CLA 45 AMG (C117) 2013 to 2018

DIY Performance Mods for CLA45!!

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Old 09-17-2014, 01:40 AM
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DIY Performance Mods for CLA45!!

Been thinking about the most cost efficient way to modify the stock car's performance! Post your own ideas and let me know what you think about mine!!


Air Intake Box Gold Foil Wrap
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3807/1...c4f9d702_c.jpg
I notice a pretty significant drop in speed after the car's engine bay has been heat soaked, especially after a lot of stop and go traffic. So i'm planning on heat wrapping the intake box and maybe the tubing as well with gold foil that deflects heat and is applied like a sticker.


Air Intake Inlet modification:
Instead of buying the Willal racing inlet and filter, can't we just dremel out or widen the stock intake inlet? Sounds like the same thing as buying an aftermarket and not having to pay 500 big bucks for it.


Rear Spoiler modification:
I'm thinking about taking off the stock AMG spoiler and adding little universal spoiler mounts so that it can look more aggressive and still follow the cars lines without looking non-oem.


Custom Ram Air Intake Scoops
http://www.beastpower.com/products/r...rpi-e60m-1.jpg
Similar to that design I think our cars could benefit from having a little assistance in acquiring more air since we run such high boost figures


If you have any ideas of your own, lmk!

Last edited by CLA45AMG2.0; 09-18-2014 at 04:01 PM.
Old 09-17-2014, 12:21 PM
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I suppose you can with the intake. But, how are you going to make it perfect? I suspect in time, someone from China will come out with an adapter like the Willal.
Old 09-17-2014, 08:45 PM
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I'd rather stay stock than half ***/rig together some mod that will not only yield minimum to no gains, but could likely cause issues forcing me to either upgrade or replace the stock part. I'm a firm believer of "buy nice or buy twice". That said, good luck in your endeavor and post your results.

Last edited by soolman32; 09-17-2014 at 10:44 PM.
Old 09-17-2014, 09:39 PM
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Originally Posted by CLA45AMG2.0
Been thinking about the most cost efficient way to modify the stock car's performance! Post your own ideas and let me know what you think about mine!!


Air Intake Inlet modification:
Instead of buying the Willal racing inlet and filter, can't we just dremel out or widen the stock intake inlet? Sounds like the same thing as buying an aftermarket and not having to pay 500 big bucks for it.


Rear Spoiler modification:
I'm thinking about taking off the stock AMG spoiler and adding little universal spoiler mounts so that it can look more aggressive and still follow the cars lines without looking non-oem.


Custom Ram Air Intake Scoops
http://www.beastpower.com/products/r...rpi-e60m-1.jpg
Similar to that design I think our cars could benefit from having a little assistance in acquiring more air since we run such high boost figures


If you have any ideas of your own, lmk!
Why would you do that to a nice clean car. If you don't have money for nice mods then why dont you get an eclipse
Old 09-18-2014, 06:48 AM
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Some DIY mods can be very good and inexpensive. It's not always about paying tons of money for 'nice' mods. This is coming from someone who paid $2500 for a Braille CF lithium battery.
Old 09-18-2014, 11:31 AM
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While some DIY mods are cool, here's a bit of counter-point on the ones you're proposing:

Intake: There may be a certain air velocity the 45 is tuned for to get it's low-end torque. If you open up the intake, you're 1) lowering that velocity, 2) possibly leaning out the A/F ratio. With all the successful piggybacks floating around it seems the ECU is able to handle this condition, but then again, it all adds up.

