Feedback from Owners with Kleemann and Evosport Tunes..
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From: NJ
C63 AMG / B8 A4
Feedback from Owners with Kleemann and Evosport Tunes..
Hey everybody, I'm new to the site and new to MB cars. Picked up my C63 last Saturday. I came from an Audi background, having previously owned a B6 S4 and a B7 S4. In all honesty, the C63 was EXACTLY what I was looking for. Now, let's get to my question.
I don't plan on getting a tune for my C yet, but I know eventually I will. I have searched and searched and read a lot of reviews of different tuners. I have narrowed down my pick to Kleemann or Evosport. My question to all of you owners with these tunes, is how happy are you with the tune and how much of a noticable difference are you actually feeling/seeing? I keep hearing that you can get these cars up to 500 crank HP with a tune, but are these numbers realistic? Of the Kleeman ECU/TCU owners, what percentage of these cars are getting the 500+ chp and the same question for Evosport. We all know that different cars, respond differently to tunes. Sorry for the long post, I just want some honest feedback here.
I don't plan on getting a tune for my C yet, but I know eventually I will. I have searched and searched and read a lot of reviews of different tuners. I have narrowed down my pick to Kleemann or Evosport. My question to all of you owners with these tunes, is how happy are you with the tune and how much of a noticable difference are you actually feeling/seeing? I keep hearing that you can get these cars up to 500 crank HP with a tune, but are these numbers realistic? Of the Kleeman ECU/TCU owners, what percentage of these cars are getting the 500+ chp and the same question for Evosport. We all know that different cars, respond differently to tunes. Sorry for the long post, I just want some honest feedback here.
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'09 C63 AMG
), but I can say that I haven't heard anything negative of the Kleemann ecu flash. In fact, I would say that it may be the most popular C63 AMG ecu for the MBWorld forum members, since it's probably the "most bang for your buck." I believe the consensus is that the $1,495 Kleemann K1 ecu flash provides approx. +50-60BHP / +30 lb-ft TQ, and everyone seems to be quite pleased with it. 
If I get an ecu flash, it will be the Kleemann K1 (with a quick 2-day turnaround from Cory @ Kleemann USA in CO), even though I live within 20min. of RENNtech...I'll pass on their $3,495 ecu flash (which yields approx. the same HP/TQ increase as the Kleemann K1). 
I hope that helps.
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From: NJ
C63 AMG / B8 A4
Thanks bud. I did hear a lot of positive stuff about Kleemann. I know the Evosport stune is a little more, but anybody out there want to share their own opinions about Evosport's tune?
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From: Houston, TX
2009 C63 K1
I have the Kleeman K1 ECU tune and the difference is definitely noticeable. Especially at moderate to high speeds. I noticed a bit of a lag between 70 to 120 when stock, that is gone with the K1. The car is responsive at all speeds now.
Last edited by yaymitch; Aug 14, 2009 at 09:44 PM.
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From: Southern California
C63AMG
Evosport Tune
Walking around now, with big stupid grin, ear to ear, all the time.
People at work still trying to figure out what happened.Got the pulley too, yesterday.
Jeezus, lightning fast now!No longer even remotely the same car.
Put my order in with Evo today for some European AMG air boxes. It's only money, and I don't have any..........
BTW, my 17 year old son is going with LET Motorsports on his C32 AMG. Hope it all works out. Cheaper, mehbe. I wish him luck.
Am sticking with Evosport.
Last edited by lomita; Aug 15, 2009 at 01:42 AM. Reason: senior moment
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From: La Quinta, CALIF.
2009 C63 Black on Black
My opinion on the Evosport (Powerchip tune)
Been driving on the Evosport tune now for little over a week. Walking around now, with big stupid grin, ear to ear, all the time. People at work still trying to figure out what happened.
Got the pulley too, yesterday. Jeezus, lightning fast now!
No longer even remotely the same car.
Put my order in with Evo today for some European AMG air boxes. It's only money, and I don't have any..........
