430752

We can only buy the 4matic C-Class with the 300 series engine, a 3.0 liter v6 making okay output. I think this was the engine in the formerly deisgnated c280 model? If so, and engine has been around for a while, what are the upgrade paths to make this thing go faster? When BMW and Audi offer AWD across all engine ranges (except BMW's M series), it is kinda really dumb for MB to not follow suit. It is also not like the 4matic can't hold the power since this 4matic is used on the S-class with its potent powerhouses, and I think the Canucks are getting a c350 4matic? This may be a deal buster.

But, can we get around the weak power numbers? Is the kleeson supercharger an option? If so, how much aprpox and will they honor the mfr's warranty like JacksonRacing does with Ford products? If the Sueprcharger is too much, are chips being made? Can the dealer find the chips? Any gains with a chip and exhaust? Or chips, header and exhaust?

I ask all of this since I'm unfamiliar with MB powerplants and their tuners. Any guidance on reputable tuners is also appreciated. Want to do my due diligence before I buy what otherwise would be a very nice looking wet sponge.

-777

Untertürkheim

This all depends on how much you want to spend. If money is no option, you can do the 4.0 brabus conversion, you will get 332 hp.

Otherwise, the C300 is not a slow car. If you know how fast you want the car to be, it might be easier to answer the question, rather than just "faster".

430752

Yeah, cruised the brabus website and saw their 4.0 engine is like $32K, with swap of cores!

So how fast? Well, how about $3K faster? Which is what I might normally put into any car to go faster. To use a comparison, for a little less than $3k the Audi A4 2.0t will get about 270hp/290torque, and its lighter than the c300. Some of those mods, however, threaten to void the warranty. For a normally aspirated power plant, a different example is Jackson Racing which makes a bolt-on supercharger for $3K for fords, significantly increasing HPand torque, and they stand-behind the mfr's warranty even with supercharger.

But each car is different, upgrade paths differ, so with the NA 3.0 Merc powerplant, is it best to bolt on a superhcarger? Or is it enough to play with engine bolt-ons like intake, exhaust header, cat and exhaust? Or, must we get into engine internals (which is beyond my skill in the driveway) and get into camshafts, flywheels, etc.? No, I don't want to go stupid fast, or have my car sound like a coffee-can muffler, but I'll be damned if I gonna put Merc money down and get my clock cleaned by a kid in a 'Teg or a Neon SRT-4! (tuned Bimmers, Acuras, Audis and even Infinitis I can live with)

So, anything reputable for Mercedes? Everytime I put in euro tuners in Google, I keep getting bmw and audi/vw tuners. Not a lot for Mercs. Funny, since Merc passion created AMG, perahps the best outside tuning company ever until MB bought them.

-777

JimPap

Are you aware that the stock engine will do 155 mph? Remove the governor and you can do 165. Not enough, the amg model will do (if memory serves me correctly) 185.

...and oh, by the way, stock tires are H rated to run up to 135 mph. So you'll need to get the speed appropriate tires.

ScottyGams

watching... this could be a good one

full20v

[QUOTE=JimPap;2449709]Are you aware that the stock engine will do 155 mph? Remove the governor and you can do 165. Not enough, the amg model will do (if memory serves me correctly) 185.

...and oh, by the way, stock tires are H rated to run up to 135 mph. So you'll need to get the speed appropriate tires.[/QUO


I could be wrong but i dont believe he is looking for top speed as in if the car can go up 155mph or 160 etc, what i do believe he is looking for is speed , horse power and torque as how long it takes to get to 155mph

oblu

Give up 4matic and buy a 350/C63?

I'd be curious if a supercharger is available though.

GDawgC220

For $3000, you can go big turbo with will put out more than that, you're in the 300's for power. With a ECU flash, you're up to 250hp/293tq and that is $500 from the major tuners (APR, GIAC, REVO).

430752

GDawg- You're referring to the Audi, right? Think so, just wanted to clarify.

Otherwise, as for the 155mph, I'm not looking to go that fast, but more like to improve off the line times or to improve the 30mph-70mph times. Again, I want to avoid having my hat handed to me by a tuned civic or teg, etc. Having a nice looking ride is kinda hollow if you can't back it up with performance, imho.

Yeah, I'd love to get the c350 but it can't be had in a 4matic. I live in the NorthEast and decided this time around I was going to buy an AWD, period. I really like the Merc, but recognize in c300 trim she's a bit slow. So, before I decide to either suck it up and begin to get clocked by focii and civics, or to buy an Audi etc., I thought I'd check to see if the c300 could be improved upon?

-777

GDawgC220

Yep, referring to the 2.0T.

With any NA engine, it is hard to improve upon the power of it without spending lots of money. You can get a chip for $1000 and give yourself 10-15hp more, not worth it in my book.

