Was on my way home after work on a new interstate that has very little traffic was listening to a movie preview on the radio about a 951 his co worker in HER E350.

The commercial mentions how she decides she wants to try to do a fly by on the 951.

So they are both going about 70-75mph and she is 4-5 cars back and hits it. In hind site the 951 should have been down shifted already and then hit it when she gets close as opposed to allowing her a full head of momentum and then down shifting to 3rd and hitting the gas. Oh well.

Anyway she is by his door and he downshifts and hits it and by this time she is about a car in front. The commercial mentions that he starts to pull away, SLOWLY, now in 4th and at higher speeds than the commercial wants to mention, but nothing crazy fast. Then she pulls out as he is about 3-4 lengths on her and would have got worse.

BUT, why did the 951 only real her in and pull VERY slowly to the point that the 951 was worried that he might not pull her???

Then the 951 does some research and rubs even more salt in that the E350 should have been left in the dust, based on the hp, weight, etc.

http://autos.yahoo.com/mercedes_benz...n-performance/

So what gives?????

Was the issue the fact that the E350 had a lot of speed/momentum before he dropped it?

Is it possible the 951 is not making the pwr in the upper gears/top end that it does in lower gears?? As the current set up in the 951 is all about top end.

 

so you raced a van?

 

no my friend. Momemtum is everything. Don't fret. Picture it as.... She started 5 cars back. the 951 got 4-5 cars on her. It's more like 10 cars ahead if the 951 beat her. There's more to it, but you shouldn't feel so bad about the 951 in the commercial at all. If they did it even. From a gear the 951 does well in, it would be a seriously different story. the 951 should now know to never race someone with a large head start. It distorts the outcome.

Personal experience... This is why on the road course a much lesser horsepower car looks like it is creaming a bigger one. It comes out of a corner with a LOT more momentum making the bigger hp car have to use double the power just to catch up.

 

Not a van. Merc E350

 

Was the title of the movie "Soccer Moms a Go Go"?

 

The idea of 'carrying' momentum is crucial to racing: getting onto the gas sooner can help lower-HP cars compete. -In a corner, the whole "in like a lamb-out like a lion" idea is so that you can get onto the gas SOONER, going slow-in/fast-out. Going fast-in/slow-out means that you're LATER on the gas, and the straight that you're going into is now effectively shortened. -Even when you reach the same speed, you're still BEHIND the other car.

Okay, so in a straight, if the other car is going faster than you while you're side-by side, the time between the moment you drop the hammer and when you reach the SAME speed is time when you're falling behind... then you have to recover that...

Basically you're starting from a disadvantage... Nothing that can't be overcome, but it gives the other car more than enough chance to significantly diminish the difference.

I'm a little confused though... -They were talkign about 951s on the radio??? -What station? -What movie? -What year is it? -Is my dinner ready?!!

Keith