I see where the Evosport pulleys worked out well on another member's C240. Is there a cheaper, but comparable set by another company? I'm not looking for pulleys for the super-charged engines.

thanks
Jim

 

Jim,
I have also looked around and really could not find anything from other places - looked at Brabus, Kleemann, Lorinser, Renntech - not one offers them other than Evosport. I did not do an extensive search for any smaller companies, maybe in Europe that may offer these. But, if you have to have them imported here, the cost may be the same overall. Talking to some of the guys from above mentioned tuners, they did not seem too excited about using them - but they inferred that you will not do any damage by using them. They would not say this directly. IMHO...if we want more HP from our 2.6L motors - we will have to pay $$$$$$ for it. I dont think there is a "cheap" way of getting more power from a MB motor.

 

If you talking about a UDP pulley kit, personally I don't think they give the gains most expect.

Erik

 

Erik,

agreed...installing UDP will not increase your overall HP - it will make a little more available for the drivetrain, since less power is used for the accessories. Evosport claims about 10-13HP in the lower gears. One of the members who installed them reports that he does notice a difference.

As described by Ben @ Evosport(sorry - did not know how to attach link to specific thread).

"The power steering pump, water pump, and alternator all require pulleys in order to make them work. The pulleys run off the engine crank which spins them via a belt. As the individual pulleys are spun, they power up their appropriate accessories. Automobile manufacturers always provide more power to these components, which is fine, except that spinning them requires power from the enging that could be used at the wheels instead. We underdrive the components, still leaving them at a reliable level, by using larger pulleys. These pulleys are also made lighter, resulting in the engine working less to spin the accessories. The air conditioning is not affected. The only negative aspect to the underdrive pulleys is that your alternator spins slower, and will not have enough power to supply a large aftermarket stereo system. The crank pulley is not changed, so there is no reason to worry about it effecting the crank. The pulleys are an easy, low-cost, reliable way to get another 15HP at the wheels--from a standing start!"

 

I think that is nonsense. Check out what happened when this saturn was dyno'd WITHOUT ANY accesories running.

A whoopping 3hp gain!!

http://www.teamscr.com/pulleys.htm

 

I dont think a Mercedes and a saturn are compareable in any aspect.

 

Actually the best power can be gained with a lightened crank pulley. Here are some dyno results for a company that makes a lighter, underdrive crank pulley (Unorthodox).

Make: Stock HP (to wheels) / Mod HP / HP Gain
Acura Integra Type R 97: 161.0 / 169.6 / +8.6
Mitsubishi Eclipse FWD Turbo: 184.1 / 194.6 / +10.5
Nissan Sentra SE-R: 159.0 / 165.0 / +6.0
Nissan 300 ZX TT 90: 234.6 / 259.7 / +25.1

The more power that the motor has the more it will gain with a lightened crank pulley. My guess is that with a lightened crank pulley the C240 probably will gain in the neighborhood of 5-7 hp (the C320 probably about 9-12). The company also sells underdrive accessory pulleys - they state that this will only improve these HP values by about 15% (which is in the neighborhood of the < 3 hp seen by the Saturn guys). Of course a much lighter crank pulley brings the "harmonic balancer" notion of having a big, heavy crank pulley making up for weight variation in the engine's bottom end into play. Personally, I would only put a lightened crank pulley on a motor that's been properly balanced.

Cheers, BT

 

You are correct. If a Saturn only gains 3 hp with no accessories running and the Mercedes gains 13 hp with underdrive pulleys, the Saturn is the far superior car.

 

I don't know what to say. We're not in the business of modifying Saturns. We have several customers and board members who are very satisfied with our pulleys. They have all mentioned that they can feel an increase in acceleration; especially from a stop. We have our UD pulleys on hundreds of BMW street and race cars. Almost every BMW in the Speed World Challenge has our pulleys on their cars. Turn on the TV, you'll see Evosport on several fenders, skirts, and trunks. Would they put something on their car that is nonsense? Not all HP upgrades have to cost thousands.

There are gains to be made by changing the crank pulley, however doing so adds risk to a risk-free scenario. Currently, the engine is not affected in any way.

Thanks

Ben

 

I have the UnderDrive Pulley Kit on my CLK430, and i see it as somewhat pointless to argue performance gains with people that have no experience with the kit. The science of the kit cannot be argued with, nor can the results of the dyno tests. If you want to question the accuracy of EvoSports Dyno, then ok, but it seems to be accurate on everything else they do. Id go somewhere else and dyno my car to prove it, but i dont feel like spending my time or money doing so. The facts are : i installed my underdrive pulley kit and felt improved throttle response as well as improved performance racing my fathers CL600. Numbers can always be argued, so by all means continue to argue the actual gains, but i am speaking from personal experience, which it seems to make me different than others here, but you can FEEL the gain in power. Its there, im sorry to disappoint some of you guys, but it is. I personally think stronger cases for arguement can be made from personal experience or scientific research as opposed to a kit on a saturn that is of questionable quality. Much R&D is put into all of EvoSports Performance upgrades, and i am sure any of their techs would be more than welcome to have a discussion about it and explain the kit in whatever detail is needed to satisfy doubts and lack of understanding....

Regards,
Eric

 

I Also have done the Pullies from EVOSPORT ..and the Power Is there! I Had My E320 Wagon dynoed before and after the pullies were Installed so I Know for a FACT the Pullies do work and for the Money its a great Mod! Yes you can feel the Power!
For Proof please contact Vadim @ Evosport

 

What did your dyno runs show? Can you post the charts/data?

 

I Dont have the Dyno Chart..But Contact Vadim @ EVOSPORT
He has them and can give You The Info!

Or Contact Ben @ EVOSPORT!

 

This is a dyno of Mark Cummin's E320 Wagon. As you can see, there is a substantial difference in the first 3 gears, which is what most city driving is comprised of (stop & go).

 

i heard that pulleys are real bad for the car. is this true? What is a good and safe pulley and how much? Cuz im leasing a c coupe but i work at the dealership i leased it from so i think i can get away with a small engine modification like a pulley

 

Our Underdrive pulleys are for naturally aspirated (non-SC) Mercedes. We have pulleys for all V6 and V8 motors from 1998 and on. As stated before, our pulleys free up power already being produced by the engine. They do not affect the engine in any way.

What you are looking for is a completely differenty type of pulley used to change the amount of boost delivered by the supercharger. I would suggest the Kleemann alloy or ring type pulley for that.

Thanks

Ben

 

I like my UD pulley kit. For the money I thought it was a good investment. Also, my C240 needs all the hp it can get. LOL. Its a good and safe way to free up some lost hp.