BTW, my 17 year old son is going with LET Motorsports on his C32 AMG. Hope it all works out. Cheaper, mehbe. I wish him luck.
Am sticking with Evosport.
Walking around now, with big stupid grin, ear to ear, all the time. People at work still trying to figure out what happened.Got the pulley too, yesterday.
Jeezus, lightning fast now!No longer even remotely the same car.
Put my order in with Evo today for some European AMG air boxes. It's only money, and I don't have any..........
BTW, my 17 year old son is going with LET Motorsports on his C32 AMG. Hope it all works out. Cheaper, mehbe. I wish him luck.
Am sticking with Evosport.
I feel it lives up to the claim of a 50 + HP increase.
It is within price range of the Kleeman which I have heard good things too.
Good luck with your ultimate decision!
Phil
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From: NJ
C63 AMG / B8 A4
this is all great feedback. It is becoming more and more difficult to make a decision. My main reason for posting this, is because I have heard from some people that the tune doesnt feel any different than stock. One instance, where the wrong tune was setup for someone, not sure what happenned to rectify the issue. Another went to the dyno and yielded only a ~20hp increase at the wheels, if that. I just want to make sure that a tune that I get, will give me the 400whp that I am looking for. It looks like our cars dyno in at around 360-370whp, so attaining another 30-40 at the wheels sounds doable, per the venders.
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See Sig
Welcome to the forum. Awesome choice in car.
Im a fan of Audi as well. The RS4 is very nice.
With that from what ive put together and guys ive spoken to the K1 or K2 package is the way to go. I think you MIGHT get more HP results from Rentech but they cost about 2 1/2 times as much for an ECU tune. I didnt even bother talking to them about Stage 2.
K1 package will run you $1500 and is worth every penny I hear. Ill be doing it at about 5K miles. I want to enjoy the stock C63 and get bored with her power (if thats possible) before I start modding. The winter is almost here anyway and she will most likely get garaged anyhow.
Word to the wise on this forum. Dont crome anything! JK. Welcome.
Edit: For 40 more WHP you will need the K2 package for about $3600 installed including labor. The K1 wont get you there IMO.
Im a fan of Audi as well. The RS4 is very nice.
With that from what ive put together and guys ive spoken to the K1 or K2 package is the way to go. I think you MIGHT get more HP results from Rentech but they cost about 2 1/2 times as much for an ECU tune. I didnt even bother talking to them about Stage 2.
K1 package will run you $1500 and is worth every penny I hear. Ill be doing it at about 5K miles. I want to enjoy the stock C63 and get bored with her power (if thats possible) before I start modding. The winter is almost here anyway and she will most likely get garaged anyhow.
Word to the wise on this forum. Dont crome anything!
JK. Welcome.Edit: For 40 more WHP you will need the K2 package for about $3600 installed including labor. The K1 wont get you there IMO.
Last edited by propain; Aug 16, 2009 at 07:52 PM.
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From: Southern California
C63AMG
Upgraded Air Filters
You can definitely feel the difference with the tune and filters, however, whole new game with the crankshaft pulley addition.
Next up, AMG filter boxes from Germany via Evosport.
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From: Toronto
2014 Lotus Evora S
I did K1 recently. I considered EVOsport too but there was not as much support as for Kleemann. You can read my thread if it can help.
https://mbworld.org/forums/c63-amg-w...ay-my-c63.html
https://mbworld.org/forums/c63-amg-w...ay-my-c63.html
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From: Miami, FL
C63 AMG(sold), 2009 CL550, 2010 S550 Majestic Black, 2010 ML550, 2006 C230, 2009 Venza
Took those nasty stock filters and threw em in the trunk. Have the BMC filters now. Breathing a whole lot better now.
You can definitely feel the difference with the tune and filters, however, whole new game with the crankshaft pulley addition.
Next up, AMG filter boxes from Germany via Evosport.
