208 CLK F1 Safety Car (1998-2000)

[Chappy]

Originally Posted by neilbo75 You say that there were a few other very minor changes between the U.S-spec CLK55s between 2001 and 2002, the "Illuminated trunk exit safety feature". What is that? BTW I have the ski sack, still with its original factory fold. Once undone it looks hellishly hard to get back into its place behind the armrest so I will continue to rent skis! If someone is inadvertently locked in the trunk, they push this illuminated button and it opens the trunk (photo 1): Photos two and three are of the '02 hubcaps and ski sack receptacle respectively. I unrolled it once....that was enough for me.

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[neilbo75]

Funny, there's no green button in the trunk of my 208 CLK, even if it was one of last ones built (factory delivery date 20 May 2002).

The reason? My car was built for the German market. This let-the-stupid-kid-out device is a result of U.S. regulation, not any safety-minded benevolence on the part of MB.

[Chappy]

Originally Posted by neilbo75

The reason? My car was built for the German market. This let-the-stupid-kid-out device is a result of U.S. regulation, not any safety-minded benevolence on the part of MB.

lol....we get all the James Bond accessories mandated over here

[Chappy]

Neilbo.....a little off topic, but do you have a front license plate in France? What does the holder look like? Is it plastic? Do you have holes drilled in your front bumper?

[neilbo75]

This topic is meandering, not a problem.

Yes I have a front license plate holder. It is the standard European (wide and short) size and was put on by the MB dealer in Germany. It snaps apart so I easily swapped the French tags for the termporary German tags.

I will try to post a photo tomorrow.

[Chappy]

Originally Posted by neilbo75

This topic is meandering, not a problem.

Yes I have a front license plate holder. It is the standard European (wide and short) size and was put on by the MB dealer in Germany. It snaps apart so I easily swapped the French tags for the termporary German tags.

I will try to post a photo tomorrow.

Thanks!

[rsr911]

Originally Posted by Chappy

I unrolled it once....that was enough for me.

My dealer advised me to never unroll it. Once opened it never goes back.You were lucky my friend!

-O

[Chappy]

Originally Posted by rsr911

My dealer advised me to never unroll it. Once opened it never goes back.You were lucky my friend!

-O

He's A-L-I-V-E-!

Snow melt yet?

[rsr911]

Originally Posted by Chappy

He's A-L-I-V-E-!

Snow melt yet?

It keeps snowing!!!! Damn it's COLD!!!

The weekend high should be in the high 30's oooooh.
Toy cars go in storage this weekend.

-O

[neilbo75]

Originally Posted by rsr911

My dealer advised me to never unroll it. Once opened it never goes back.You were lucky my friend!

-O

Did the dealer give you this advice before of after he sold you the ski sack? LOL

For Chappy, here is a pic of the European front licence plate frame:

[Chappy]

Originally Posted by neilbo75

Did the dealer give you this advice before of after he sold you the ski sack? LOL

For Chappy, here is a pic of the European front licence plate frame:

Thanks!

[Holson]

I have a nice European plate that I wanna mount on the CLK but I don't have the mount!

My understanding is that the whole impact strip is different for the European-spec cars compared to the US car... am I right?

I put the European plate on my Jeep but I got funny stares....

[Holson]

http://forums.mbworld.org/forums/sho...14#post1874314

[Chappy]

Holson - you are a bad man lol

[Holson]

Oh no.. he's keeping them...

Maybe a chromed set would do? Add a bit of bling to my ride!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/18-Me...QQcmdZViewItem

[benzmodz]

Originally Posted by neilbo75

I have learned that our 208 series CLK 55 AMGs were used by MB as the F1 Safety Car from late 1998 to early 2000. Does anyone have information on what kind of mods AMG did to the car?

For starters, how did they get SL style 8.5 x 18 and 10x18 series 1 multipliece wheels to fit, and with what size rubber? What about suspension, brakes, engine ?

Thanks in advance to the AMG scholars amongst us!

This is a close cousin of the Pace Car. It is the Rally car.

- full CF interior on all doors and seats. No rear seat, only CF.
- Cross breed AMG and BBS deep dish rims
- straight through exhaust
- driver controlled adjustable suspension
- delimited

[Chappy]

Originally Posted by benzmodz

This is a close cousin of the Pace Car. It is the Rally car.

- full CF interior on all doors and seats. No rear seat, only CF.
- Cross breed AMG and BBS deep dish rims
- straight through exhaust
- driver controlled adjustable suspension
- delimited

Outstanding!!! More pics, please

[Ahmed]

Thats it.... I want my car back!

[derek m]

Not sure if these are same style replicas, but the price seems ok

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/18-Me...QQcmdZViewItem

[argon]

damn i need those rims

[neilbo75]

Originally Posted by benzmodz

This is a close cousin of the Pace Car. It is the Rally car.

- full CF interior on all doors and seats. No rear seat, only CF.
- Cross breed AMG and BBS deep dish rims
- straight through exhaust
- driver controlled adjustable suspension
- delimited

208 Rally Car kicking ass Downunder? Driver-adjustable suspension? Please tell us more!

It's hard to tell for sure from the photo, but it looks like the rally car has bigger brakes as well. Afterall, AMG put those 18 inch SL composite wheels on the F1 safety car so that upgraded brakes would fit.

The safety car has cross-drilled rotors. Beyond that I haven't a clue about what brakes were fitted, but now I'm thinking about getting a BBK to go with those rims. Kleemann KB4 or Brembo GTs (basically the same product) look like the best solution -- excellent performance and so light that they would more or less offset the extra unsprung weight of the bigger rims and tires.

[Chappy]

Bump for more Rally Car pics....please!

Sadly, I learned through my research that Mick Doohan crashed the CLK55 in the Targa Tasmania race back in '01.

According to a report, the car was written off, but was purchased and rebuilt by another gent for the running of the 2006 race (it may have also run in '07). I'm trying to find some pics - but there is decent information on what mods were done to the car (very few...straight exhaust, ECU delimited, race seats, bigger brakes and wheels.) The car was fitted with Dunlop Formula R-D01J tires.

[Chappy]

Link to a story on the revival of the car:

http://www.nmd.com.au/nmd/news/details/4305

[Chappy]

It cost $300K to build!!

http://www.pressroom.com.au/press_re...tID=2&prID=354

[neilbo75]

Very nice work, Chappy, getting deeper into one of my favorite CLK mysteries!

$300,000 sounds like a lot of money, unless you're talking Aussie dollars and the initial cost of HWA setting up the F1 Safety cars.

As you know, I now have those "Aero" wheels on my 208. After all the doubts and speculation and yearning aired on this and other boards, it turns out they just bolt on. It couldn't be easier to get that piece of the competition set up.

I can also report that, at least with the standard TUV sized rubber (225/40/18 F and 255/35/18 R) and with driver only on board, the wheels don't rub. At all. And that's after putting them through the "Green Hell" of Nurburgring where sometimes the car is getting the beJesus pounded out (the Carousel) or even getting airborne (Flugplatz).

So it made sense to put these rims on a competitive rally car.

With the rims safely on board, it's on to the next step in my quest: getting those bigger, cross-drilled AMG brakes. A number of people have Brembo BBKs on their 208s, but I'm looking for real AMG brakes. Obviously it can be done by HWA. But has anyone done it in the real world? I asked AMG and they laughed - they don't tune cars. HWA will do it, HWA will do anything, as long as you're a Saudi prince. I had an independent MB mechanic source some promising parts (the six pot brakes from the current SLK performance package/63 CLK) but after having a look he told me that installation was a no go on account of contact with some suspension/steering component.

So that mystery continues....