The Best Way to Make Real HP

[cdiem]

Hey guys, Just wondering which is the best way to make some more ponies....I own a CLK55 AMG and was wondering if anybody has any good cheap and effective ways. im not looking into spending more than $25000 on upgrades. Im curently working on hi-flow secondary cats, 200-cell and some headers from AMS Performance I have heard many good things from them and looking forward to working with them and adding around 25 extra rwhp. But are their any better ways?? Is nitrous any good? let me know what you think -Thanks

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[SoCalCLK]

For performance, I would recommend reducing the weight of the car (i.e. spare tire, tools, etc.) and going with a air filter/high flow cats/headers.

Also, maybe some fresh spark plugs and plug wires? ECU tuning is also good once you have all the other stuff.

NOS is great, but it's hard to find an installer with a lot of experience on MBZ cars, even here in SoCal.

[Chappy]

Originally Posted by cdiem

Hey guys,

Just wondering which is the best way to make some more ponies....I own a CLK55 AMG and was wondering if anybody has any good cheap and effective ways. im not looking into spending more than $25000 on upgrades.

$25K should go a long way....

If you meant $2,500 that's another story.

[rsr911]

"How fast do you want to go?"
"How much money do you have to spend?"

[groupB]

I don't know about the nitrous ... it'll give you power, sure, but keep in mind the pricetag on some of these AMG engine parts is OBSCENE, and it is all too easy to make a mistake there.

Try an ECU flash? Call Ken over at RENN, or Simon at EVOSport. Both good guys, with good product.

[groupB]

Just noticed you were in Miami, sorry - thought you were in Cali! Call Ben at WheelsBoutique. He's RENNtech's sales rep in Miami, or else call George or Corey at RENNtech in WPB.

Originally Posted by cdiem

Hey guys,

Just wondering which is the best way to make some more ponies....I own a CLK55 AMG and was wondering if anybody has any good cheap and effective ways. im not looking into spending more than $25000 on upgrades. Im curently working on hi-flow secondary cats, 200-cell and some headers from AMS Performance I have heard many good things from them and looking forward to working with them and adding around 25 extra rwhp. But are their any better ways?? Is nitrous any good? let me know what you think


-Thanks

[Autoscope]

I can also help! Let me know if I can help you go faster...

[cdiem]

Hey guys

Thanks alot for the input i am getting the high-flow secondary cats that i ordered next week. I also talked to ASR Engineering here in miami and since they have experience w/ nitrous in mercedes AMG's i decided to go w/ a custom 100 shot nitrous system for my car. here's a link for reference of their work:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2xSB...ture=quicklist The expense in all would come out to around $3000. I'll have some pics up soon....

[AMS Performance]

Be careful with NOS....

With that said, the three best mods on these NA 55 AMG motors are headers, high flow cats & crank pulley. After that software would be next, then smaller items like K&N filters & etc.

Weight reduction is a great way to improve performance but one problem on the W208 CLK55s is the weight balance is already bad enough and most of the easy weight reduction mods are on the back half of the car. Its much harder to get the power to the ground then compared to say a W210 E55 AMG, granted the tire width difference is another factor. If you can drop 150-200lbs out of the CLK then it will certainly make a drastic difference.

Its best to keep these cars naturally aspirated and improve the performance from there, NOS or SC (although may make more power) is rather futile b/c most of that extra HP is lost through loss of traction, it would be much better to add NA performance parts & do significant weight reduction than go the NOS route, but its totally up to you. Although the end result may appear to be the same, it is better to get 100% of 400HP to the ground, than 80% of 500HP.

hope that helps,
~AMS~

[cdiem]

Hey AMS

That helps very much. Since its summer time and it tends to be a little wet in south florida i will be swapping my stock tires size with some nitt0 NT555 tires. I was thinking about slapping on some P255/40ZR17 in front and P315/35ZRZ17 in back to put the power down. What do you guys think??? I looking into some headers from you as well as a pulley system. looking forward to working on my car - we'll keep in touch

[blackbenzz]

Originally Posted by AMS Performance

Its best to keep these cars naturally aspirated and improve the performance from there, NOS or SC (although may make more power) is rather futile b/c most of that extra HP is lost through loss of traction, it would be much better to add NA performance parts & do significant weight reduction than go the NOS route, but its totally up to you.

I disagree. Show me an 11s N/A CLK55, much less a 10s one

[AMS Performance]

Originally Posted by blackbenzz

I disagree. Show me an 11s N/A CLK55, much less a 10s one

Speed is not everthing. FI / NOS ruines the character of the car in my opinion. If you want a kompressor AMG just get an E55 or C32 (they are so cheap these days anyways that the era of mercedes aftermarket superchargers is probably coming to an end). It just doesn't make financial sense to do aftermarket SCs anymore.

[AMS Performance]

Originally Posted by cdiem

Hey AMS

That helps very much. Since its summer time and it tends to be a little wet in south florida i will be swapping my stock tires size with some nitt0 NT555 tires. I was thinking about slapping on some P255/40ZR17 in front and P315/35ZRZ17 in back to put the power down. What do you guys think??? I looking into some headers from you as well as a pulley system. looking forward to working on my car - we'll keep in touch

Hello Cdiem,

Sounds good. Regarding the tires, its hard to fit much more than 235s up front and 275s out back without rubbing. On the rears you can roll/flare fenders for more clearance and maybe squeeze out 285s or maybe even 295s with spacers, but definitely not 315s. Only way to run that is with a widebody kit which is not worth it.

