To go with that fun manual transmission I'd like to suggest some other fun options from the sixties. Lets start with performance mods. A Frantz toilet paper oil filter to save money on the useless polyester oil filter. A gas line magnet to release the full energy in every drop of fuel. A bottle of Slick 50 to increase horsepower and allow your car to run without oil. ipods are not fun. A mobile album player and a stack of vinyl will give real music enjoyment. Those HK speakers are lazy, let the high school kid at Pep Boys cut some holes in the doors to install a genuine set of Craig speakers. Stereo you know? We'll need a Motorola Vibrasonic reverb to muddy up the sound of the rear speaker (yeah, only one.) Is there any room under the dash? Install a CB there good buddy, come back? They had push to talk decades before T-mobile. JC Whitney can supply a swan with lighted wings for the silly star on the hood. That leather cover steering wheel should be protected. Get a plastic cover and spend a couple of hours stitching it. Some fuzzy dice to match the plastic cover show how you know how to co-ordinate colors. Order one of those burlap bags with a screw cap. Fill it with water, and hang it in front of the grill in case you overheat. You never know when you'll need to take the dogs to the vet or your uncle to the VA, so get some Rayco plastic seat covers for the back seat. Tubeless tires are not here to stay. Why take a chance it might leak? Get some inner tubes in there to properly hold the air. What is with that Mobil 1 oil? Shoot, 30 weight will be fine, refined waste oil is just as good as that fancy stuff. Your gonna change it every 1200 miles anyhow. Lets take off the power steering pump. It just wastes gas, and keeps you from "feeling the curves."

Anyone else have a suggestion for a sixties mod to be go with a find em or grind em box?

It's all just in fun. Welcome to the Forum.

 

Encore!

 

That's not always true. The headers very well may be different. Just because it's a V6, that does not mean the port dimensions/locations are going to be the same. It also doesn't mean that the space in the engine bay is going to be the same either since it's a different engine all together.

 

Bottom line:

You cant get the C230 NA to have a lot of power. Kleemann only offers it to 270 HP. The money you are going to dump in that engine you might as well buy a better car. By better I mean something that suites your needs.

You're going to dump a lot of money to get the 230 to 270 HP. Then you want to get batter suspension so you are going to dump more money into that. I think the wiser choice would be to sell the c230 and get what you had before a e46 M3. Better power and better handling.

Or save up a little bit more money and get the BMW 335.

 

If you are tired of BMW then get the IS350.

Or you can buy a 190E 24V. Good luck finding a clean one. (they come manual)

 

whoa whoa dude my 2.5 kiks a$$ or properly known as an 07 c 230 6 speed these are dam great cars if u want a modder get yourself a pinto ya f

 

^^ english please? wth ford pinto... u nuts boy... might as well go with 280z if you want the shape

 

My 07 C230 Sport has been in the shop for only 1 day and I miss it already! The ION Aurora XR rental looks great on the outside but is cheesy on the inside. The leather seats don't compensate. I even miss the way my MB trunk closes.

 

Iblaho, they didn't give you a C-class? I always got a C300 (and once a C350) as a loaner when my car was in service. But yes, even slow, these cars are very satisfying. The attention to detail and quality feel are unmatched by any other brand I've had experience with.

 

Part of the problem might be that I don't project the right image. I'm casual and my car is usually the cheapest thing entering the service area. The last rental was so awful that the arm rest fell off and left jagged metal. I complained to the SA about a prior rental and said I would rather have a Benz loaner with three wheels than one of the free rental cars from next store. He asked me if I would like a skateboard. It might have been his way of making a statement about the situation there. FJ Fremont.

 

I'm casual, too. Benz dealerships don't have dress codes, so who gives a fark? Sounds like you're profiled. Find another dealership. I was treated like royalty by my Benz dealership through the end of my warranty (at which point I had a four-year-old entry-level model).

 

I'll consider FJ Palo Alto across the bridge next time. It's a college town.

 

Thank you for helping me get my spine back. I answered with "excellent" on the survey for my last visit, but I blasted them for sending me to a rental place wth junkers. The MB service manager called me back to say that he contacted the regional VP of the rental place to take the junkers out of service, MB gives them too much business to treat the MB customers that way. The manager said that he put Benz loaner only on my file. Hopes I will come back. Hey - millionaires in Palo Alto dress worse than I do. I have the class to throw out my jeans when they get holes.

