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Well as the title states my goal is to turn a W203 coupe in to a grass roots drift car. the good news is i have already picked up my donor car... 2002 c230k with a 6spd manual... there how ever are a couple things that need to be done... first thing first is i am picking up tomorrow a spare diff with the ratio of 3.46 will weld up the spider gears and swap her in.. more pics to come. if anyone has any info or insight let me know.
To be honest I'm not sure this is a good idea. The traction control system is going to go nuts and destroy your brakes.
When the car senses slippage, it a) brakes individual wheels, and b) reduces engine power. The "ESP Off" button on the dash only disables b). Welding the differential is going to throw off the expected values for the rear wheels.
To disable both a) and b), you have to switch your car into dyno mode (see post #41). The really dumb part is your car is a 2002, which means you have to hold the reset button for 30 seconds or something stupid. You will have to do this every single time you start the car.
Lastly, do not hold the steering wheel at full lock for extended periods. According to the thread above, the power steering pump cannot handle this and will fail.
I was going to suggest pulling the fuse for the ABS unit if there is one, but that won't get rid of the engine power reduction, which I imagine is hardcoded into the ECU logic.
Last edited by slammer111; Mar 20, 2021 at 07:44 AM.
So, I’ve got it in dyno mode already and I don’t have to switch it off or switch it back on when the vehicle restarts, I have also heard about the pump fail easily “maybe I need to make a bigger reservoir to hold fluid” I’ve pulled the abs fuse and disabled it before I actually fixed my lcd screen and I didn’t feel a loss in power. So we will see what happens... stupid how smart these cars are.
Are you sure the dyno mode stays on even the car is switched off? As in turning the key to position 0 and pulling the key out.
Not sure why the PS pump would fail at full lock to be honest. Maybe it's a rumour or something. I would imagine there is always an escape path for the fluid regardless of steering wheel position, but wouldn't know for sure.
If you want to see how "smart" these cars are, try modding the electrical stuff such as replacing the external bulbs with LEDs. There's are entire threads on that stuff. Then there is Star coding for stuff like final drive (differential) ratio, which you may have to look into if the differential you're swapping in is different from stock. Not sure if it only affects the speedometer or if the traction control is going to go nuts again.
In any case, keep the rest of us posted on the project. Hopefully everything works out. Would be very interesting to see. I don't think anyone on this forum has tried what you are doing. Closest thing I saw over the years was a few people using their cars for autocross.
Last edited by slammer111; Mar 20, 2021 at 08:57 AM.
At least you have the M111 engine. There's a pulley mod available that can add some 50(?) hp. Don't know too much about it personally but you may want to look into this.
Okay, so I do feel as if the vehicle is getting timing pulled when in dyno mode... which is a bummer.... these cars have so much potential to be fun drifters... imma plug my scanner in and watch ignition timing
This is going to a very interesting thread to follow. You will probably have a lot of challenges to overcome but it should be an interesting project.
I’ve talked to a couple of company’s from overseas, and they mention if the abs gives problems just unplug the module.. and then some abs wheel speeed sensors
I wanna try to save the power steering pump by replacing the factory cooler for a larger one.
ive got differential all welded up ready to go as well.
This past Sunday I took the car out for its first event! She did really well... had a downfall and broke I believe the pin that hold the shifter to the transmission.. so besides my gear shift being a wet noodle I was able to drift all day!
Car had a bunch of power I put the overdrive pulley from eBay on and make about 10lbs of boost now, I deleted the ac and ac condenser and added a bigger power steering cooler also the 3.67 gears make this vehicle very torquey.. so I gotta fix the shifter and figure out how to get some more camber outta the front suspension to help with the contact patch at full lock!
To be honest I'm not sure this is a good idea. The traction control system is going to go nuts and destroy your brakes.
When the car senses slippage, it a) brakes individual wheels, and b) reduces engine power. The "ESP Off" button on the dash only disables b). Welding the differential is going to throw off the expected values for the rear wheels.
To disable both a) and b), you have to switch your car into dyno mode (see post #41). The really dumb part is your car is a 2002, which means you have to hold the reset button for 30 seconds or something stupid. You will have to do this every single time you start the car.
Lastly, do not hold the steering wheel at full lock for extended periods. According to the thread above, the power steering pump cannot handle this and will fail.
I was going to suggest pulling the fuse for the ABS unit if there is one, but that won't get rid of the engine power reduction, which I imagine is hardcoded into the ECU logic.