You can definitely feel the difference with the tune and filters, however, whole new game with the crankshaft pulley addition.
Next up, AMG filter boxes from Germany via Evosport.
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From: Philadelphia, PA
2008 A8L, 2002 996TT X50, 2009 X5
IDK where you got your info that a pulley will add major amount of power on our car. From good source i was told that a pulley on the C63 is not worth it and is literally a waste of money for too little power. I have yet to see dyno numbers of pulley gains on our cars.
I'm one to believe that "hey, if it makes you (the owner) happy, more power to you" 'cause in the end, that's what should matter most.
To the OP - from all of the data I've seen, I'd vote Kleemann. Tune vs. tune, similar results from a well established, well respected MB tuner for 75% of the cost of the Powerchip tune.
Evosport's Powerchip tune is also the only tune in the country specifically developed to run on California 91 pump (as posted by evo)... but if it's developed specifically on CA 91, does it leave anything on the table for the rest of the country who can get good 93? I'd normally think that a box tune wouldn't matter (they're all less aggressive than if you were custom dyno tuned, a "least-common-denominator" type of thing), but this was pushed as a selling point to a potential CA customer... so who knows?
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From: NA
Yes
It boggles my mind why these tunes are so expensive to begin with.
A good tuner will take half a day, MAYBE a day on the dyno factoring in multiple once-overs to develop a safe tune. I would love to know what is so different about these tunes that they charge so much.
Its a tune for a stock car. Once its developed its done. $1500 is simply insane and as a consumer, I hope more competitors come out to drive these prices down.
A good tuner will take half a day, MAYBE a day on the dyno factoring in multiple once-overs to develop a safe tune. I would love to know what is so different about these tunes that they charge so much.
Its a tune for a stock car. Once its developed its done. $1500 is simply insane and as a consumer, I hope more competitors come out to drive these prices down.
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From: Philadelphia, PA
2008 A8L, 2002 996TT X50, 2009 X5
It boggles my mind why these tunes are so expensive to begin with.
A good tuner will take half a day, MAYBE a day on the dyno factoring in multiple once-overs to develop a safe tune. I would love to know what is so different about these tunes that they charge so much.
Its a tune for a stock car. Once its developed its done. $1500 is simply insane and as a consumer, I hope more competitors come out to drive these prices down.
A good tuner will take half a day, MAYBE a day on the dyno factoring in multiple once-overs to develop a safe tune. I would love to know what is so different about these tunes that they charge so much.
Its a tune for a stock car. Once its developed its done. $1500 is simply insane and as a consumer, I hope more competitors come out to drive these prices down.
Agree that more competition is good for consumers - but lower cost upstart tuners are usually doing their "R&D" on the backs of their client base; it's up to the consumer to then decide if that's worth the cost savings or not - but it's nice to have choices.
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From: NA
Yes
Many have stated it's due to the smaller target market... fewer cars to recoup the fixed costs across means each one shares more of that overall expense. The tuner's time spent (i.e. labor) is only a fraction of the overall cost - there's the hardware used to consider, as well as other overhead (sales, marketing, warranty if applicable, etc.), plus a profit motive for the tuning company. I'm sure there's a bit of a "luxury tax" factor as well... because tuning costs escalate as you go up the automotive food chain.
Agree that more competition is good for consumers - but lower cost upstart tuners are usually doing their "R&D" on the backs of their client base; it's up to the consumer to then decide if that's worth the cost savings or not - but it's nice to have choices.
Agree that more competition is good for consumers - but lower cost upstart tuners are usually doing their "R&D" on the backs of their client base; it's up to the consumer to then decide if that's worth the cost savings or not - but it's nice to have choices.
In response to the first part, I just dont buy it. My suspicion is that the price of the mods scale with the MSRP of the car, period. Its unfortunate that the supplier sets the unquestioned market pricing for this product versus the consumer, but thats the way it is I guess.
