jcnash

I was wondering if anyone on the forum track their coupes....I think this is going to be the route for my coupey hereon...

Im not looking to break any records....just head down to the track and have some high speed fun.

If you do, what kinds of mods do you have on it that improves its track performance? Does it make a good track car?

Post a few pictures as well.
Thanks.

C280 Sport

Not a coupe no but have tracked a C230 sedan before. Hopefully someone here will be able to help answer your question with a coupe.

jcnash

What was the sedan like on the track? Did you miss having some additional power on the straights etc?

glocati

There was a guy on here way back that did... nuk blazi

see this: https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...e-weekend.html

C230 Sport Coup

Autohauz had a car they campaigned.
Quite something. Seriously stripped and
lots of crazy mods, LSD, one off carbon fiber parts, everything.
For you, the question is how much do you want to spend?

Suspension would be on the list, stiffer springs, and sway bars.
Thats anywhere from $500-$3000 depending on what you
buy.
$500 will get you your basic springs and AMG sway bars.
$2K will get you the setup I have, Coilovers w/ adjustable shocks,
about $1500 + my swaybar setup and tax.
$600 for an ASP pulley, 900-1000 AMG brakes.

Then you can start stripping out stuff to lose weight.
Hopefully you have a manual,, vs. automatic.
Then you can disable ESP completely and drive it like that with no problems.
I posted those pics of the autohauz car here somewhere, but for now, here's a sedan pic to inspire you.

tommy

Nuk (who now lives in Australia) only tracked his a couple of times before the diff went on a kamikaze mission. Once that happened, he basically gave up on tracking it, and think he got an E30, which makes a whole lot more sense.

I've autoxed mine, and that is certainly not its strength (low power to weight, crappy manny, intrusive ESP, no LSD). It would be better on a real track, though I've never done that, since my crx is more set up for that duty. That may change if I decide to man up and drive to the MBCA's Gemutlichkeit event, to get some time on Mid-Ohio (which I've always wanted to do).

What exactly are you trying to do, and how seriously will you be taking it? If you're at all serious, getting an older 3 series/wrx/miata/mini/civic/crx, and then modding that would actually probably cheaper and definitely more fun.

On my autox runs, btw - I had the best times with shutting off ESP on the dash (with residual still on, obviously) vs. dyno mode, which made the car very hard to control. YMMV

But, if you're just doing it for fun, doing as SC said will be a good start. Though I would place a high priority on light rims with sticky rubber. The reliability of the car will take a hit, and you'll probably be chasing your tail with fairly frequent repairs, but you obviously are aware of that by now.

jcnash

Good read....thanks. Although from tommy's post later, it was apparently short-lived. Not looking good so far...

Thanks C230...Im definitely looking at coilovers and the thicker swaybars, AMG brakes.

Not sure what the ASP pulley does.

Yeah that was exactly what I was confused about. One other option I have in mind is to keep my coupe as a winter driver and pick up an e46 M3 for summer driving and track...maybe an e92 M3 if I get lucky but thats obv $$$.

I have an auto coupe...which is 9 years old now. Not sure how long it will last with pushing it to the limit on a regular basis.

tommy

Maybe 9 1/2 years?

ASP is the crank (not sc, C230SC is right) pulley, frees up about 15 ponies or so. I've got a Renntech one (ebay about 7 years ago); they're about the same, and the difference is great.

C230 Sport Coup

Ah, well, ASP Pulley is bolt on HP! Adds 30 HP right out of the box, nothing else is needed. You can send your existing pulley and have it modified for $350, or pay $600 including the pulley.
If your old pulley passes inspection, they'll give you $250 back.

It's a replacement crank pulley based on MB pullley but ground down with press on ring,
that welded and balanced. Kleeman is alloy,
I've had mine for 140K miles, and no problems.
There are other brands such as Kleeman also, but they aren't made anymore.
You can also toss the "supercharger muffler" check for threads on that,
and remove some bits from the MAF to increase airflow.

A header is all but non-existent for these cars, a handful were made by
Supersprint, both Tommy and myself have them.

The problem with the auto is that it upshifts at will,
you can't keep it from upshifting. You do get used to where the shift points are
and you can keep it right at the limit by holding off just a tad.
You can get to a little over 80mph in 3rd gear, thats a good gear for going fast on the twisties.
However it's tough as hell, and I can
tell you I have pushed my car to the limit on mountain back roads like you wouldn't believe.
There's a trick to resetting the adaptive tranny, can someone link to that please?
You hold down the gas pedal with the key in the 1st position, I always forget the exact sequence.
Do that before you are going out for a spirited spin to get the tranny out of granny mode.

infected

I say it is best to try it at least once whether it be autox or circuit in stock form before performing any modifications one step at a time so you know the difference and function instead of just throwing parts at the car.