If you want to tune, go for a FI (forced induction) setup, turbo/supercharger.

trustz

For about $3k, all you can do is a drop in K&N air filter, reprogram ECU and go to you local muffler shop to do a custom cat back exhaust system. It may give you total 20 hp or less. You may not feel any difference from your stock C300 ! unless some company make some aftermarket header, it may give you another 10 hp. Superchanger kit will cost you more than $10k , I don't think you want spend that much money. Even the engine is out for a few years already, due to 99% of the owner don't want to modify thier C300 or C240. so nobody is going to spend money to do the R&D for aftermarket parts for this engine. Not like Audi A4 or Ford Focus. The Mercedes C300 is not going to have many upgrade parts at all !!

Untertürkheim

If you are looking to win stoplight races, I think you have picked the wrong brand. MB designes their cars to drive compitently sustaining speeds of 150mph+ all day. Once you drive such a car, you should not need to justify it at the traffic light.

That being said, in a true test of driving skill, a few HP points will make little difference. Even in my less powerful car (although probably my favorite), a 560SEC, I have put many "quicker" cars to shame.

ScottyGams

looks like a ;ost cause...

why do the bimmer and audi boys get all the fun?

(procedes to put hands in pocket, kick pebbles, and sulk)

Bokx_350

The new C class is all about style. Park it next to a bmw or audi and you will see how these will look like Corollas. You dont need to have a lower 0-60 time to have a better car. I'll tell you, no car (lexus, bmw, audi) causes a better impresion than the c class... noone!! I have been stopped at least 7 times in the street by people asking me about the car and how cool it is. Thats what its all about. Prestige

Some people are supprised when I tell them it is a $40k car (i drive the c350); most poeple think it is a +$70k car (I guess they confuse it for an S class).

Yes you can buy a faster car for the price, but I doubt you will find more style!!

GDawgC220

Corollas, huh. I can say the same for my car...I've been stopped by people at the store or gas stations asking about it, complementing how nice it looks, etc.

No one was mentioning 0-60 times, just some performance tuning and how it is easier and much less costly it is with BMW and Audi to get some more power out of the engine due to forced induction vs a naturally aspirated engine.

The forum here always finds a way to make me laugh.

GDawgC220

I'm sure MB will be following suit with forced induction engines again for mainstream applications (not just the V12TT) now that BMW has their I6 TT and Audi rumored to be coming out with a 3.0 V6 TT (~330hp).

430752

That's why I get to sleep with all the other executive's wives - their husbands have nice suits and Hermes ties, but nothing under the hood where it counts!

Okay, that's just a joke - but a also an apt metaphor for what I'm trying to avoid inthe c300. If I'm going to get a nice ride, I'd like it to be nice throughout. Empty suits are, well, empty suits whether they be in business or on the road. The C-Class makes a statement, I'd damn sure like to be able to back-up that statement. The c350 is all I need and agree it is a damn fine car, but the c300 (the car I'm asking about) doesn't cut it, and that's the only way to get 4matic, so was hoping there would exist go-fast bits which could help it be the car it needs to be. Unfortunately, I guess I'm coming to the realization that perhaps the c-class isn't right for me right now since I need AWD and won't settle for "almost quick". And no, I'm not looking for stoplight races on a Saturday night, or other showmanship. But, I don't want to be embarassed. And you get embarassed when you make a statement, have a beyond-visual-reproach ride and then get smacked by the same corolla you laughed at when parked. I dunno, maybe until the 4matic is available in c350 trim it just won't be ready for prime-time, imho. Or, I just have to satisfy myself that I look good and am safe but other people will be sleeping with my wife, metaphorically of course.

-777

Bokx_350

Hey… I’m just saying that the image the brand represents plays a big role on the car; and it should be considered when talking about values added like 0-60 time. Sure MB has many other great attributes and benefits; like ride comfort, etc. but no one seems to mention the design.

Ironically. I have driven Audis from 2000 – 2006. 2000 1.8T B5 APR chipped and 2003 1.8T B6. Great cars, but I don’t think they are next to a C class (and it’s not just about the image here). And by the way, BOTH Audis blew the turbo at one point (and the B6 was never modded), so I would have an extra $1000 under the pillow cause it will happen.

I myself would like to see the c350 with 300 hp (like many of the others 3.5L engines out there), but then I look at the whole package and I know I have a great car.

So if all this is not enough for you, and you still need to make 0-60 in 5 secs, then this is definitely NOT the car for you. Get a Lexus IS350 which is 5.4 secs and it’s about the same as the C350 (if you don’t mind trading the German Engineer). Or sink another $8ks and get the 335.

P.S. 777, I don’t know why you had to bring wives into this, but I’m not going to ask (bad experiences?) .