Ram Air: No. proven time and time again that it does nothing. Especially when you consider you're running a forced induction engine. A cold air intake MIGHT yield a little bit of gains, but a ram air's convoluted piping means you're sacrificing low-end velocity, and barely making it up at the upper RPMs.
Old 09-18-2014, 12:57 PM
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Originally Posted by ddtung
Some DIY mods can be very good and inexpensive. It's not always about paying tons of money for 'nice' mods. This is coming from someone who paid $2500 for a Braille CF lithium battery.
You're right, it's no about paying lots of cash for no reason for nice mods. However, one should consider the effect of said cheap DIY mod on the car overall performance. What's the point of saving $500 upfront if you'll end up paying double that to fix the issue. There are some things I'm willing to skimp on, but as a general rule of thumb, I stay away from mods (DIY or not) that can adversely impact performance and handling. It's not my car and I'm only offering my opinion which the OP can chose to ignore. But I consider this DIY idea no different than cutting stock springs to lower the car. Because why buy more expensive aftermarket springs/coilovers designed for that very purpose when you can just as easily trim the springs...
Old 09-18-2014, 03:41 PM
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Originally Posted by jamesyot
Why would you do that to a nice clean car. If you don't have money for nice mods then why dont you get an eclipse
Lay off the steroids dude lol! You got an intake box for like $1.5k, it's made out of carbon fiber that's shaped exactly like the stock box... Also you got a $2.5k piggyback along with some downpipe and exhaust that prob run you another $2.5k or so. With almost 10k in upgrades you could've gotten a much faster M4 or brand new C63 AMG. Don't tell me what to get and imply that i'm a ricer lol! This post was purely idea based, just wanted feed-back. Not to be flamed by some guy who thinks more expensive is the best way .
Old 09-18-2014, 03:42 PM
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Originally Posted by ddtung
Some DIY mods can be very good and inexpensive. It's not always about paying tons of money for 'nice' mods. This is coming from someone who paid $2500 for a Braille CF lithium battery.
The awesome-ness in this post is bar-none. lol
Old 09-18-2014, 03:52 PM
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Originally Posted by vaelin
While some DIY mods are cool, here's a bit of counter-point on the ones you're proposing:

Intake: There may be a certain air velocity the 45 is tuned for to get it's low-end torque. If you open up the intake, you're 1) lowering that velocity, 2) possibly leaning out the A/F ratio. With all the successful piggybacks floating around it seems the ECU is able to handle this condition, but then again, it all adds up.

Ram Air: No. proven time and time again that it does nothing. Especially when you consider you're running a forced induction engine. A cold air intake MIGHT yield a little bit of gains, but a ram air's convoluted piping means you're sacrificing low-end velocity, and barely making it up at the upper RPMs.

As for the intake i'm considering just replacing the filter with a after-market highflow. Along with heat wrapping the intake box with gold foil http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49277

Old 09-18-2014, 06:01 PM
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The gold foil looks pretty weird. High flow filter would work just fine
Old 09-18-2014, 06:30 PM
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Originally Posted by jmevox
The gold foil looks pretty weird. High flow filter would work just fine
Old 09-18-2014, 07:36 PM
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Would silver or aluminium foil work? The gold looks very tacky.
Old 09-18-2014, 09:54 PM
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I wouldn't say aluminum since that might actually keep the intake box warm. You want something that reflects heat, even exhaust wraps might not work right since they are made to keep heat in and not reflect it. Not sure but yeah i'm sure there are silver heat reflectors!
Old 09-18-2014, 10:54 PM
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Originally Posted by CLA45AMG2.0
As for the intake i'm considering just replacing the filter with a after-market highflow. Along with heat wrapping the intake box with gold foil http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49277

Think this is a much better idea. Friend of mine used the gold foil to wrap the piping of his twin turbo setup and it works quite well
Old 09-19-2014, 05:19 AM
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There are a couple of excellent silver wrap solutions available.
Old 09-19-2014, 08:13 AM
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Here are the links:

http://www.thermalprotectioninc.com/

http://earlsindy.com//home/store/pro...oducts_id=2738
Old 09-19-2014, 08:17 AM
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The heat reflecting silver wrap together with the proper K&N filter on a modified OEM mounting bracket may be the answer.
Old 09-19-2014, 08:25 AM
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here we go!
Old 09-20-2014, 10:06 PM
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Any attempt to cool the intake air is likely a waste of effort because turbo has its own cooling. There was a study measuring air temps before and after the air cooling.

