V12TTenthusiast

Pre Dyno tune results were 564.xx can't remember the last two decimal points, then we tested the car for a few runs and the throttle position sensor went out of whack so we need to replace it. But lower end has improved now, once the TPS is replaced, we will dyno it again so we can get the correct numbers as throttle wont be restricted.

As for driving it, feels much more torque. TC is keeps lighting up like crazy now even when I'm rolling, hopefully the special Quaife LSD I had to order from the UK will help once it gets here

Ekselent

Any news?

V12TTenthusiast

Yeah built a new intake but can't take it on the dyno yet since I have a bad strut. We tried and the side with the bad strut did a crazy rodeo on the dyno at 140+ mph so we are replacing the strut and doing a dyno run next week. But from the way it feels, much better then the OEM Air Boxes.

On 03-08 SLs you can't put a cold air intake in the front their no room so I did a 3 inch short ram with filters right where the holes are for air to come in thru the radiator. Feels alot better now esp in high rpms starting in 2nd gear when its sucking up a lot of air and you can hear the turbos sucking that air up

Thericker

If fabbd of metal? etc... Only way this will work better than oem boxes is in cold/cool ambient air driving at higher speeds to actually get needed airflow to this type intake, that is UNTIL the new short metal piping is superheated after few min of driving then perf will be less than oem boxes in real world w/hood closed etc. Any ambient air higher than low-mid 70's at any other normal speeds ie stop n go, or mild cruising speeds, you will see far less perf than oem boxes.. But what do I know lol..

PS the sounds you hear now AREN'T from improved airflow the oem boxes made of plastic w/internal flat filters actually muffle the wastegate/BOV noises greatly, & made intentionally to do so as normal/average customers don't appreciate these sounds like us.

Vs ur short metal ram intakes w/cones, they enhance all turbo noises (metal piping & external filters augment this greatly) down side to ur intakes is HEAT SOAK try dynoing this intake w/your hood closed to more acurately duplicate real world conditions & compare to oem boxes you'll see try & touch them even after just 5-10 min of driving..

You've just made your sl slower, even tho filters are close to oem air holes the metal piping negates this as piping is superheated vs oem plastic that doesnt conduct heat like metal etc.. PS what happened to Paypal for IC's?

V12TTenthusiast

I think the feel is good right now since DC is freezing right now so there's not much heat to soak up but its prob gonna be the case when it starts warming up. The intakes is with 3 inch aluminium pipe and silicon tubing. I'm gonna get a dyno run on it soon and also test it on the track.

Once the black series kit goes on soon I want to try the front mount CAI, since in hotter weather the radiator would prob blast warm air into the filters but after going an hour at 70-90 mph speeds the cones are still pretty cool so its prob the below freezing weather DC is having that's keeping them cool.

Send me a PM of the email I'm suppose to paypal to I was about to send you a text lol

Thericker

You sent me a text last week asking to buy my oem IC's & that you'd send Paypal next day etc no worries

Thericker

I just reread your post here, you must be new to CAI in general I was trying to explain to you that the ACTUAL metal piping part of your short ram intakes will be heatsoaked in few minutes, NOT the actual cone airfilters, the aluminum is far better than mild steel or ss steel but STILL conducts heat in mere min.. (try touching the actual aluminum tubing that runs to turbo inlets ya oven mitts needed NOT good for any CAI perf whatsoeve)

That is the main problem, the intake pipings positioned right next to ur exhaust manifolds & engine block, couple that to sealed engine bay the majority of air your intakes get will be blistering furnace heat ie even w/freezing ambient air temps, as soon as those pipes heat up & u drop to cruising speeds or stop in traffic, your perf will be horrible vs oem boxes etc..

RaceHorse

How about some pics, and stop dumping on the downpipe thread, I keep thinking there is an update on some performance gains. LOL Hopefully you will get your strut situation resolved and weather will allow you to get a good pass before Sean's sarcastic facts are proven to be very correct. It really becomes a rock and a hard place. Draw from in front of the grille and you be have only one filter sucking up water if you get caught in the rain. If you stay behind the radiator support then summer time heat is insane. The volume shouldn't choke it up will a scorpion like double barrel filter setup, however, as mentioned the heat will take its toll.

V12TTenthusiast

This should be linked to all the other threads lol, I posted results with downpipes with no air boxes as OEM air boxes restrict the air flow with 3 inch downpipes. car went from 540ish rwhp to 634.81 with no boxes, dyno sheet is on the R230 section, but the best run turned out to be a 636 run.

Once I get the strut fix I'll do another dyno run. I'm thinking about maybe doing the whole piping with silicone tubing but I wanted something temp for now. I wont be able to do a front radiator mount till black series kit goes on till march but on the 03-08 models those round head lights make it hard to mount them in the front.