At $1500 a pop, they are recouping their dough, no doubt. Just waiting for an ambitious engineer to crack the code him/herself and start offering the same tune for $250 to bring these guys down to reality thats all.
Now if the $1500 is warranted and a tuner wants to explain where that number came from and why it costs so much (IE there is a module in every ECU we must replace that comes from Germany, which we are charged $375 a pop for, combined with blah blah blah) then I would love to hear it.
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From: Central Florida
2013 Chevy 427 Torch Red
It is all relative, consider that the cost of delimitation which raises the governed top speed from 155 to 172 as a factory option was $1250. And this provides no more power. Picking up an extra 40 hp at the wheels raises the cars performance threshold to that of many cars that are priced significantly higher. For $1500 that is a bargain in the $50,000+ range but not so much for an old fox body.
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From: Southern California
C63AMG
IDK where you got your info that a pulley will add major amount of power on our car. From good source i was told that a pulley on the C63 is not worth it and is literally a waste of money for too little power. I have yet to see dyno numbers of pulley gains on our cars.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdSoEXpJCiE
PS, power is freed up by replacing heavier weight crankshaft pulley with lighter Evosport pulley, therefore, throttle response improved.
Last edited by lomita; Aug 18, 2009 at 11:14 PM. Reason: add PS
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From: Southern California
C63AMG
IYHO
lomita has already made clear that seat-of-the-pants "feel" is his automotive performance measuring stick.
I'm one to believe that "hey, if it makes you (the owner) happy, more power to you" 'cause in the end, that's what should matter most.
To the OP - from all of the data I've seen, I'd vote Kleemann. Tune vs. tune, similar results from a well established, well respected MB tuner for 75% of the cost of the Powerchip tune.
Evosport's Powerchip tune is also the only tune in the country specifically developed to run on California 91 pump (as posted by evo)... but if it's developed specifically on CA 91, does it leave anything on the table for the rest of the country who can get good 93? I'd normally think that a box tune wouldn't matter (they're all less aggressive than if you were custom dyno tuned, a "least-common-denominator" type of thing), but this was pushed as a selling point to a potential CA customer... so who knows?
I'm one to believe that "hey, if it makes you (the owner) happy, more power to you" 'cause in the end, that's what should matter most.
To the OP - from all of the data I've seen, I'd vote Kleemann. Tune vs. tune, similar results from a well established, well respected MB tuner for 75% of the cost of the Powerchip tune.
Evosport's Powerchip tune is also the only tune in the country specifically developed to run on California 91 pump (as posted by evo)... but if it's developed specifically on CA 91, does it leave anything on the table for the rest of the country who can get good 93? I'd normally think that a box tune wouldn't matter (they're all less aggressive than if you were custom dyno tuned, a "least-common-denominator" type of thing), but this was pushed as a selling point to a potential CA customer... so who knows?
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Joined: Jun 2009
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From: So. Cal
2007 SRT8 Charger, 09' C63
It boggles my mind why these tunes are so expensive to begin with.
A good tuner will take half a day, MAYBE a day on the dyno factoring in multiple once-overs to develop a safe tune. I would love to know what is so different about these tunes that they charge so much.
Its a tune for a stock car. Once its developed its done. $1500 is simply insane and as a consumer, I hope more competitors come out to drive these prices down.
A good tuner will take half a day, MAYBE a day on the dyno factoring in multiple once-overs to develop a safe tune. I would love to know what is so different about these tunes that they charge so much.
Its a tune for a stock car. Once its developed its done. $1500 is simply insane and as a consumer, I hope more competitors come out to drive these prices down.
Totally agree! I DYNO TUNED my SRT8 charger for only 400 bux! The deal also came with the Diablo predator which is a diablo tuner, that lets you adjust everything my self----shift points, fuel, timing, etc. Now I am not comparing the charger to the C as I realize they are completely different ( american vs. german), but just saying. Its a FREAKIN CAR and a FREAKIN TUNE, its not really a major mod such as heads, or Cam etc. that involves major labor, Alright Im done
