mbny

My girlfriends brother is in the army and his car has been sitting in his parents driveway for the past year. it's an 03' Nissan Sentra SER SpecV. my girl is learning to drive stick on it and i've been using it the past few days. I remember us racing and destroying this thing in my 330, but now as i'm driving it, I realize it's significantly quicker than my C230. So now i'm looking for extra power, but nothing too crazy in labor or cost. What would you guys suggest as being somewhat inexpensive in getting another 15-20 horses? i'm thinking about doing some suspension work as well. i have to say, his sentra is quicker and handles tighter, but rattles and rides like ****. plus that FWD is annoying the way it pulls side to side during hard straightline acceleration.

jt316

ECU tuning and pulley is the only way you can go..

vraa

I'd start with the easy stuff. Pulley's and Chips work, but I'd go for something that does a double whammy.

Light weight rims.
1) Saves weight in the most crucial area, unsprung mass.
2) Looks wicked good.

nukblazi

You can get a pulley kit. But realize this, in the MB with all the sound deadening, etc., it deceivingly feels "slow" compared to tin can cars. My friends 89whp Honda feels like it's flying. Simple fact is that is just isn't.

Edit- fyi my pulley'd M111 takes 330's nicely. It's always a fun lil surprise.

Capt Nemo o2

Probably over the summer Im going to do the headers, then get the Evosport Pulley/chip, and upgrade the sways. With that horrible collector, and that right angle the exhuast manifold takes, the headers will probably alone give a solid 15 HP, then the pulley/chip combo... Im hoping that will all put me in the 220 HP range, which would certianly be good enough for me! And from the prices I heard, $900 for headers, $1600 for Evosport kit + install not too bad for an MB. The headers I will probably put in myself...

ctC230K

if you sit in a wagon and ride down the side of mt. washington i hear that feels fast too!

mbny

so what are the best pulleys for my 05' C230k? gonna do a K&N filter for a couple small horses and thinking about the powerchip. what do u guys think about that?

amdeutsch

I would suggest researching the K&N on here. So far no one has documented proof that it adds any hp. So you will find posts with claims but when called on the carpet no proof was forthcoming. Buellwinkel did a thread on this once on his old 2.3l and the results didn't live up to the hype.

ctC230K

it does add power, my butt dyno documented it plenty. get a k&n.

Capt Nemo o2

I have the K&N filter... And to be honest with you, I didnt really notice a difference! It is my beliefe that the stock filter was more than capable of keeping up with the stock engines needs. I bought it not so much for the power but its duribility because I have some plans to mod the air box, and also because any more horsepower you squeeze from the car will need more air, so this will keep me from loosing power when I do add more power...

mbny

the filter is just a drop in correct? direct replacement? from my personal experience, i've noticed that the filter replacements usually don't make much of a difference. but when changing from a stock airbox to a cold air intake, (if that's what it's considered) the difference is satisfying. had a gruppeM intake on the bmw which was one hell of an intake

however, if you can squeeze 2 hp out of the filter for $50, i think it's worth it. every little bit helps right?

jt316

don't go for K&N, it does do nothing on performance basis. If you wanna spend money, go for green filter, ITG, or BMC.

for pulley, no questions ask, either kleemann or carlsson.

nukblazi

I don't comprehend the air filter measurement. On what basis are these statements being made?

mbny

nukblazi: you seem to be one of the highly knowledged on our cars, what do u think about replacing the filter and which would you recommend?

k_lundquist

IMO its what you are looking for. I've been doing a bunch of reading on getting a K&N filter.

Here's a summary of what I've found:
1. Basically all the scary stories about ruining your MAF sensor can be avioded if you do not over oil the filter when you recharge it.

2. The engine will breathe a little bit better as the K&N is less restrictive. However with less restriction and more air flow comes more dust. People talk about the Green Filters alot because they are foam and they are better filters, although more restrictive. I've read some horror threads on Beamer boards about K&Ns letting in so much dust that an engine with 40k w/a K&N looks like a 100k engine w/o. But then again that's just someones "internet" opinion.

3. Does K&N give you a more power? Probably not a whole lot. Maybe a little and definately more if you use it in conjunction with other MODS. I ran a K&N on my old Nissan for about 5 years. It gave it a little more get-up-and-go and it sounded cooler, never had a problem.

In the end though I decided not to get one. If you are looking for more power and you don't plan on keeping the car for years then I'd get a K&N for both its power and the little bit of money you'll save from never having to change a filter.

If you are planning to keep the car for awhile and want better filtration and a filter you will never have to change buy a Green Filter.

But for me, I decided just to stick with the stock paper one. Its a good filer for both letting in enough air and keeping the engine clean. You'll just have to stay on top of changing it when it gets dirty.

What I did miss about my K&N though was its "Growl" so I read in another thread about shaving the sound dampeners in the air box. I will be doing that soon.

Hope this helps you!

mbny

please elaborate on this. sounds interesting

i ran a K&N filter in my 97' Maxima SE 5spd. didn't notice much difference so went with the place racing CAI which was nice. had the GruppeM intake in my BMW which was a real animal. sounded awesome and gave noticable gain

BlackC230Coupe

The green filters are not foam, and your also not going to gain any HP with a K&N on the C230. this aint a Nissan with a ****ty stock filter.

k_lundquist

Ah, I forget - one of em out there is foam.

And yeah, this isnt a nissan, and from what I've heard the stock setup is enough air flow for the c230s needs.

Hate to say this but.. "search the forum" for the sound dampeners removal.

I think its in a thread called: "Why did MB use a cloth filter" or something like that.