I was debating that fact to with rain but I'm gonna have to research what can be done about avoiding getting water sucked up thru the intake

V12TTenthusiast

https://mbworld.org/forums/attachmen...pipes-sl65.jpg

Heres the dyno sheet for the 2nd best run with no air boxes

Thericker

Not repeat same mistakes I & many other V12tt owners have already done.. Answer here is fab entire CAI w/silicone piping it mitigates heatsoak vs metal versions & you can run ever increasing pipe diameter to front oem air openings, I ran up to 4.5" dia if memory serves (you cant do this w/metal tubing as there's myriad of protrusions that the silicone tubing easily accomadate etc) The BEST option though is cut the oem holes open (requires some steady handed cutting tools) to run airfilters outside engine bay

Edit: Zero possibility Hydrolocking w/outside filters lol.. Only way this would happen is if you drove your SL thru standing water deep enough to reach your airfilters. Seriously Ive ran outside filters for 5+ yrs not only thru good rainy down pour but thru the car wash too.. You'd have to hold your garden hose right into airfilters & blast w/water etc it aint gonna happen people, even if you did this to unmodified oem intake on ANY car you'd Hydrolock it.. Normal weather or carwash conditions will never replicate this..

RaceHorse

Understood, you are doing your job of sharing from your experience, while making it entertaining along the way, which is much appreciated. So what size filters do run? I realize the stock set up is a joke, but is a single cone filter for each turbo sufficient for a down piped car? Does it allow for the volume of air the car needs or is there a reason for the quad filter setup on the scorpion pipes?

Ekselent

Any news?

kamilclk430

Hold on, so eliminating the oem intake boxes will give our cars an extra 90rwhp something is off here. Calling Speedriven on this topic is this true? or far from it? Our intakes have not as much restriction as our OEM manifolds which are the cause of airflow, so Its hard to believe changing intakes alone will open up that much airflow since we are still running OEM manifolds that will hold up that air even with 3 inch downpipes

Dr Matt

Given our terrible airbox design it would not suprise me to see impressive gains with a better flowing intake system. Not sure about 90 HP but I wouldn't disagree it's possible with the right combo of other mods, especially if someone has dyno evidence. Like others have said, the small turbos and exhaust manifolds are no doubt a big restriction that can't be fixed with intake mods.

After all, turbos & blowers are really good at pushing air, but not very good at pulling it. I went from 618/662 to 697/734 RWHP/TQ with my Lightning when I swapped a bigger plenum, TB, and intake tube/filter on.

benz_addict

I don't have the these exact ones but custom fabricated something similar. I must say for you guys who are after performance this is a must. Love the exhaust sound and turbo spooling noise.

But just don't know how to put that much torque down to the ground and actually get the car moving

kamilclk430

SPEEDRIVEN offers the scorpion intakes these are an improvement over stock air boxes

V12TTenthusiast

If I wasn't there for those dyno pulls and got those dyno sheets I wouldn't believe it either but I had easy 7 runs from 630-636 back to back when OEM air boxes were pulled out when I had my 3 inch exhaust in. If you pull out the air box you can see it gets really narrow when it goes down from the filters to the turbo. I was thinking about trying to cut and mod my OEM air box so it would have a much bigger hole from filter to turbo.

Also with your TB did you upgrade from the 600 to 65 TB or get something special? I got a spare 65 TB I was thinking about boring out even if its 2-4 more mm I'm curious what gains ill get even if it's a little

V12TTenthusiast

Both struts been changed and ABC works fine again. Just waiting on dyno time since Eurocharged DC has a sale right now till Friday and all the dyno time is being taken up.

If I'm lucky Friday I might be able to some runs in. Also have a 5 gal drum of Q16 ready to go.

On the side note not though my LSD for my SL65 is in now and holy ****tt!!! Car hooks sooo much better now. No more crazy Christmas tree lighting up in my dash. I do get it but it's very rare now and the traction control fixes itself much much faster. Gonna get toe links soon and that should keep the car straight with the help of the LSD

kamilclk430

What were your HP and TQ #s before the downpipes? and after with no AIRBOX removal?

V12TTenthusiast

With just ECU tune, stock exhaust and air box it was 565
ECU Tune with 3 Inch Full Custom Exhaust and OEM Air boxes it dropped to 540s
ECU Tune, 3 Inch Full Exhaust and no air box 636

So we def figured out it was the air box causing the car to choke up so now we are making intakes and testing out different ones to see what works best

But heres the link to the with the dyno sheet from ECU tune compared to ECU/3 inch/no air box. The sheet has 634 but there was a run we missed that got 636.

https://mbworld.org/forums/attachmen...pipes-sl65.jpg

kamilclk430

So your HP numbers dropped after adding an exhaust? Seems like it should have gone up. What fuel are these numbers based on? 93oct? 100oct?

V12TTenthusiast

93 Oct.

Yeah we were all shocked too. and trying to figure it out. But the moment you take out air boxes you can see the problem. It looks very big going in but when you look at the pipe that goes from the filter to the turbo you can see how the design of the pipe is very bad and its very narrow thus new intakes are needed.

kamilclk430

I think your main problem is also on the Manifolds. You opened up your airflow on the back side but your airflow to go in is clogged up. Doing the scorpion intakes Speedriven has should solve the trick and bump the held up HP. I will be getting my Scorpions installed sometime this week or next week and will visit a dyno to check my numbers my mods are close to the same I just have a HE, Pump, and Rear Tank. I will do my numbers with 100oct also so if you can do 100 oct try that I wonder how both cars will compare on dyno. I do have smaller turbos than the 65 however so we will see.

Dr Matt

The numbers I quoted were from my 2004 Ford Lightning. The TB I took of was huge compared to the one on my CL65 at 1350 cfm. When I upgraded it was to a mammoth Kenne Bell 2450 cfm single blade throttle body.