip a little going up through first but the "top fuel burn off with ESP off from a roll" is a thing of the past. Fuel, timing, or both feels missing.

I believe that there is something going on that is similar to the cut-off safety feature some cars have when the brake and throttle are applied at the same time. It really feels that the car is predicting traction problems "faster", almost like it is pulling the timing back less but the activation of the pull back is more aggressive.

This is a bummer ... I have an early production 2003 CL55 that was sold late, I've never been able to get dyno mode active. I have also always felt that these cars are fastest on the street in manual mode with ESP off and just a touch of wheel spin. Maybe I should just toast my ESP fuse.