VIDEO: Car and Driver 2001 Supertuner w/ Renntech CLK60

[E55AMGFan]

Rare footage IMHO SuperTuner Challenge Autoforiity Performance Engineering 1996 Porsche 911 stage 3 Turbo Peter Farrell Supercars 1994 Mazda RX7 Turbo Renntech Performance Tuning 2001 Mercedes Benz CLK 60 Supercharged 2000 Lingenfelter Chevrolet Corvette Stage 2 Twin Turbo Factory 5 Racing Coupe Chuck Mallett 1997 Chevrolet Corvette Supercharged Tuned Beasts at it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zULiodQ6lD0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMYu5guc4WU

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[TemjinX2]

great video...of course the benz would be taken out with electrical problems.

[02C32guy]

Man, I remember this issue. I probably still have it somewhere. I remember how hard it was for Lingenfelter Jam those twin turbo's into the already tight C5 engine bay. Although, it didn't get to race, the Renntech sounded pretty BA.

[billapex]

Great video. I wish the following year's Supertuner Challenge was posted somewhere, because my shop built a car that competed in it. If anyone remembers, it was the APEX Motorsports 2001 Lethal 750 Viper (price as tested of $146,804).

Bored and stroked stock block, 9.0 liters of displacement, custom heads, cam grind, etc. We made upwards of 785hp at the crank through cats on 92 octane fuel. 11.8 @ 124mph on stock Michelin Pilots, spinning the tires most of the way. 150-0mph braking of 670.8 ft. 4 out of 5 stars in driveability, too, which we were very proud of.

Larry Webster's opening quote was classic: "What you feel for the tires on the Apex Lethal 750 is...well, pity, because they are ill-suited for the level of twist this ferocious car can whip up." And later, "...this car is the indisputed king of throttle response." It's high-flow catted exhaust with Magnaflow mufflers sounded like a very-pissed-off UPS truck.

Our first (and only) time there, we placed 6th out of 15 cars. I was really proud of that. The 27 hour mad drive (F250 turbo diesel towing the Viper in a 26' enclosed trailer) from the SF Bay Area out to Michigan, two and a half days of testing at and around Michigan Int'l Speedway, and then the 24 hour dash back to CA certainly wore us out. A great time!

The '01 RENNtech SLK38K finished 13th out of 15, mostly because it just didn't have the beans to be able to compete with the brawny beasts that were parading around. It did the 1/4 in 13.5 seconds at 110mph with a 150-0mph distance of 726.7 ft. Price as tested: $111,937.

The '03 RENNtech SL55K finished 8th. It ran like a tank and was just flat-out cool. I would've loved to get a ride in it. 12.6 in the quarter at 119mph for a 4,208 pound car is moving out. Price as tested: $144,325.

Lingenfelter again came in first with his Corvette (it was an astounding car), yet he also came in last with his 2000 Sonoma 427 Twin Turbo--the vehicle that everyone wished they could drive just once! It was a pretty neat (and very ambitious) project! John was truly a genuine and docile guy--quiet, friendly, and just all-around sincere.

Alas, the Challenge after the 'big dogs' was downgraded to 4- and 6-cylinder imports, and they never revived the Supertuner Challenge quite like it was back in '02. Too bad.

Anyway, it was fun reminiscing for a while...

Bill

[W203Ramos]

enjoyed the vids thanks!!!

[FrankW]

2001 CLK :facepalm: ....it's obvious that it was a 98-99 CLK.

another :facepalm: at Mallet... grooved to spec Hoosiers ....wtf ...wasn't man enough just like his pony tail.

[billapex]

Originally Posted by FrankW

another :facepalm: at Mallet... grooved to spec Hoosiers ....wtf ...wasn't man enough just like his pony tail.

Yeah, his pony was a bit much.

Regarding the tires, they did change the rules in '02 to specify at least a 140 treadwear rating. That precluded the use of any DOT-approved sticky tire like a Hoosier or BFG R1. Most of the cars ran Michelin Pilot Sports.

Bill

[E55AMGFan]

Originally Posted by billapex

Great video. I wish the following year's Supertuner Challenge was posted somewhere, because my shop built a car that competed in it. If anyone remembers, it was the APEX Motorsports 2001 Lethal 750 Viper (price as tested of $146,804).

Bored and stroked stock block, 9.0 liters of displacement, custom heads, cam grind, etc. We made upwards of 785hp at the crank through cats on 92 octane fuel. 11.8 @ 124mph on stock Michelin Pilots, spinning the tires most of the way. 150-0mph braking of 670.8 ft. 4 out of 5 stars in driveability, too, which we were very proud of.

Larry Webster's opening quote was classic: "What you feel for the tires on the Apex Lethal 750 is...well, pity, because they are ill-suited for the level of twist this ferocious car can whip up." And later, "...this car is the indisputed king of throttle response." It's high-flow catted exhaust with Magnaflow mufflers sounded like a very-pissed-off UPS truck.

Our first (and only) time there, we placed 6th out of 15 cars. I was really proud of that. The 27 hour mad drive (F250 turbo diesel towing the Viper in a 26' enclosed trailer) from the SF Bay Area out to Michigan, two and a half days of testing at and around Michigan Int'l Speedway, and then the 24 hour dash back to CA certainly wore us out. A great time!

The '01 RENNtech SLK38K finished 13th out of 15, mostly because it just didn't have the beans to be able to compete with the brawny beasts that were parading around. It did the 1/4 in 13.5 seconds at 110mph with a 150-0mph distance of 726.7 ft. Price as tested: $111,937.

The '03 RENNtech SL55K finished 8th. It ran like a tank and was just flat-out cool. I would've loved to get a ride in it. 12.6 in the quarter at 119mph for a 4,208 pound car is moving out. Price as tested: $144,325.

Lingenfelter again came in first with his Corvette (it was an astounding car), yet he also came in last with his 2000 Sonoma 427 Twin Turbo--the vehicle that everyone wished they could drive just once! It was a pretty neat (and very ambitious) project! John was truly a genuine and docile guy--quiet, friendly, and just all-around sincere.

Alas, the Challenge after the 'big dogs' was downgraded to 4- and 6-cylinder imports, and they never revived the Supertuner Challenge quite like it was back in '02. Too bad.

Anyway, it was fun reminiscing for a while...

Bill

I remember that article! Unfortunately, C&Ds link to it is broken, seems like they cleared the article in their database and I've found no footage, If I ever do come across anything I'll PM You.