BlkLightning

Hello everyone,

I need everyone help and advice on ways to shed 500 pounds off my 2005 CL65. I've own this car for almost 4 years now and I think its time I raise the performance before touching ECU or the engine. therefore, the only other way I can think of is a diet. All advice will be appreciated.

kamilclk430

You can start by getting rid of your rear spare tire along with the tool kit. I think that should save you some. You will have a hard time shaving off 500LBS you are way better off doing a ECU/TCU tune if you are looking for performance. If you are at the track you can also try taking the passenger seat out and some other little things.

AKnight55

Battery, Wheels, exhaust, rotors.. Those are just some of the things I would start with. From there you can get lighter seats (your seats may be close to around 75 lbs each).

BlkLightning

what makes are car weigh so much. I mean 4500 lbs

radride

I like where you're going with this lol...

Goodluck OP. You can start buy selling it and getting a CL55. That will save you 320lbs. Then get rid of your spare tire, jack and run 1 gallon of gas in it at all times.

R.K.

Ather

I don't own a CL65 but I've heard people removing the AC Compressor, carpets, rear seats, installing a lightweight hood, glass etc on other cars. How much do you want to spend on this and how much comfort are you willing to sacrifice?

Another option is sell it and buy a Z06 and supercharge it. It will be a 3500lb car with 700hp. Or, a used 997 turbo with some mods if you want something german and classier.

red60R

that made me crack up......lol......the quest for lightweight......

buy a lotus exige and up the boost by 15lbs.....lol

02cl55amg

I have an 18lb Deka battery I used to run in my zo6, saved me 20lbs. Who knows if it will work on the 65. You could go with uglier/lighter wheels but what wheel looks better than stock on this car-NONE! Maybe a lightweight drag setup in the rear. Ditch cats & rear mufflers. Rotors are a good idea, if they need to be replaced. I believe they are about $1k per corner? Don't touch your seats. Spare tire and tools of course, but they should be replaced with a 5gal res tank. And run no more than 1/2 tank fuel.
4650lbs

Don't do this, I liked the fact I could swap rear tires and run 10sec at the track and leave zo6's and vipers on the highway @ pretty much full weight.
You could go the blown zo6 route, but a zo6 is suppose to be fast. an almost 5000lb luxury coupe SHOULD not be. At 575rwhp and 2900lbs, my c6z was one scary fast dangerous car that could'nt be ran without Mickey thompsons on the back. Faster than the 65, but was problematic and sold before the 65. German + Class= CL65 AMG. A Luxury car with 1000tq-is that even legal?!?!

kamilclk430

Off topic a bit but what do you think about a matchup of the V12 TT (modded) vs a C5Z with a P1 kit and no other mods?

LOL and no that tank with that much power should be illegal lol

02cl55amg

That's a tough one. I've raced nitroused, h/c/i, h/c/i+nos, 383ci, 416ci c5z's and got them all. The 416ci was 540rwhp and by a fender. Before the speedriven kit, a h/c/i, 4:10, 150shot z got me- he only trapped 129mph in the 1/4 tho with everything but the kitchen sink under the hood. A certain procharged c5z makin 640rwhp only trapped 123mph out here with great driver. After a retune and built motor makin 675rwhp, i attempted several highway rolls (I actually begged) but was declined. I guess depends on how good the setup is.
My cl65 was makin a best of 660rwhp.
Modded CL65=

adamls2

Remove the back seats? Lightweight front racing seats maybe? Depends how dedicated you are lol!

BlkLightning

All the advice are great, I'm still not clear what make our car, a coupe, packing so much weight. I would imagine the ideal weight is between 3800-4100 lbs. The VRP 825 kit I've been reading about looks promising. Taking the car into the 10s (10.7).

BenzoBoi

Race bucket seats for the front and take out the rear seats. Rotors, exhaust, ditch the spare and extra tools. It's a start

BI-Performance

Running 10's is just a ECU/TCU tune away with drags.

TMC M5

One of the heaviest items are the ABC suspension components. I think if you could pull that crappy system out and put a coil over suspension (like AMG did on the SL65 BS) you may find some decent weight savings. Obviously, that type of project wouldn't be the cheapest way to save weight, but it may be the only way to help assist with your 500lbs goal and wouldn't cosmetically ruin your car ...like a gutted interior would...

RaceHorse

I don't understand what you are looking to do with this 500 pound weight reduction. You are unwilling to go with a simple tune of the ECU and TCU but are willing to tear into the car to reduce the weight to make it quicker? Sounds like a fat person who wants to lose weight but won't exercise. You will lose everything that makes a CL65 a CL65 by trying to lighten the car up 500 lbs, no matter where it comes from. I don't disagree that it would be great to have the car alot lighter, but most of it is there for a reason. If its the performance of the 65 that impresses you do a motor swap into a much lighter chassis car. However realize a ton of re-enforcement will be needed to handle the torque so you'll be back to square one. Even alot of high hp built motors don't exceed the torque that the 65 has stock. Enjoy the car for what it is. Its has a long wheel base and its heavy. It sucks in turns but not many cars can hang with it on the highway or come close to providing such a decent ride.

So as already mentioned in other posts, leave the car alone and just get a tune, that's all it needs. Trust me you'll be satisfied.

C280 Sport

Ehh not really the right car to put on a diet. Our CL's are a very heavy car. Lots of goodies and solid build quality give it a weight of around 4,400lbs? At least in my 600 that is..
To be honest if your looking to increase a trap time at the strip go with engine upgrades. Its a big car so you will need more power to move the beast.

Exotic-metal55

Everything on the car is pretty light, if weighed alone but there are just a lot of parts I use a Vet C6 batter and that takes 35 lbs off, resonator removal another 20 lbs, wheels and tires are huge savings, lighter rotor hats (even though yours are aluminum). So getting 250 lbs off is pretty easy and still keeps the luxury feel but 500 lbs will require full race dress.

BlkLightning

I looked all over and like many of you mentioned, spare tire and tools in trunk, lighter batteries. thats all I see at the moment. VRP 825 it is, unless you all have other ideas

chazcon

Sell me that spare tire lol I need one.