alan16828

I currently own the 03 230K sedan with a 1.8l engine m and my brother owns the 02 230K coupe with the 2.3l engine :p . It seems to me that my brother's 2.3l engine has better throttle response whenever u step on the gas and the car seems to go right when your right foot is on the pedal. However, my 1.8l engine doesn't have such a good response. Whenever I step on the gas pedal, there seems to have some sort of a lag.

Questions:
1) What caused this difference in throttle response?
2) Is there anyway to adjust my 1.8l to respond like the 2.3l my bro has?

Lynn

The 2.3 has a wider and higher torque curve. In other words, it has more power available across a wider rev range.

zimmer26

What Lynn said and add that there's no replacement for displacement. Translation- although the 1.8 has just 3 less hp, and 8 less lb-ft (well 15 less really- 2.3 manual says 207lb-ft) its more reliant on forced induction(supercharger) than the larger engine which accounts for the slightly slower response. 2.3s torque starts peaking @2500rpm and the 1.8 hits its peak starting at 3500 which also makes a big difference.

C230 Sport Coup

Oh not this again!
Oh man, I'm peaking!

Outland

Uggh. Here we go again....

ahwang

C230 Sedan is a bit slower than C230 Coupe 1.8L. So it is not a good comparsion with 2.3L Coupe and 1.8L Sedan here. I had driven 02' C230 for a year and now I have a 03' version for more than a year also.
Many ppl said 1.8L is much slower than 2.3L and it is totally incorrect. Machanically 2.3L has better power and torque band and assumes that it should response better and go faster. However people who realize 2.3L is faster than 1.8L were totally misleaded by their first impression. When I returned my lemon 02' coupe to MB and pickup a 03' C230, I was also disappointed about the weak power of the 1.8L engine. After getting adapted with this new engine and the reprogrammed transmission in a year, I could not say that 2.3L is faster than 1.8L. Actually they perform very much the same in most speed. The only obvious difference is that 1.8L has a bit "turbo" lag in normal driving environment. Believe me or not, this turbo lag will be gone if you drive your car aggressively cuz the throttle body will widely open. 2.3L engine does not have adaptive throttle body but 1.8L does.
If you get a chance to have a head-to-head race with a 1.8L and 2.3L, you'll know what I am talking about.

BUT DO NOT ASK ME TO RACE CUZ I DO NOT LIKE RACING.

jpb5151

Maybe if we just made one of these 1.8 vs 2.3 threads sticky?

If there were a way to boost low-end grunt on the 1.8, I think it'd be just about the perfect thing.

mctwin2kman

Plus everyone seems to not remember that the 2003 1.8L's get a diferent rear diff gearing than the 2002 so the loss of power is made up for. Of course the Auto's will notice the tourque curve diference the most since they can not keep the engine in the rev range needed all the time.... I have no problems with get up and go with the 6 speed and it stays at the beginning of the tourque curve at 70-75 when cruising on the highway. I have no problems and if I really want her to pick up the pace I drop to 4th at 75 and cruise quickly up to 100. Anyway, It would be interesting to see a 2002 and 2003 coupes head to head to see which is quicker, if at all, but they would most likely have to be two 6 speeds against each other and maybe two auto's going at it.

C230 Sport Coup

3 words.

Kick your ***!

(2002 vs 2003)

Tai230K

LoL! This subject has been beaten to death and then some

dswildfire

yes it does. both cars have the electronically adaptive thorttle.

kineda

A kleemann charged 320 would kick both those cars ***** nomatter how many bolt-ons, pulleys, etc. you throw on them.

GET THE NEW 2004 C320 and quit playing games!
That's what I wanna do.

jpb5151

Thanks, but I plan to hold out for an E500. It'd be nice to just tool around in one of those, and there's always Kleemann if it feels underpowered.

alan16828

I am just trying to find out what causes the situation mechanically and if there is any way to correct the "lag" and the "sensitivity" of the throttle by using anything mechanically or electronically. I don't want to start another war by asking which is faster... Faster or not is NOT the issue here, I just want to know if anyone can explain to me what causes the throttle to be sensitive, and if there is any way to make the throttle sensitive.

