Hi guys,


I got my car retuned today.


I had been following a company for a while and looking at their results. Obviously you don't just give your car over to anyone so I did some research and spoke to the man in charge.


His name is Fred, he was very friendly and seemed very knowledgable about the tuning industry and cars.


He used to work for a race team but now has his own company, but still freelances to the motor/race industry. He reguarly travels abroad to tune customer and race cars.


His company is called Art of Speed and has been established for 2yrs. He is mobile but uses a company in Watford (UK based) called Tune 4 Performance to do the dyno work. All Art of Speed tunes are custom, no two are the same! The rolling road is a Dynomite dyno.


Anyway previously I had my car tuned by DMS in Southhampton UK, I was reasonably happy over the last few years but felt more could be done.


I already had cams installed, also Evosport under drive pullies, a custom cold air system and AMS short tube headers.


I bolted on Long Tube Headers with a full custom exhaust by EMPPerformance and installed two 200 cell sports cats.


This is the difference between Art of Speed and DMS after mods and tune.





was a bit surprised at the results as a friend of mine recently had his W209 CLK55 tuned. He only had Kleemann headers, 200cell sports cats and custom exhaust by EMPPerformance. He made 370hp/415tq (up 60hp and 55tq from a previous tune). I was hoping to make more hp than his car, but look at the torque!

My car made 2hp more than shown because the arrow was put a little forward as the Torque graph overlaid wouldn't show the correct figure. Fred said my car would have matched his but my intake was a bit hot!


I have no affliliation to Art of Speed, just wanted to share what good results I got. My car is an absolute rocketship!


Ps, how do I make the pictures larger?

 

What was the cost and when is he going to be in Nebraska? {;o)

 

Aha ha ha!

Actually he's going to SEMA. He was there last year too!

The cost was £400, which I thought quite reasonable.

This involved a base run previously, my ECU coming out, the chip being uploaded with custom settings Fred wrote from looking at the graph. Chip re-inserted, another run (this happened twice more) then final result.

What I got was torque levels raised in the 1st two gears, a new rev limit of 6500rpm and if it hadn't been done already limiter removed.

I'm very happy with the way my car makes power. The figures don't look high but manufacturers lie about real outputs and for a 12yr old car she runs strong.

Fred said to run the car for a few days, let the car further adapt and then he'll start on my transmission ECU for faster gear shifts!

 

Wow! What great personal service with follow ups and a great price as well. He really knows what he is doing. That would cost big bucks in the US. Did he add any hardware like a chip that many talk about or was it just programming?

 

Yeah, his customer service was good.

He took out the old chip and wrote a new programme to a blank one.

 

What old chip? I don't understand. did you have something soldered in from a previous tuner?

 

What was used to flash the ecu?

 

Hi Guys,

dlbehrns, the chip inside the ECU was removed and a previously blank one soldered in. But not before a file that had been saved on Freds laptop was transfered to the blank.

Sorry for the confusion! The original chip could have been re-used but Fred had already written a file to be uploaded (flashed I think) on to the blank after he looked at my base dyno.

My original chip was downloaded so Fred could see the parameters then reinserted in my ECU, Fred then wrote and made adjustments to the saved file.

When my car arrived the file was written to the blank chip and then they were swapped over.

Each time adjustments were made the new chip was removed.


Red20855amg, I don't know what the hardware was.

I put my head around the door and I saw a chip in a potable device. Sorry but it was just a glance.

 

Wow, impressive. I echo the sentiments of cost over here in the US. Shame we can't get that kind of service for a price like that.

 

"Each time adjustments were made the new chip was removed." The chip was removed or the ECU was removed? The ECU is the "computer" that sits on the right(US) passenger side next to the firewall. A chip is a small microprocessor that is uusally attached to a mother board(so to speak)in the computer. Maybe I'm just confused by the words you are using but my understanding of how a "tune" works is the ECU/computer is simply reprogrammed or flash programmed by the use of a laptop or pc by making adjustments to various settings in a number of different files. Just like when you go to Control Panel on your PC and you can change different settings. When I had mine done I removed the ECU and mailed it to the tuner and he mailed it back withoug any parts changed. I was not aware that "parts" were removed and new ones installed to accomplish a tune upgrade.
It seems like a very tedious and time consuming job to solder and piece in then take it back out to make changes then solder it back and again and again till you get it right. Doesn't make sense to me but then I have never seen it done.

 

dlbehrns,

Your understanding is correct!

If you flash an ECU it is quite simple to change the mapping. Most tuners do this for 'off the shelf' maps as this is a one time chip out and solder in.

If the ECU is left unopened and the chip inside not removed you can only change certain perameters on file. The newer cars are easier to write to through their OBD II ports. Older cars like my car which is model year '00 has an ECU which is 'read only' and to write to it the chip must come out. Some chips are locked on some ECUs and must be changed for a writable one. It is time consuming, but I guess that is what you pay for with a custom tune.

With a custom tune you can change SO much more! For instance my torque levels in the transmission, my car to run optimally on 98ron fuel and a new red line. Also what you get in the process is a tune written JUST for your car to get the most out of your car. It will work in other cars but no two cars are the same so the results would be different.

CLK320skr,

Thanks. I waited a long time to have my car tuned by this Guy as he was busy and our schedules never aligned. I felt he was the man for the job.

 

Ahhhh... My head was spinning on this one too. I completely overlooked you being OBD1. We have some tuning solutions for Ford OBD1 that may?? be of use to you in the future. Look into Moates quarterhorse and Tweecer. Im not familiar with the internals of the MB OBD1, but this may offer you a way to "flash" tune. With your tuner sitting beside you with his laptop as you drive, he could tweak real time for optimum custom performance.

Did you ever post pics of your LT headers??

 

Hey bobbyjo9,

Sorry for the confusion.

I'd be interested in whatever info you have on real time tuning.

Also I think I posted pics of my headers, they're 'lost' in files of pics which I'll have to sift through.

If you check out this thread I posted a pic there.

https://mbworld.org/forums/clk-class...e-headers.html

 

Dang... I missed that one! Good looking headers they fabbed up for ya. Not a bad price for a one off either... amazing what can be "justified" price wise huh!

You need to check with your tuner to see if there is a service port on the mother board of the ECU. Ford called it a "J3" but not sure if that is a universal term. Basically, by inserting the module in this port, you end up with a USB cable to the ECU capable of sending/receiving code. Now true this is Ford not MB, but we are talking OBD1 in both so there may be a similar solution. http://www.poweraddersolutions.com/moquforfoeee.html this is the link for the ford part as a reference to what your after. With OBD11 we are spoiled with options, hope this will give you some of the same advantages? I will also add this, on the open market, Ford OBD1 is tuned the same as you received via a one time deal with burned chip replacing OEM chip in the $800 range. This "module" approach is more wide spread with the DIY and can be updated at will for a fraction of the cost. Question is... was MB nice enough to have included an access point? Hope that helps

 

Thanks for the info bobbyjo.

I'll be talking to Art of Speed next week as I'm greedy and power corrupts , I want a little more top end torque as the bottom and middle is amazing!

I'm pleased with my headers, they have no drone and when cruising with a light foot are very quiet. That's important as I have a cab and listening to music or holding a conversation top down is no drama.