CarGuru

To anyone who thinks a C300 is not quick or fast enough. Shortly after I purchased my car, I was motoring home when I came to the dreaded three lane into two merge I hate coming up to with in my work truck, because I usually have to back down and then merge. Well I approached it with the C300 and selected the "Manual" mode just to ensure I would get ahead of traffic. Incidentally I always check to make sure I will have no problem getting ahead of the car to my left. Today it happened to be a trust fund baby with a brand new 2007 Ford Explorer V8, big gawdy sunglasses, hat turned backwards, rap music playing and all the windows down. I didn't pay it attention, and had to ensure I would get ahead as almost all the traffic behind me started piling up as people likely expected my C300 to go first or be quicker just by it's looks, you all know how that goes. Light turns green and I don't floor it but take off with momentum, well all of a sudden I hear the infamous sound a Ford V8 at WOT and notice this SUV is at my rear door and a car is on my bumper and the lane ahead is running out. I reached down and toggled the shifter back to 2nd gear and gunned it. My 204 hunkered down and for the first time ever since I've had this car heard it bark or chirp the tires as I selected the + side of the shifter and it selected 3rd gear, at this point I'm pulling ahead of the Explorer not much but enough that he noticed he wasn't going to pull off this stunt and backed down. IMO any sedan able to out merge a modern mainstream SUV with it's top shelf motor is worthy of being more than adequate, considering this is coming from a base engine Benz. No doubt a C350 would have put a few lengths and would have pulled this off with finesse, but in the end I still got it done with only 228 hp at hand .

On another note, I love on ramps and off-ramps with this car. I live and look forward to every single one of them. One thing that I don't like is that I feel like I've mastered every single one of them in the C300. Before I was a little hesitant to take them to fast, then gradually moved up to more speed and seeing where and if the rear would step out. It just sticks like glue, just like my X50. Well a few weeks ago I went into an on-ramp, the loop style with my foot glued to the floor. No noise or break from the tires, however just as I got near the apex all of the cars aids kicked in and cut the throttle back and slowed the car automatically, I even got the triangle thing on the dash to flash at me. If you were driving behind me the car would have looked to be poised and just going a little faster than normal to be getting on the freeway. Inside the car I felt like the car took over all of the control. Well about a week later I got braver, took the same on-ramp again at speed with the traction control or anti roll over deal off. I had my foot glued to the floor and the car took handled the on-ramp with poise and ease again, it just felt like there was nothing I could do to get any negative lock or go any faster. Was it a blast yes? Would it be fun at an autocross? likely not. Personally I can't see why anyone on the west coast would need 4Matic anyway it's almost impossible to loose any traction with the 2wd.

-Ryan

oblu

The nice thing about the C300 is that it feels like it's accelerating faster than it really is. So at least you don't feel like you're poking along.

I was messing around on the freeway the other night and dropped it down a few gears to do a 60-90 test. In my old 330 (admittedly a manual) that would've taken just a few seconds. In the C300, it felt like it was pulling fairly strong, but took what seemed like forever to reach 90. At least long enough for me to say wtf to myself and start counting it out.

JimPap

I don't know what there is about the C300, but it seems at certain speeds, I loose perspective of just how fast I'm going. On several occassions I have found myself doing a very short stop to keep from running into the back of some other car(with one eye in the rear view mirror hoping the vehicle behind me can also stop on a dime).

Maybe that's why they put those monster brakes on them.

aowhaus

Handling and vechicle dynamics could be just as effective as power when it comes to performance and a sporty drive.

I have an Audi 3.0 V6 engine, which is known to have very little aftermarket mods for performance improvements unlike the lesser 1.8T, but I did everything else to improve the handling, feel and whatever I can squeeze out of the engine without an expensive supercharger (sway bars, snub mounts, transmission reprogramming, air intake, lightweight aluminum pulleys, sport suspension, exhaust, etc.) and I can't complain about how it performs. Of course I can't out run many performance cars, but it can pass and sprint past most cars. Eventhough I drive with a lead foot, I'm not burning rubber to prove anything.

On one business trip I drove down to Santa Fe from Aspen with my boss in a separate car (a TT 1.8T), though off the line he was much faster but I managed to catch up and followed him easily with confidence on a lonely highway with crosswinds at 135mph (the fastest I could push it) for a good stretch. I have taken my car to the track every year with a local car club and I find great pleasure throwing it through curves and turns feeling the car sticking to the pavement and with complete confidence. At 100mph it feels like many cars at half the speed.

Going from 0-60 in less than 7 seconds definately feels great but do you often mash the pedal all the time?

havacgar

C63

Cygnus X1

Agree^^^^^^^^^^

c3nthusiast

I have to agree with you on that. I work for Best Buy at the territory office. There are plenty of Audi's, Lexus, Bimmers; but my lil c300 steals the spotlight. 2 months later they still talk about it everyday.