Tire width is not everything, the quality of rubber is equally as important. I HIGHLY recommend getting Dunlap Direzza Z1 star spec tires, they are the best tire out there and are relatively inexpensive compared to Pilot sports which suck by comparison and are extremely expensive for no reason at all. With 275 dunlap Z1s in rear you should have no traction problems. Hope that helps.

[55 ON IT]

I went through just about every N/A step; intake, headers, lsd, ecu, and nothing was more satisfying then dropping the sc in it.

[blackbenzz]

Originally Posted by AMS Performance

Speed is not everthing. FI / NOS ruines the character of the car in my opinion. If you want a kompressor AMG just get an E55 or C32 (they are so cheap these days anyways that the era of mercedes aftermarket superchargers is probably coming to an end). It just doesn't make financial sense to do aftermarket SCs anymore.

Again I completely disagree. Ruins the character of the car? Have you ever driven a SC W208 CLK55? Exacyly how does it ruin the character of the car, by making it faster? CLK55 = 2 door coupe, E55 or C32 = 4 door sedan... Which do you think weighs less and handles better? I don't understand your reasoning

Originally Posted by 55 ON IT

I went through just about every N/A step; intake, headers, lsd, ecu, and nothing was more satisfying then dropping the sc in it.

I'm glad someone else agrees

[SLK55R]

Originally Posted by AMS Performance

Speed is not everthing. FI / NOS ruines the character of the car in my opinion. If you want a kompressor AMG just get an E55 or C32 (they are so cheap these days anyways that the era of mercedes aftermarket superchargers is probably coming to an end). It just doesn't make financial sense to do aftermarket SCs anymore.

Are you nuts?

Seriously ... unless you own a NA 55 that has been supercharged ... please don't talk about what you don't know.

[AMS Performance]

Some people will do any thing to get more power, NA purists live by a different ideology. If all you want is more power just to brag to your buddies... fine, but more power does not necessarily make the car "better". its just an opinion. Yes of course I've been in aftermarket SC benzes but honestly I wasn't impressed, certainly not for the amount of capital invested to do the conversion. I'd rather get a entire track car for the same price as the SC upgrade alone and use the AMG as a daily. Its tough to justify that kind of an investment into something that will only depreciate faster in the near future. But to each his own.

[SLK55R]

Originally Posted by AMS Performance

Some people will do any thing to get more power, NA purists live by a different ideology. If all you want is more power just to brag to your buddies... fine, but more power does not necessarily make the car "better". its just an opinion. Yes of course I've been in aftermarket SC benzes but honestly I wasn't impressed, certainly not for the amount of capital invested to do the conversion. I'd rather get a entire track car for the same price as the SC upgrade alone and use the AMG as a daily. Its tough to justify that kind of an investment into something that will only depreciate faster in the near future. But to each his own.

I didn't get more power to "brag" to my buddies ... I did it for the hp and torque. I think most anyone, but yourself, would have a hard time saying a stock NA55 is some how better than a supercharged version.

So you don't own one ... again ... stick to what you know then. How others justify how they spend their money is none of your concern.

[blackbenzz]

Originally Posted by AMS Performance

Some people will do any thing to get more power, NA purists live by a different ideology. If all you want is more power just to brag to your buddies... fine, but more power does not necessarily make the car "better". its just an opinion. Yes of course I've been in aftermarket SC benzes but honestly I wasn't impressed, certainly not for the amount of capital invested to do the conversion. I'd rather get a entire track car for the same price as the SC upgrade alone and use the AMG as a daily. Its tough to justify that kind of an investment into something that will only depreciate faster in the near future. But to each his own.

Wow, you have a very unique perspective on things. Explain to me how a NA 55 is "better" than a supercharged one? If you like slower cars then I can understand. What benz did you drive that had an aftermaket supercharger and left you unimpressed? I don't think a single person I've given a ride in my car wasn't impressed for what it is. Do you realize that you sell benz performance parts? If "Its tough to justify that kind of an investment into something that will only depreciate faster in the near future" then why do you sell aftermarkt benz parts? Not really a good investment if you ask me, but then again I dont mod my car as an investment

[AMGOODNESS]

before you buy any aftermarket parts for your car from anyone on this forum i suggest you do some searching. know what you are buying and feel comfortable with your purchase. i own a turbo vw with about 250hp and it is a blast to drive. boosted cars are fun for sure.

[timdf]

MORE LOW END GRUNT at least that's what I suspect is the case.

ie torque as that's what your 'butt dyno' feels - more peak HP only adds to terminal velocity.

As we all know the best way to add significant low end grunt is by forced injection be it a super charger or turbo.

Tweaking with a NA engine is never going to come close to the rush of extra boost.

Personally I prefer the feel of turbo's on my 911 over the super charger on my Mini Cooper S.

That said I suspect I'd prefer the super charger on a 55k over both of them

[cdiem]

-Yeah thanx for the tip AMGOODNESS.

I have done alot for research on the board and am confident in the items i will be purchasing. But am not quite sure about my wheels can anybody recomend the best tires for stock 17in rims without any rubbing issues, how wide can i go?... they come stock w/ 245/40 in the rear?
-thanks in advanced

[AMS Performance]

Originally Posted by SLK55R

.

So you don't own one ... again ... stick to what you know then. How others justify how they spend their money is none of your concern.

Who said I didn't own one

[ProjectC55]

Originally Posted by AMS Performance

Who said I didn't own one

Dude you have a habit of stepping into the bear trap everytime with your comments!

[Chappy]

How do you like my new business plan for increasing sales?

1. Sound like an idiot
2. Irritate or otherwise turnoff any future prospective clients

How am I doing so far??