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didnt see too many videos of what the car sounds like with the secondary cat and resonator gone. the only thing i couldnt get on video was how deep that sound was! absolutely the best mod you can do to the c43
didnt see too many videos of what the car sounds like with the secondary cat and resonator gone. the only thing i couldnt get on video was how deep that sound was! absolutely the best mod you can do to the c43 https://www.instagram.com/p/BQlgD0Fh...en-by=brad_c43
I hear if you get proper exhaust headers to replace the stock ones, it gets even better. the restrictive factory headers are probably the biggest bottleneck.
I think the cats are the biggest bottleneck, especially the primary. They're pretty small with sharp bend built in on the exit. Everyone likes to rag on the manifolds but look inside them, they're very nice inside almost like a plenum, everything is smooth. I'd say that's better than the eBay bolt on replacements they call headers (which they aren't) and I wonder if my kleeman headers are any better really? Unless you go with true custom headers with long primaries and a nice collector I don't think there is much gain and that kind of thing won't exactly fit in these cars and would cost as much as a whole C43. Just my opinion, I didn't dyno directly after but I really didn't feel much was gained at all.
I think the cats are the biggest bottleneck, especially the primary. They're pretty small with sharp bend built in on the exit. Everyone likes to rag on the manifolds but look inside them, they're very nice inside almost like a plenum, everything is smooth. I'd say that's better than the eBay bolt on replacements they call headers (which they aren't) and I wonder if my kleeman headers are any better really? Unless you go with true custom headers with long primaries and a nice collector I don't think there is much gain and that kind of thing won't exactly fit in these cars and would cost as much as a whole C43. Just my opinion, I didn't dyno directly after but I really didn't feel much was gained at all.
so im just better off deleting the primary cats then? niceeee
I really didn't notice a significant difference with any of it besides sound. But it's possible the stock programming was keeping it back a little. I really don't think there are a ton of gains in the exhaust though, stock isn't that terrible it's all high flow AMG specific (besides manifolds). It's a bit of custom work to remove primary cats so I'd take it to a GOOD custom exhaust shop.
I really didn't notice a significant difference with any of it besides sound. But it's possible the stock programming was keeping it back a little. I really don't think there are a ton of gains in the exhaust though, stock isn't that terrible it's all high flow AMG specific (besides manifolds). It's a bit of custom work to remove primary cats so I'd take it to a GOOD custom exhaust shop.
PS did you get tuned or just doing pulls? #'s?
kinda always had the plan of swapping out the 43 for a 55 so i didnt want to pay for a tune and then pull the motor,so that was just 3 pulls to get a nice baseline of power and then id like to get a tune after the swap if i can get good gains. what kind of work is required? i was planning on welding some scrap pipe to connect the manifold to the rest of the exhaust.
kinda always had the plan of swapping out the 43 for a 55 so i didnt want to pay for a tune and then pull the motor,so that was just 3 pulls to get a nice baseline of power and then id like to get a tune after the swap if i can get good gains. what kind of work is required? i was planning on welding some scrap pipe to connect the manifold to the rest of the exhaust.
It's not rocket science but a tubing bender and a good welder and r&r'ing a few times will be required.
My kleeman headers came with down pipes but still took some fabrication to get what I wanted.
in the 2nd cat and res del, ive seen two different scenarios.
1 is where a y fitting was put towards the front of the car where the pipes come down from the primary cats with 1 pipe run down the body into the muffler.
2 is where two pipes are run from the front along the body until the muffler and then a y fitting is welded in right before the muffler because our mufflers cannot accommodate two pipes in.
my instinct is that the greater length of pipes the better and my reasoning is that cars with longer exhaust systems tend to have more hp/tq. not sure if my instinct or understanding is right. so e55 has more power than clk55. s55 has more power than e55.
so i guess im asking if two pipes create more power.
can someone with greater knowledge of exhaust systems chime in.
what im taking away though is that a bigger pipe (or longer) has advantages and disadvantages. a bigger pipe changes the exhaust volume and pulses created by the gases. everyone seems to think that dual exhaust is better. its just a defacto idea that more pipe equals more power, which it seems to do in the higher rpm at the cost of power in the lower rpm.
does anyone know what size pipe the c43 uses versus maybe what size pipe the s55 with the 5.4 engine and dual exhaust uses?
An engine is a big air pump, get air in and out as efficiently as possible. On a stock setup it's all about less restriction (because there is so much). Only when you get into two strokes or free flow race oriented stuff do you need to worry about pulses and this or that. You said yourself anyway, more volume. More volume equals more power. And both those cars have all different kinds of sizes, even a c43 the two cat pipes are slightly different in size. I wouldn't over think this unless you're just that bored.
Got my wavetrac LSD installed and It really is amazing. The car finally feels like I have the extra 100 hp I was supposed to get with the 55 swap. The acceleration off the line is amazing as well as on the highway. Before 100 mph was effortless to get to, now it takes effort to stay BELOW 100 mph. I couldn't believe how often id be cruising on the way home to see that I was doing 100+ or Id slow down and do 75 in the center lane but If I had to pass a car I was over 100 mph before I finished passing him. Another favorite is its much easier to hold a burnout than how it was with my open diff. Also I have brand new Michelin Super Sports and going from 1st to 2nd I can chirp the wheels now which I was never able to do on the open diff.
Last edited by brad_c43; 05-04-2018 at 10:26 AM.
Reason: forgot some stuff
Got my wavetrac LSD installed and It really is amazing. The car finally feels like I have the extra 100 hp I was supposed to get with the 55 swap. The acceleration off the line is amazing as well as on the highway. Before 100 mph was effortless to get to, now it takes effort to stay BELOW 100 mph. I couldn't believe how often id be cruising on the way home to see that I was doing 100+ or Id slow down and do 75 in the center lane but If I had to pass a car I was over 100 mph before I finished passing him. Another favorite is its much easier to hold a burnout than how it was with my open diff. Also I have brand new Michelin Super Sports and going from 1st to 2nd I can chirp the wheels now which I was never able to do on the open diff.
Got some mods done this weekend! Car was lowered with H&R sport springs and new bilstein b8 shocks i believe. The car feels MUCH more stable in the 140-160 mph range now, was pretty fun making the trip from Orlando to saint petersburg in an hour flat Also, I got a muffler bypass switch wired in so i can finally hear the car now, and holy **** its LOUD. I think it sounds great and ive had a couple people tell me it sounds great as im driving. The best thing i could compare it to is the newer mustangs 5.0 GT's that have the full straight pipe exhaust
Does anyone know if these wheels area direct fit or if spacers are needed? Looks like the 5x112 is correct. 44 offset on the S55 as opposed to the 35 offset on the C43, I do not know what that translates to for spacers. Also, 18x8.5 should fit fine, right? Please help, I need to get rid of my current wheels! Thank you in advance.
Originally Posted by Twichel04
So far my only mods have been Vogtland lowering springs, W220 S55 AMG wheels, and CL600/C32 brakes. Future mods will include a tune, super charger, and a one off carbon fiber crossover tube and a manual swap.
TOOK 10MIN TO INSTALL. THE INSTRUCTIONS WANTED YOU TO CUT THE ENDS WHERE STRUT BAR GOES OVER EDGE CLOSE TO BATTERY & OTHER SIDE WALL. WE INSTALLED OVER RUBBER. WE THINK IT'S SAFER. YOU ALSO HAVE TO REMOVE BLACK MODULE, DRILL BOLTS & RE-INSTALL IT. REAR, GOTTA REMOVE CARPET. EZ INSTALL