BrabusCClass

Well I just came back from Evosport and I had their underdrive pulley kit installed. It was a short install, about an hour. The funny thing is I just serviced my car yesterday so I feel a big difference but I cant tell if this added power is from the pulley kit or from my service B.

After the pulley kit install I realized that with the A/C on I can feel much more power. It feels normal as opposed to before when I could feel the drain in power as soon as the A/C was turned on. Im sure people with the 6speed C240 knows what I am talking about. I had a auto C240 as a rental and I didnt notice that much lag with the A/C on like my car.

Anyways, I drove in traffic on the way back, 90F weather, and with the A/C on my car ran as good as it would have with no A/C on. Im happy with this investment I did.

If anyone is looking for these pulleys contact www.evosport.com

trench

This was actually what I first noticed when I put headers on my Integra. Acceleration AND A/C. Woohoo!

Cheers, BT

Buellwinkle

Are those Evosport pulleys or Kleemann?

BrabusCClass

]

Evosport pulleys. My friend just pointed out it says Evosport engraved on the pulleys. Hehe.

shtatc

You would think the changing the underpulley would not do much for a normal aspirated motor. Definitely makes a difference in the supercharged motors, but I wonder how much of a real difference it makes. Does Kleemann make a kit also?

MARK CUMMINS

Yes The EVOSPORT PULLIES WORK!
Any Small GAIN Will Add up !
And The DYNO Shows the Proof! You Will Feel the Difference!
Even on My E320 Wagon I Can FEEL IT!
For The Money its a GREAT DEAL ...PUT THEM ON!

shtatc

I just read the ad in the EVOSPORT website. Increase in 13hp in 1st; 9hp in 2nd; and 7th in 3rd. I am assuming that it is more noticeable in the lower gears. How much of a difference does it make at the uper end of the spectrum? 5th and 6th - where I spend must of the time, since most of my daily commute is highway driving. I may have to go out and make the investment for them. Did youget the replacmenet belt also? or did you keep the OEM belt?

Mach430

BrabusCClass's UD pulley kit did not include the alterator pulley, as we were concerned that we would drain the battery. People with our UD alternator pulley will likely have an additional 4HP over his gains.

UD pulleys make less of a difference on a forced induction motor than they do on normally-aspirated motors. We do not change the crank pulley. The waterpump, power steering, and alternator pulleys are replaced with a larger pulley in order to spin the accessories slower. Doing this does not add power to the engine, but actually frees up excess power that is being delivered to the accessories. The result is an increase in power, especially in the low gears at WOT.

Thanks

Ben

TXTiger

Is there any risk of failure to these components due to the slower pulley or is it truly a situation where power is inefficiently managed by the pulley size? Seems to me like there must be a tradeoff here.....

604_kpEscoba

how much?

Jim Banville

Okay, so BrabusCClass had his water pump and power steering pump pulleys replaced with larger ones. Is that the extent of it? How much horsepower did he gain? I too have a 2.6 V6 C240 (2002). How much does the upgrade cost? Where is it listed on the Evosport website? What would be cool is for a DIY split-donut contraption that you fit over the stock pulley yourself to increase its overall diameter! It could be precision machined to fit the contour of the belt grove of the OEM pulley. The two "C" shaped precision machined billet aluminum pieces could be held together with a set of counter sunk bolts held in place with some sort of thread locking treatment. They could be pre-assembled at the factory where they could be balanced with the bolts in place. Is this crazy?

thanks
Jim

TXTiger

On the Evosport website it was listed as $499. Max gain (on an E320) was 13 hp in first gear - lower hp gains as the gears went higher.....

While the idea of a bolt on mod is appealing, I would doubt it would work, as I'm sure part of the concept here is to reduce the rotational mass of the pulleys themselves, not add to it.......

Mach430

We did not have time to Dyno his car, as we barely squeezed him in through all of the projects this week. He had to leave for the Evowerks show early the next morning, and we wanted him to be able to enjoy them on his ride up. I'm guessing he had gained about 9-10HP in 1st gear.

The pulleys are located HERE on our website. We are currently running an introductory sale! The entire kit, with belt, is only $499. After this month, the kits will be priced at $599.

This method of UD pulley development has been successfully implemented on hundreds of BMW's, both street and race applications. They are designed to underdrive the components, turning them slower, extending their reliability. Depending on the accessory the reduction in speed is from 13-20%.