My Coupe on track:

C280 Sport

The sedan is alot of fun. It was a C230K. So it has the sport suspension and handles very well for how much it weights. Also the seats keep you in your place well. These cars are not light and weight a lot for the size of the, Power in the straights...Well its a C230K. Not going very fast by anymeans but its has enough pep to do fine just dont think you can outrun everyone. Not sure exaclty on the modifications for one but I am sure there out there. C Class track cars that are ideal would be a C230K(6Speed), C230 6 Speed, C350, C32, C320, C55. Any of them. The c240 and C230 auto forget it unless you can strip the damn thing. And I mean everything. Enjoying the car on the track for what it is and makes it a day of fun. Also a friend on mine on here Auto X's his C230 6 Speed and does very well with it. Looking to do Auto X or circuit racing?

C280 Sport

Agreed. And nice pic too.

tommy

Basically true, but there are some things that you know will be better for any driver - tires, lighter wheels, sways, etc. You don't really NEED to drive a car stock to know that it sucks, though it is a steady progression that would help a driver understand their car's characteristics better.

PC Valkyrie

There truly very few members here who take their W203 cars on lapping days, it seems. I asked a similar question in this thread last year:

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...their-car.html

In the C32/C55 subforum here, there are some members who track their cars, including myself.

jcnash

LOL..so after I saw your post I figured out the month of manufacture and it actually is 9.5 years! Just makes me respect this car even more now though...runs like its freggin new!

This might be a great little next mod...about time I moved from cosmetic to engine mods anyway. Ill keep a look out on eBay. Are they self-installable?

Thanks C230...yeah I reset the tranny nowadays atleast once every 2 weeks. Amazing how much it livens up the car almost immediately. The autos have a tiptronic mode though, which can be used to prevent the car from upshifting. It isnt a very ergonomic system though, so not sure if it can be used in a track/autox setting. I head out for spirited drives on twisty roads once in a way and I use this mode to keep the car from upshifting automatically at 3000rpm.

Completely agree! Im thinking of doing a track day sometime soon at Calabogie near TO. Ill decide on if this is going to be my modded out track car based on the performance I guess. Your coupe looks sickkk on the track! Im always wondering about the low HP and TQ though...192HP...does that make you miss some extra ponies down straights or coming out of corners?

How does it handle around the twisties? One of your other pics shows your coupe taking a bend, but its super super flat! How the hell did you manage that?

Im thinking more along circuit racing. I used to till a few years ago, it was soo much fun...then moved to Canada and stopped. Time to pick up the hobby again.

I know Im repeating myself here, but my biggest concern at this point is the low HP/TQ on these engines. While Im not looking to break any records, I dont want to mod out my car only to find that the engine just cannot give me enough oomph to actually have fun. I think Ill try out the car in stock form first on the track like Infected suggested and then decide if its worth modding etc.

Nice read. Thanks PC.

infected

The car will seem to lack power on a full track during the long straights. Autox isn't any better because although it is generally a low speed course, there is nothing you can do about the lack of torque. That is why I still prefer a full track because you can make up for some of the lost time in the turns.
I'm happy for what it is because I can never pull on people on the long straights but once the turns come it's game over. You'll be surprised.
Best of luck and happy modding!

tommy

Totally agree. Because of its weight and stock sucky handling, the ccoupe cannot carry too much speed into any of the tight corners of an autox course, and because of the awful pwr/weight ratio, can't really power out of corners either.

At least on a track, you have the advantage of sweepers and corners where most cars can carry more speed through. So the Benz, while not competitive (at least in stock form), would be less frustrating than going through the cones.

And jcnash, you're right - doing at least a track event while completely stock will give you an idea if mods are worth it, though 2-3k would really give you a much different animal, so keep that in consideration when you're weighing your next move.

C230 Sport Coup

Your 1st item should be sway bars and springs or CO's.
Next, pulley. Thats the thing that'll give you some torque,
downshift on the turns. BTW, you are wrong, the tranny automatically upshifts,
EXCEPT on AMG models, where they have whats called "Speedshift" that holds the gears.
If you find a way to turn that on in STAR I'd like to know.

After that, there's some little things you can do,
remove maf screen
and the throttle body screen (and/or replace with a less fine mesh, mine is just gone)
Remove the supercharger muffler.
Those 4 things will make a nice difference.

Then spring for the AMG brakes.

As far as the pulley goes, it can be done yourself,
see the many threads on this.
The only trick is lining up the 'woodruff key'.
If you fail to do that you'll push the key up inside the engine and
you are screwed. Also, you need a heavy duty torque wrench since the
torque is like 200 ft lbs.
It's the torque that holds the pulley.
If you don't torque it down all the way you can sheer the key off,
and again big problems.
That being said I've had mine on and off many many times,
when it went in for waranty service.
EDIT: Thought I had posted this already?
C Coupe race car from Autohauz.

jcnash

Thanks for the tips guys.