Regardless stock or CIA, hot air or cold air at the intake, the air temps at the manifold were not impacted.

On the other hand, the Winall intake kit showed substantial torque gain at lower RPM, something like 50 NM, or 37 ft lbs. That is going to be more noticeable than the 8 ft lbs peak torque gain.

Can we confirm this with Winall?
Old 09-22-2014, 10:30 PM
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Originally Posted by CLA45AMG2.0
Lay off the steroids dude lol! You got an intake box for like $1.5k, it's made out of carbon fiber that's shaped exactly like the stock box... Also you got a $2.5k piggyback along with some downpipe and exhaust that prob run you another $2.5k or so. With almost 10k in upgrades you could've gotten a much faster M4 or brand new C63 AMG. Don't tell me what to get and imply that i'm a ricer lol! This post was purely idea based, just wanted feed-back. Not to be flamed by some guy who thinks more expensive is the best way .
Huh steroids? I was giving my opinion on mods for this car, which I do have more experience with since I was one of the first ones to throw mods in this car. If I wanted a M4 or a C63 I would buy one LOL. I am not flaming you, you are just getting butt hurt because I gave you my opinion. BTW I really like my awesome Carbon fiber intake box
Old 09-23-2014, 09:54 AM
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^ That carbon fiber intake box is awesome and I want it but refuse to pay that kind of money for an intake. If I had the money I would do it and I am jealous. One question, did you notice any difference with your tune after adding the intake? I know for my Evo any time I added a part I would need to get a new tune.
Old 09-23-2014, 12:56 PM
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Originally Posted by jamesyot
Huh steroids? I was giving my opinion on mods for this car, which I do have more experience with since I was one of the first ones to throw mods in this car. If I wanted a M4 or a C63 I would buy one LOL. I am not flaming you, you are just getting butt hurt because I gave you my opinion. BTW I really like my awesome Carbon fiber intake box
Your "opinion" was derogatory and implied that I should get a Celica and be on "your" level.. lol That's more than just an opinion loll

Like countless others say, paying $1,500 for an intake box that is basically a mold of the stock intake box is out of the question. I also have a S65 AMG with a V12 twin-turbo, I seriously think you need to get out of your gym and take a real look at what cars are available for "performance." This thread is just a way to improve-on the cars already great performance. If I chucked 10k into a S65 it would be able to beat most super-cars from a roll, maybe even from a dig. I'm not trying to make fire with ice here, this post is just to brainstorm ideas for some cheap thrills fun. It's not the place to brag or tell someone what to drive. The fact that you have every single over-priced modification possible shows that are either a millionaire which I highly doubt, or someone that bought a car that's too slow and you're trying to justify your purchase. If you think you're just giving an opinion than I would tell you to get over yourself and go drive a Celica, because again.. That's just my OPINION. lol

Last edited by CLA45AMG2.0; 09-23-2014 at 01:03 PM.
Old 09-23-2014, 12:59 PM
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Originally Posted by jmevox
^ That carbon fiber intake box is awesome and I want it but refuse to pay that kind of money for an intake. If I had the money I would do it and I am jealous. One question, did you notice any difference with your tune after adding the intake? I know for my Evo any time I added a part I would need to get a new tune.
I don't think it's about "having money," it's more like... do I want to blow 1.5k for more "blow off sound" and minimal gains... Into an investment that is already not the most logical. LOl I don't know anyone who is made of money because they're busy making money, not showing off their purchases and giving "life-style" advice on a mercedes benz forum. If someone thinks their car is better than a Celica, they should go on Youtube, start a channel like Jay Leno's Garage and see how many subscribers they can get. lol
Old 09-23-2014, 03:13 PM
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has anyone tighten the wastegate arm by 3 turns to make the car hold boost longer


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