New owner of a ‘16 GTS...
 

Dear fellow GT owners,

I am extremely happy to announce that I just purchased a 2016 GTS for about $90k, CPO, with around 5600 miles on the clock. MSRP of $160k.

I currently drive a ‘15 S63 sedan which I love but I was looking for something much lighter on its feet. I’ve also owned a ‘13 C63 sedan in the past which was an absolute beats.

I’ll be posting pics soon but I wanted to go over my project first to get some opinions:

1) RW Carbon rear diffuser, CF steering wheel trim, CF shift paddles.

2) H&R lowering springs (Are there lowering springs which go lower than these 1.2 inch drop?). I do not want to go with a Coilover setup.

3) Catless Downpipes
Upgraded NGK spark plugs
BMC replacement filter
Weistec BOV (any benefit with these?)
Pure Turbos 800 or 900
Performanfe tune plus handheld

I am being told by my tuner that the pure turbos 900 is overkill and 800 is enough. I will not be running meth injection and will be using 91 octane gas which is unfortunately the highest octane gas here.

What do do you guys think? Would love to hear your thoughts. Can’t wait to get started!

Congrats!!!! Fantastic set up. If you are going to go this route, I probably would not go lower springs. For the width of this car, I would get dedicated coilovers. You would maintain the handling and have less issues with camber and wear and tear to control arms and suspension links. Just not worth it. The car will perform better and you would have better control and rigidity.

Post Pics!!!

Congrats!! Now let's see this beast...

Excellent price. But we need photos!

Congrats, and your planned build is exciting. Agree with ZephyrAMG --with the money you're spending, I would definitely spend another $1200 and get coilovers.

Finally, pics or none of this is happening.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...7d3fbde95.jpeg
More pics to come.

Congrats! Looks great!

Tracking a bunch and/or love to tinker with compression and rebound? If not, you don’t need coil overs at all, however, I would STRONGLY suggest KW H.A.S. adjustable springs. You May never need to or want to adjust ride height after you set them up initially, but nice to have the option to do so if needed. And since it’s just a spring and not a full coil over set up, you retain the factory suspension adjustment ability!

Another thought, why is the Pure900 overkill? Maybe it is for your situation and you went into greater detail with the tuner than you did on the forum, but if goal is as much power and flow from the turbos as possible, well then.........
Keep in mind, if wanting to fully maximize the 900’s and are racing, transmission may start to get a bit unhappy.

Downpipes-can’t recommend Kooks Exptics enough. Check that out.

Tuning-sounds like you I’ve that handled, but if for any reason you are still searching, DME Tuning is tough to beat.

But anyways, love that you got a great car you will enjoy, and sounds like you have a fun game plan for it mapped out, congrats and enjoy!

Nice looking. enjoy!!

Thanks for the info!

I have literally driven the car for about a few hours now and, I can seriously say that this thing is a beast, especially in higher revs/speeds. Its hard for me to get the power down in 1st gear, getting used to it. Before this car, I have had a '13 C63 and I currently also drive a '15 S63 sedan I have had for over a year but this car is really something else.

Regarding altering compression/rebound, I would never play with that, and I Would never mess with the ride height either. As long as I am on the lowest setting, I"m good. And I'm pretty sure the KW HAS system does not go lower than the H&R's 1.2 inches.

Regarding the PureTurbos 900 kit, I will choose to go with that system, and are actually planning on getting it installed at SSR Performance which is pretty local to me, (1 hour drive). I am not planning on "racing" the car as of yet. I will take it on the track here and there. But for most of the time, it will be a weekend monster and a garage queen during the week. The transmission/axle will not be happy handling all the added power?

As far as the downpipes, I decided to go with the full catless downpipes, custom fabricated from SSR where my install is being done. Will the gas fumes drive me crazy?

As far as the tune, I am leaning towards golabworx tuning, a close friend of mine tuned his '15 E63 with them and is very pleased. SSR recommended DME to me and I will consider them as well.

Questions
Will I need wider, stickier tires after all the added power?
Is there anything I can do to hear more of the turbo spool? May be a stupid question but I used to drive a Lancer EVO, and I loved the spooling noises from the turbos, just like the Abarth.
I would love to have more exhaust burble, I think that is possible with the tune?
Also, I want a high HP/lower torque setup. This is also configurable from the tune correct?