KOMPRESSORnSC

I own a 2.3, but have a 1.8 right now as a loaner (both autos). Here's my take:

Under 3 grand, the 2.3 has better throttle response due to the higher displacement and the boost not being as much of a factor. Over 3, and the 1.8 is more responsive. Driving the 1.8 120 miles home last night, I found it hard to keep it at 76-78, I was always creeping up above 80 with almost no pedal movement. Around town, I'd prefer the 2.3 because you get more power earlier. If I had to pass someone at 80 on a 2-lane road, give me the 1.8.

As far as modifying it, I think a chip would be the way to control how soon the power comes up, but there may be limiting factors other than at play.

Keyser_Soze

Mottman

I think what alan means is if there is any way at all (I doubt it, unfortunately) to quicken the *throttle reponse* of the car. He never insinuated that one engine was better/faster than another. I just think people enjoy arguing over their engines and jump on every chance they get.

Seriously though, this is a question I've had for some time. I'm sure if I STFF, I'd find some stuff, but I figured I'd second alan's question.

The throttle response of our cars is one of the few things I don't really like about them. Put simply--it is SLOW. While I really don't think anything can be done about it, I'd figure I'd ask too if anybody has done anything about it in their cars.

BTW--I don't mean at what point in the power curve the power peaks or is actually felt; I just want to get the rpms moving as soon as I push the pedal.

Jeremy

Matt230K

Since you have a 6-speed, then you should have good throttle response. The power lag when starting out usually only happens with the automatics. However, the 2.3L with 6spd tends to bog easily when you don't start out just right. Maybe this is what you are experiencing.

dswildfire

to quicken throttle response, you could look into removing the electronic throttle, and using a good old cable. the lack of linearity in the adaptive pedal usually does throw people off.

mctwin2kman

Most Ben'z have crappy throttle response off the start, this is due to the fact that it is a Luxury car and is not designed to jump off the line. They are designed to have great passing power on the highway. You want off the line performance then go buy an AMG.... The auto's are designed to shift smooth and accelerate smoothly. Not smoke the tires every chance you get. My 1986 190E is the same way, but it has a throttle cable so I just tightened her up a bit. Still a little slow off the line but better then before. As for my C, it is pretty good on response since I have the 6 speed. Nothing like a direct connecttion between the motor and the tires, without the tourque converter and rest of the auto tranny stealing power from me...... Or delaying its delivery to the tires.....

C230 Sport Coup

I still

Kick Your ***...

he he....

For <23K you can get a strippy 2003 c320 coupe from carsdirect.com, add C7 (and leather perhaps) and AMG brakes for $600. Buy the Kleeman SC kit installed for 10K, add better springs and swaybars for about 500, and spend only 35K total.
(Wish I could afford to do that now)
THEN ONLY would you kick MY ***.

Until then. I kick your ***.

Ha.

OH and Keyser_Soze, this thread BLOWS, not sux.

"Injection is nice, but I'd rather be blown"

nevide

for those auto 03 owners. Try driving your car manually. I mean use the slapshift to choose the gears manually. I know it's not true manual but when you keep this baby above 3200, it'll go nuts. It's very tame under 3000 which is good for urking up on traffic jams. Just try driving it that way and oh, always start at 2 since 1st gear is extremely short and you don't want people staring at you cuz your reving so high cuz you forget to slap the shift.

jpb5151

Did that for a while, still do it now and then. It does indeed help, but the gas mileage suffers a little. Also, I shouldn't _have_ to do that to make the car move.

But you know, the car's OK for almost all the driving we do. I'm just picky (but still plan to get a V8 next time around ). There've been only 2 times in the past several months when I really could have used more power (both cases consisted of merging from an onramp). In all other cases, I just _wanted_ more power.

mctwin2kman

You don't have your tranny in W mode do you??????