C63s is too brutal for my next step from my current Audi V6 265 hp. It is also brutal for my pocket ;-)

Patience is my only friend but in cars I have 0 patience

A question for current owners: what is the name of the app to remotely command the C450? I searched on App Store with no luck.

 

hahah. I have the 2.0 A6, so I understand. what got me started on the new car bug was getting the 3.0 A6 as a loaner when mine was in for service. just that extra HP got me going. I started looking at the S5, then came across the C450.


But Mercedes-benz companion is one of the apps. that has the car locate, gas level, etc.


and Mercedes-benz mbrace was the other.


I have the both downloaded, but haven't tried them out.

 

I'll toss the star. Apart from speculation, anyone know?

 

i tried to copy and paste a picture of the distronic star, but it didnt work.

on the performance/safety tab on the build the picture is there. when you select the star and try to add distronic, it deletes the star.

but to do it aftermarket, not sure, probably a question for the dealer.

i know we cant add sirius/xm to the factory command if its not installed at the factory. something about wiring, etc. that goes in during the initial phases of the build. so it might be similar.

 

Please, no more speculation....

Somewhere in Alabama, a star rose.....

 

just providing any feedback that I may have had.. for the "lay folks"

 

Yes, thanks.

 

I would like to shed a little more insight on the 313 whp, 373 wtq OE tune on the Corr Performance dyno for the C450...

I found a couple of threads back on the EVO/STI forums from back in the day to kind of see what those guys put down on that dyno, and what their setups consist of...

In a nutshell, it seems this OE tune is actually the real deal. For reference, I found some numbers:

From what I've gathered Stock STI's put down around 210 whp on that dyno. Stage 2 STIs, which usually consist of a full exhaust system and the associated tune go to about 245 whp...Now to give you an idea...COBB (a reputable tuner in the community) Stage 2 STI are supposed to make 350 hp 380 tq with the stage 2 flash to the crank (according to COBB)...most guys see about 290 whp to 310 wtq on the dyno's I used to read up on with those stage 2s...here we only see mid 240s...so this is definitely a heartbreaker dyno...Furthermore, there was also a 20G (upgraded turbo STI) that made 288 whp on this particular dyno..

Stock STI/EVOs on dynojets do about 260 whp and on heartbreakers they do 240 whp roughly (I've seen 220whp)...so 210 whp gives someone an idea with what you are up against.

For the Evos, well now onto some more good news. There is an upgrade available, that essentially converts your stock turbo into a GT30R with better spool...it's called a FP Red. Guys who run this set up can do so on the stock block but it pushes the limits (race gas can get you close to a 500 whp application, pump gas associated machines get to about 430 whp)...These evo's trap mid 120s...So it's a potent upgrade and makes the car quite fast...Not entirely sure of the mod list associated with the car being referred to, but it had a FPRed on it and on this Corr performance dyno made 350 whp...

313 whp with just a flash and gobs of torque, 373 actually hold some weight here...let's see what track numbers will show...***One thing to mention is I don't have complete mod lists for the cars listed above, so the numbers are again, just numbers. Gives you an idea what the C450 did though.

 

It's definitely the Flash I will stick with personally for a while. I definitely will do other reviews on other flashes, but as of now these guys have me sold.

 

I thought that once production starts its about 3 weeks till delivery so when the dealer says 5 weeks but then gives me dates that is 6-7 weeks it's got me wondering... is there any benefit that the dealer would have to delay the delivery, such as the next month/year?

I highly doubt it as well but I'm curious to see what tracking info he provides me so I can really tell the location in route. When you say challenge would it be in my best interest to call him out on the likelihood that Alabama built cars are transported via trucks in North America? I want to stay on good terms with him as I plan to negotiate further than my 7% discount.

 

honestly, I would be VERY surprised if there was any realistic way to actually add all the extra distronic stuff to the car AFTER manufacture. While the sensors and ECU updates could possibly be added, some of the more control aspects (lane ADJUST, lane correction (this is both wheel and brake facilitated) might be very hard to A) install and test and B) get any confidence or warranty that they would work as designed, in either normal use or an emergency.

I can't imagine that you would find a third party that would install such systems, AND take the responsibility for overall performance in the case of say an Emergency.

you know this is America right - AKA the most litigious country in the world

 

i would be interested in just the parktronic sensors for parking being added to my car but i realize thats not realistic either

 

I only want distronic plus. I already have the sensors. As for suing, why would I do that given the requirements of Rule 11?