I am only new and primitive to drifting and run a W203 coupe with a welded diff, and have had no major problems. I unplug the multi pin plug on the back of the ABS unit in the engine bay and it disables the sensors and ABS, the dash lights up like a Christmas tree, but resets when plugged back in. I also have no engine power loss or brake fade or wear issues.
Im interested in seeing how long the pump and rack last but again nothing to report
Last edited by Skidskipscot76; Sep 12, 2021 at 10:16 AM.
hey bro, I am new too, I come from s chassis scene. anyways want to get back to sliding and was looking at the r170. what you do with the abs pin. can that also be done to the r170? I want to set up the car for drifting. thanks!
hey bro, I am new too, I come from s chassis scene. anyways want to get back to sliding and was looking at the r170. what you do with the abs pin. can that also be done to the r170? I want to set up the car for drifting. thanks!
I would imagine the R170 will be same set up - on the back of the ABS/ESP unit in the engine bay is a multi pin plug. I just pull the release slide to allow for the plug to come away from the unit. As per these two pics.
Not sure what Micheal is looking to install. I’ve looked at just the crank one I believe this gives approx 20hp extra and then the remap of the ecu another 20hp. Assuming it’s still running the factory 197hp this will give good enough gains for drifting in 3rd presently I do most of mine in 2nd gear.
Originally Posted by C230 Sport Coup
LOL! Very entertaining, keep the posts coming!
What Ebay pulley do you refer to?
Crank or Supercharger?
following this closely. keep it up. bro seeing ur black coupe slides hypes me up! no videos? I can't make my mind up. the r170 or the w203. I have an e46 5 speed its fun and all but Mercedes is something else. the quality is something else. so I started becoming a fan after buying my wife a w203 230. anyways parts are reaaallyy hard to find. like who makes angle kits for this cars? lol I really want to set a Benz for sliding. I feel like they have a lot of potential and this don't have drift tax
Yeah indeed there is not drift tax these are really good cars. The biggest issue is as you say finding parts to make them drifters … I have found some really expensive lower arms which the Black Smoke racing team use. I have seen Team Love Tap made their own arms which for grass roots stuff would keep cost down… the body does suffer a lot of body roll, but I have reduced that by retro fitting W204 coil overs the front ones require the removal of the strut mount on the inside to allow for a camber plate to be fitted. But this is relatively easy a case of drilling a few spot welds. I have also increased the rear anti roll bar from 13mm put to 22mm which has given the rear a lot of stability … if your interested in making something work then it’s a great car.
I’ve added a bit of video following a recent shake down of my car in prep for a track day this weekend
Originally Posted by MRxESKIMOx
following this closely. keep it up. bro seeing ur black coupe slides hypes me up! no videos? I can't make my mind up. the r170 or the w203. I have an e46 5 speed its fun and all but Mercedes is something else. the quality is something else. so I started becoming a fan after buying my wife a w203 230. anyways parts are reaaallyy hard to find. like who makes angle kits for this cars? lol I really want to set a Benz for sliding. I feel like they have a lot of potential and this don't have drift tax
Hi, have any one of you changed the steering wheel to momo or something like that? I want to change the steering wheel, but I can't find the steering wheel hub for w203.
Hi, have any one of you changed the steering wheel to momo or something like that? I want to change the steering wheel, but I can't find the steering wheel hub for w203.
I used an E36 steering hub. As per below picture attachment. You lose the dash control buttons. So to know my engine temp for example I have a OBD2 adaptor and a digital dash on my phone.
Thanks for your quick reply, does e36 have the same amount of teeth and the same diameter? But I am planning to leave the turn light signal switch because I am planning to keep my cl203 street legal.
Thanks for your quick reply, does e36 have the same amount of teeth and the same diameter? But I am planning to leave the turn light signal switch because I am planning to keep my cl203 street legal.
Hi
yes it does. It’s a perfect fit. Same number of spline and diameter.
Door on door action with a E36. The car was suffering today with a missing bolt in the rear ARB and bushes finally failing in the hubs on the lower rear arms.
Hi, what coilovers did you use? Now I have been to a couple of trackdays. Soon I will put a hydraulic handbrake and welded differential.
I also put a smaller compressor pulley and ECU tunning. Next I am planning to change the intercooler to the bigger one and put straight pipe, I hope I will get some extra hp.
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Then there is Star coding for stuff like final drive (differential) ratio, which you may have to look into if the differential you're swapping in is different from stock. Not sure if it only affects the speedometer or if the traction control is going to go nuts again.
I don't think anyone on this forum has tried what you are doing. Closest thing I saw over the years was a few people using their cars for autocross.
