S4Aero

You'll probably remember my first run-in with the ML 63 AMG on a previous thread.

Today was part two.

I have a restaurant on a heavily traveled road, and today the owner of the Bad Benz stopped in for lunch. He apparently asked who owned the RS, because one of my servers told me that "the guy at 83" (one of the table numbers) wanted to see me.

I thought that I recognized him, but I introduced myself after the server left. Nice guy, albeit a little bitter about the last race.

He had an interesting proposition - a little street race for $100 US. I'm not one to bet (except on golf), but this guy was pretty cocky about the outcome. The rules would be from a rolling start (at 20), down a four lane highway that narrows to two lanes after about 3/4 mile, then a sharp left onto a two lane road. The two laner is a little twisty. About 1/2 mile down the road there is a series of turns - left hand up, sharp right down, gentle left, sharp right up and over a freeway. We agreed that the first car to the bridge was the winner.

These roads are very lightly traveled.

When he finished lunch, we headed out.

We each left $100 at the bar of the restaurant.

The race was on. I had him at the roll, but hit the rev limiter going into 2nd. He immediately pulled about 2-3 car lengths going into the narrow section. I made up the ground in the first turn, and was right on his tail. There was no way to pass him in the straight though, I pulled out to try, but only made up about 1/2 car - not enough.

My only chance was in the series of turns coming up. I figured that there was no way he could corner as well as the RS could.

I was right. When we hit the first lefthander, he braked pretty hard, I downshifted into third and went right by him. He braked harder going into the sharp downhill right while I stayed in third and stretched the lead to about 6 car lenghts. He never got close after that, and I was coasting across the bridge with him about 500 feet behind.

We took a leisurly pace back to the restaurant from there (I still wouldn't let him pass). I didn't really expect him to come in, but he did. Stand up guy. I took his $100 and bought him a drink. On his way out he made a quick comment about the "M3 he has on order". I'm guessing I'll see him sometime in '08 with a new bimmer. Hope MTM has their supercharger available by then...

edit - this is not meant to condone street racing or gambling on said racing, but it was a lot of fun!

Choleric

Awesome, I love your stories.

PC Valkyrie

Great story. The owner of the ML63 SEEMS to be car enthusiast (although a cocky one), being the owner of an AMG and ordering the upcoming M3. Therefore, he must have known that the RS4 has a handling advantage over his big truck in the turns, no matter how fast it is in a straight line.

Having said that, you must be a fairly good driver when it comes to cornering at speed. Even though your car has higher cornering limits than his truck, that fact that you seem to blow right by him in a turn tells me that either a) you are a far more confident/superior driver than he is when it comes to fast cornering, or b) he is NOT a very good driver at all or doesn't understand the dynamics of taking a car into a corner at speed (like proper braking zones, when to apply throttle, etc), or c) both of the above.

Usually, cars blowing by another car in a turn on a track (when it comes to NON-professional drivers) is more about differences in driver skill/courage and less about differences in cars' handling abilities.

The Artist

gr8 race.. good kill

PS
Amazed that a truck can hang that well with a RS4---
Bow down to AMG and RS for some sick arse cars..

S4Aero

I think that iit is a little of both. I am a fairly talented amateur (immodestly). I've been to several performance driving schools (years ago), and do believe that I can handle a car pretty well in most circumstances. One thing I heard during that time is that "you don't really drive a car if you want to be a good driver. It becomes and extension of yourself, and you feel the car the same way you know your own balance."

That's how I drive.

But, I think that while I did outdrive him into the corners and out of them, I believe that this is where the RS really shines. It is so well balanced, and you can apply the throttle very predictably, that the ML didn't even compete in the turns. It is a really fast SUV, but at the end of the day, it is an SUV, and a heavy one at that.

I was able to go into the turn faster, and exit much quicker. Through the little stretch of turns, I probably had him by 10-12 car lengths exitiing the last turn. This stretch is pretty tight, but into and out of the 4 turns, I just kept building more of a lead.

He was pretty impressed when we talked about it after, commenting that from his angle, the car seemed very flat and composed, while he was fighting the ML to try to go faster.

dOmInIX

Nice story. Now I really see how quick RS4 is!
You're going to put MTM supercharger? That's awesome. Post photos when you do.

btw, did you consider putting MTM wheels on the car? Stock are great looking but MTMs are just amazing, some of best wheels I've seen.
Like this:

rev

Great story! The RS4 is an amazing piece of engineering.

cawimmer430

Great story.

Though this ML63 AMG owner seems to be a bit on the "clueless" side. I mean racing an RS4 is one thing, but betting when you know the RS4 will be nimbler than the heavy ML AMG is another. If I was this guy, I wouldn't bet money in the first place, especially if the roads we're going to use are twisty. I hope to hear about PART 3 soon - when this guy races you on a straightaway!