 

I don't think there's anything wrong with phrasing it this way:

Hey 'Bob" [maybe use his real name], something in your email confused me. You mentioned you'd give me the ship information for me to track when my car is on the water. Isn't my car being built in Alabama and if it is, won't it be trucked to California?

I can tell you my car, which was built in Alabama showed up in Tampa less than a week after it's build date. Of course, Tampa is only about 5 - 6 hours from where the car was built. The sad thing is these sales people aren't always that informed. We had also ordered a GLA (we wound up getting the newer GLC this past weekend) and my sales person kept telling me the GLA would be built in Alabama. I had to tell him the GLA is built in Germany. He had no clue.

 

Good call on the glc over the gla. What made you change your mind?

 

We ordered the GLA in August and really didn't know anything about the GLC. As it got closer to the time the GLA was being shipped across the ocean, the dealership manager and I had a good long conversation and he was the one who encouraged us to wait until the GLC arrived. We also were able at that point to reserve one they had ordered as dealer inventory and that had the options we most wanted. Once we saw the GLC they reserved for us, the choice was a no-brainer.

 

Much appreciated, perfectly put and I'll see what he says.

 

The order of my mods will be tune, intercooler, downpipes, then exhaust as I did with my BMW. When I talked to Kleeman, they said no tuner to date has come up with a larger intercooler for these cars with a turbo platform.

Exhaust may open up the flow of air, but if you're continually pushing boost then your engine will be inefficient without a larger intercooler to handle the additional boost from an aggressive tune.

Given a whole year has not passes for this model, I would expect 2 full years from now, there will be plentiful mods to this car.

 

None of these exists on European App Store. Strange ! I'll ask the dealership about it.

 

I tend to agree with sliqdaddy on dyno numbers.The best indicator of RWHP is mph in the 1/4.If you know the total weight including driver there are formulas to accurately calculate the HP.Dyno's are very valuable when trying different tunes and other mods to see if you have improvement,but different dyno's give wildly different numbers.If you want accurate HP numbers the mph in the 1/4 is the most accurate method of actual rwHP.

 

Great work cajun,I don't know what you do for a living,but I am amazed at how much time & money you have devoted to reviewing the various tunes available for the C450.

Based on your numbers on the OE tune vs the Vivid tune(net 8.8 HP increase) I predict a trap speed of 111.The et will depend on the start.If you can get the 60' time below 1.9 sec you will be down to about 12.7 or 12.6.

 

I am sure I am not the only person who noticed how many posts have to do with performance and handling since the C450 was introduced.Unless you owned a C63 you did't hear about performance,and the C63 has its own forum.Most of the posts before the C450 had to do with features,discounts,and problems.I think the C450 has completely changed the image of Mercedes in their standard line of cars.I think it is a change for the better.

 

I share your opinion. Here in France I read many articles giving negative or mixed feedback on C450 and I don't share their pov
The segment is between "normal" cars and very sporty ones and i can understand that some people can view the glass as half empty and other as half filled as we say here.
I have been posting messages in many test reviews to encourage people in europe to read reviews overseas as I think you guys have a better understanding of the segment and potential of this car.

This is said I don't think the forum should focus mainly on tunes and mods, as many people will stick to the stock features which offer already a lot.

 

Well said Bourne.

 

I actually think the OE tune trap speed will surprise many...why? Look at the area under the curve, aka delta. From the chart I believe this car makes 300 whp on the heartbreaker dyno from 4500 which is decently early in the rev range. I mean in some spots the hp and tq has increased on average 30 whp and over 50 wtq across the band compared to the piggyback tune (not even comparing the stock map). That translates into some serious peppiness on the street. The car gets into more power earlier on, as well as more torque and holds it all the way up... Yes the top end number is barely changed but that's where people make mistakes...its not all about peak...area under the curve is far more important...

This is a picture of the stock dyno vs the OE tune...



Notice you are getting peak +100wtq increase, and roughly +50 whp gains...but when looking at the curve and how power levels matchup throughout the powerband you are getting even more HP throughout the range (in some spots roughly 70 whp increase)...

Again we are only talking numbers...comparing the tune to the numbers tuner cars (Evo/STis) put down on the same dyno shows the car is capable...we will see, a good driver on the track before and after a mod will show the difference. But to give you guys an idea what I am on about, visualize driving your car, and the "get up and go" you feel is at XXXX RPM...analyze the chart keeping in mind you are not only getting more "get up and go" but you are getting it are XXXX-1000 RPMs sooner...Peak stock power is made at what 6000 rpms? That ~260whp is made at 3700 rpms (just getting into the powerband) after the tune...actually very impressive.