 

I've ripped many a service advisor on surveys.. and in person.

 

The manual C350 is a beast, with some tuning it can get over 300 hp. Road and Track did a review of it 0-60 was about 5.6 stock.

P.S. manual is much more entertaining than automatic

 

Yes - fighting with that crap manual with it's ****ty clutch action is like fighting with your wife. Gets the endorphins flowing.

 

This is how I feel about this thread and those who continue to defend old style stone age manual transmissions as they continue to become obsolete:

 

Oh you fail, ACR.

I'm not doubting facts here - you know how I feel about that - a DSG/dual-clutch automagic is capable of much faster shifts than a traditional manual, even with the best of drivers. But when you have excellent manual transmission skills (not to brag here) and a RWD car with twin-turbo power and an excellent gearbox there's nothing (for me, anyway) quite like the sheer fun of it. It's just so satisfying. What you see as "stone age", I see as a proper transmission. For driver involvement and fun a traditional manual is the only way. I drive the 135i. I steer the Benz.

I like technology. But I also like self-checkouts at Wal-Mart and I generally prefer to shift my cars myself - maybe it's a control thing.

 

Well... I would enjoy shifting myself if I had a 'dual-clutch automagic' as you so wonderfully put it. Those things are freaking awesome! (is it ironic that the zoom icon shows the guy shifting?)

 

I just like operating the clutch and shifting the gears. I can't explain it. The 135i gets BMW's SMG transmission (? or whatever it's called) next year. So I guess it will now be able to satisfy everyone. I wouldn't have this car any other way, and I kinda wish the C230 was a 6MT too. But it does get tiring in traffic and given that where I live there are a lot of open roads, it's perfect for me.

 

Just because a tranny shifts faster doesn't mean it will be preferred by enthusiast who are so influential in some markets that the M5 went from no manual option with only a DSG to a manual, and it outsells the DSG models, dont be picking on a manual just because you couldn't get one in that 4 matic C240 of yours :p

Manuals offer unparalleled control, a SMG or DSG even the best, still are controlled by software and not by my right arm and left foot. Yes they may shift faster but not every one (aka 70%+ of the uk population and millions around the world) prefer a manual, where not aiming for speed in-between shifts but fun, not being able to involve more of your body in the control of the car, removes fun...standard.

 

Every C-class owner here with a 6-speed makes me green with envy, but it's alright. My C230 sees a lot of in-town duty but I can't help but realize how much better it would be with a manual. The automatic seems confused sometimes. No more stupid adaptations.

I wouldn't have the 135i with an automatic, SMG/DSG or otherwise. It's simply toooo much fun. It's always been my opinion that you're really only steering if you are driving an automatic of any type, even the flappy-paddle ones that require you to change gears. I get it that they're capable of faster changes, but that doesn't make them more fun.

 

Alright, I will concede to some of you and LILBENZ arguments. If I were rich and I had money for multiple cars then I would certainly buy a manual car as a "pleasure" car. It does add fun *when you're driving for fun* it only adds grief when you're driving in NYC traffic. It would be torture in my opinion.

Having said that, I can honestly tell you that I prefer the engine in the 240 over the 4 banger even if it has more HP (I have driven both).
Also, I certainly would not buy a manual car as my primary vehicle - it's an inconvenience IMO. Also I would not be happy without 4matic here. We are trading in our E class and one of the main reasons (beyond the fact that it's out dated) is that it's useless in the snow (yes we could put snow tires on it in the winter and it would probably work fine). I still prefer 4matic even in rain and on dry roads.

 

There really isn't anything wrong with the 2.6L M112. It has 4-cylinder power with V6 refinement. The M272 2.5L V6 is better. But the M271 is highly efficient and has small-displacement V6 torque, like the J30A1 engine from the 98-02 Accord V6. For its efficiency and torque, I can overlook its coarse ways.

It's my understanding that Adidas has a tune on his 2.5L V6 giving him 220HP and 200TQ (or something like that) combined with the 6MT - Check - I'd take that over my car any day. I would NOT take the 2.5L M272 with the 7G transmission. Too slow, too many gears, IMO and IME (In My Experience).

Edit: And you're correct, ACR. A manual transmission in NYC for a daily driver = epic failure.

 

all i can say is i had an '93 mustang cobra with 234 hp. my '07 c230 has 201 hp. i cannot tell the difference n hp, aside from the benz being a little more heavy, it handles so much better than the cobra did.