Thanks for all your support.

Golabworx/Kevin / DME, you are all good there....killer tune.

Wider/sticker, once Pure900, yes.

Catless downpipes will allow most turbo sound you can get.

Catless should give you enough burble, avoid all that stupid artificial popping that lasts 5-10 seconds after letting off gas, cool for a day, then.......

High HP no problem, high torque with 900’s, trans will start to slip at some point. But talk to Kevin about turbo set up, he can pull some torque out at specific areas of power band to provide longevity to trans, won’t be absolute max Hp and TQ, but trams will be happier, or go max HP and TQ and trans be damned! But you can’t have both max with 900’s and longevity of clutches.

I personally love HIGH HP and LOW TORQUE feel. And low torque is much healthier for the tranny. Similar ratio like the E92 M3 where HP was around 420 and torque was under 300 and the S2k (which I had 2 of) with around 240 hp and around 160 torque. Is this something that can be configured with the tune? If yes, it would be awesome to have 750 hp and under 600 torque.

Thanks for all your help.

Congrats and welcome! Nice to see owners get right to the mods!

I never measured but when I had H&R springs on my car, I swear it lowered more than 1.2". I also had/have aftermarket wheels and it rubbed pretty bad over bumps/dips. The ride was also pretty terrible. I was almost convinced they sent me the wrong springs but I think they only make one set for these cars.

Switched to the KW HAS and it rides much better and no more rubbing. I've got less than a 2 finger gap all around.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...6faa0b4e8.jpeg

Another new photo I took stock, before the mods begin.

I’m taking my car on Monday to SSR Performance to have my Pure Turbos stage 2 installed as well as custom catless downpipes from them, and H&R springs. I am having my tune done by Golabworx. Can’t wait! I’ve only had this beast for a couple of weeks and I can’t imagine how insane it will be after my mods are done.

Cosmetic upgrades im doing soon:
Chrome Delete for front grille, door handles and exhaust tips
20% tint all around
RW Carbon rear diffuser
Powder coating wheels (what color do you guys think looks best with my setup and Magno iridium paint?). Graphite? Black?

Thanks for your input guys, much appreciated.

everything always looks better black

Gorgeous car.

Graphite/Titanium on the wheels for me. Black was so last year! lol

Bish

I am old and no one really listens to us old guys, but I'll give it a try anyway. I own 17 cars right now (have had over 470 that I remember), and if there is one thing I have found that have found to be true is that there is this compelling force to alter a car before you even grasp what it is capable of. I never touch my cars for at least 2 months, and the first thing I do is go to an empty parking lot (I have a set of flags with suction cups), an empty office park works great. with the GTS, put it in race mode and turn of the traction controls and see what the car can do, and learn to control it. You will also see what the cars strengths and weakness are. I do not like drive by wire delay (I have a throttle controller) and do not like the feel of alcantera (I have a leather wheel and larger paddles), the car was a bit tail happy with the tires it came with so I changed them. I have a Cayman that I set up for track use, so I use the GTS on the street only, and there is no way (at least where I live that you need more power than stock for the street. Being old I never leaned to drive with traction controls so I find the car pretty enjoyable with the stock power.

You’re 100% correct. This car feels and sounds amazing in stock form. I totally understand about getting to know the cars limits, etc as it is a bit tail happy even with the traction on.

I had a C63 a few years ago and currently also have a S63 as a DD. But this GTS is an entirely different beast. It is really engineering perfection.

The problem is that eventually I will get used to all the power this car has to offer. The easy availability of extra power makes it so hard to resist. There is so much extra power waiting to be unleashed and I would love to take this car to its max potential. The best part is that the performance upgrades are very reliable and pretty affordable when you compare the price of the performance upgrades versus the price of this car.

Downpipes / Pure Turbos / Tune and you can be pushing 700-800 reliable HP with pump gas, that was unheard of just a few years ago.

Theres my 2 cents.

KW adjustable height are the way to go, add a set of H&R 15mm wheel spacers and an OE tune and a set of Cup2 tires are all you need for the canyons.
If you need any more power than that you only drive straight roads..
BOV will help reduce intake temps and add a nice hiss..