As an added benefit, on most models, reducing the Power Steering Pump speed, improves steering feel, by reducing amount of power assist.

Installation is simple, and can be performed at virtually any qualified shop in approximately 1 hour.

Feel free to email me with any questions or inquiries.

Thanks

Ben

mleskovar

"Added benefit"?! This doesn't make sense. I wonder what other problems the original designers of the engine screwed up on that the "upgrade" will fix? Credibility went to zero.

staticwd

hey TXTiger


-sounds like a good deal.. good for you buddy.

BrabusCClass

Honestly I had my doubts but I went for it because I have talked to many many people and they said it is better for my motor. The original designers who made the car are more into cost effective products. I also asked, "then why didnt my car come with this?" Well its all about cost and what is cost effective.

I am happy with my investment and can feel the difference. I was having a lot of fun and yes in 1st and 2nd gear I feel more power. I also feel my motor running stronger with my A/C on which is a big improvement. Class C can tell you how well my car performed on our long caravan up north. 100F degree weather with A/C on my car was still pulling strong. After seeing my car in action he wanted the pulley kit. I think he is going to get it very soon.

shtatc

BrabusCClass,

Did you notice any difference in A/C output? Less air flow? or the same? I wonder how the A/C being underdriven would work in stop and go traffic?
Any difference in higher gears? 5th and 6th? I know they seem to help more at the lower gears...1st to 3rd.
Thanks.
Scott

vadim

Sorry to chime in, as this doesn't pertain to my car, but this reasoning is downright ridiculous. "Cost effective"??? Meaning: they (MB engineers) have saved a lot of dough by installing pulleys of the right size vs. UD ones??? And of course you believe in this?

Buellwinkle

I think he was refering to them being lightweight alloy vs. steel. That accounts for as much of the savings as them being underdrive pulleys.

xc240x

well whoever has them, check in with another post in a month to make sure evrything is cool and working properly... i'm interested in buying the ud pulleys, but am concerned with reliability... thanks

mdp c230k

I think the only issues will be if you use a lot of accessories(like a high powered stereo) or drive in stop and go traffic where the water pump may be not moving enough volume to keep the temp down. The reason that MB doesn't put this size pulley on at the factory is for these reasons more than cost, just look at all the other cast aluminum parts under the hood like the ABS mounting bracket. That bracket could have been made of stamped steel for a fraction of the cost. MB tests the cars under extreme conditions and the overdrive pulleys dont cut it under certain circumstances that we may actually be able to live with but in the interest of a reliable car under any circumstance they cant.

BrabusCClass

I did not change the A/C pulley so the output is the same. I just feel more power and it makes it easier to drive. Usually on a hot day I can really feel the drain when I have my A/C on full blast. With the pulleys its feels normal without the A/C on.

As for power on the higher gears, on our drive up to Northern Cali it was 100F and we all had A/C on. When we started punching it from 60-70mph to 120mph, I can pull away from ClassC and I had another person in my car.

BrabusCClass

Its basically what Bull said, they are lightweight alloy vs steel. Thats whats more cost effective. Also, these pulleys are for all V6 and if they had always made them like this then why should they change the design. It costs money to change parts to make it more efficient even thou technology advances. By the way, the size is not that different. Just a little bit bigger but it is lighter. I believe that in any type of manufacturing, from cars to whatever if you keep the original design and mold and keep building from it you save money. You cant keep changing designs. Its just not that cost effective. Also, certain materials are more cheaper. I dont think stock cars are made from "the right size". They try to cut costs to drive down the price of the car so more people will buy it. Im sure you know this. Anyways, a lot of tuners use underdrive pulleys and its a very common upgrade. I dont think its that controversial. Just go do a search on it and you can see the pros and cons. Im just letting people know of a mod that I did and like.

vadim

Don't you think that MB engineers have done some research on this, having spent millions of $$$ on each model development? BTW, This pertains to other makes - BMW, for one, as UD pulleys are being sold for bimmers, too.

Also, the weight of UD pulleys is not that important - their sizes are, let's not overcomplicate things. Forces of rotational inertia of the aforementioned pulleys are nowhere near forces of resistance put by alternator, water pump and P/S pump.

BrabusCClass

You dont think weight is important? I dunno what to say to that. Honestly I wanted only lighter pulleys and not bigger ones...

And you dont think if all mercedes share certain parts it would not save them money when they build it?