Yesterday, 4/22/02, I met up with the owner of the Project M3 from European Car Magazine. For those of you who aren't familiar with this car, it has been featured in European Car every month for several months. Currently, the M3 has a turbo specific--low compression 3.2L motor, which is built to run big boost, an Active Autoworks Stage III Turbo, and weighs in at about 400lbs less than mine.


After a few hours in the shop working on our cars, we built up enough friendly competition to take it to the streets. First, let me say that I was expecting to be easily defeated, as he dyno'd 400HP/390lb-ft at 12lbs boost. Pablo is an excellent shifter, and had no problems changing gears. Our tests were run from a 40mph roll, as my tires do not have the tread left to run from a standstill. Here are the results:

Race 1:
With an even start, my car instantly pulled about 2 ft in front. As we approached 80, he had closed the gap to 1 ft, and appeared to be gaining more. Then, around 100 mph, my CLK pulled away another couple feet.

Race 2:
After the first race, the M3 pulled up behind my CLK. Looking back in the mirror, I noticed that he was raising his boost levels! I thought, "What a cheater!" But it was a race, and there was no reason why he shouldn't raise his boost. Looking back on it, the fact that he felt the need to raise his boost levels made me feel even better.

Again, from a rolling 40mph start, this time with the M3 having about a 2 ft advantage. This was the most exciting race I have ever been in. Being that my supercharger is constant, while he has turbo lag, my car instantly made up the 2 ft lead that Pablo had, gaining an additional foot in the process. The entire time, we were looking back and forth at eachother, almost laughing, as he pulled, than I pulled, etc. After about 90 mph, Pablo's M3 made about a 3ft lead on me, and held it until 130+ mph where we stopped.

The Result:
Both Pablo and I were thoroughly impressed that my car put up such a great fight. Basically, from a 40 mph roll, when the M3 is running 11 lbs boost, I win. At 12 lbs, he wins. Keep in mind that this was not from a standstill. When I get some new tires, we'll go at it again, and I expect to produce a big enough gain in 1st gear to win by at least a car length.

This is perhaps the most enjoyable race I have ever been in. I felt as if I was a race to the finishline, with both cars peaking their noses out ahead up until the finish. Being able to look back and forth and see eachother laughing at how close we were was awesome.

 

reading this makes me want to put a blower in my car.....

i realize that the turbo has a lag problem due to needed pressure from the exhaust system for the necessary boost.....

if this is so....why does the 911 turbo use a twin turbo rather than a supercharger when the only inefficiency with a blower is it needs to use some engine power to power itself.....and why the need for a twin turbo???

thanks in advance

 

Great story !

I don't have the nerve to race my CLK....but then again...mine isn't Kleemanized!

Oh well...maybe when the warranty runs out...

:o)

quaz

 

lol......

 

Mach430.....

You have made me proud! Keep up the good work and please.... be careful out there ( especially with tose tyres you have on )!!!

Benz is still the BOMB!

 

I would assume that Porsche uses a twin turbo rather than a supercharger because you can get more power out of a turbo than a supercharger. I'm not sure how much boost they are running, or if that is even the reason why they chose a turbo.

 

thanks for the reply mach430

just one question....why does a turbo give more boost than a supercharger??.....i always thought that a supercharger gave more since the turbo uses the back pressure from the exhaust....

thanks in advance

 

Great race Ben!!

So when's the movie version showing?? LOL!! The Fast and the Furious Euro Class!:p

 

JamE55,

We will see the movie version when Ben gets new tires

 

And I may be getting new tires very soon! I will be at the SoCal meet May 4th, and would be happy to take anyone for a ride. Check the Events Forum for more details.

 

Mach

How about featuring your story about this race and Pablo boosting power in the European Car Magazine for several month? That M3 in the picture looks very nasty a cross between Gaucho electric car and plastic from Pontiac. If someone has money for all those modification for that joke of a car why not buy Porsche instead.

 

Ben thats awesome!
With your other upgrades you'll be able to beat him.

 

I'm not an expert, but I think the reason for the two turbo set-up is:
1) turbos can produce a higher boost at same rpm (some can, not all)
2) if you have two smaller turbos, you can reduce the spool-up time by having less rotating mass per turbo (smaller turbo = faster spool & less airflow, but times two.........)



Hope this helps,



John.

 

thanks for the reply dj

i always thought that a supercharger gave more boost than a turbo could....but that turbos don't take any power away from the engine...but what you said makes sense....thanks again

 

Nice ! You should have told me to record the race so everybody can see it.

 

Next time! When are we going for a ride?

 

Anytime ! We should race and see how much my 320 will lose, lol !

 

Got my adrenaline pumpin...

 

this i've got to see! Two kleemann cars!

 

Lowryder doesn't have a Kleemann Supercharger, yet.

 

Actually talking about dj-po???

 

DJ-PO has a C230K Sedan with the Kleemann Pulley Upgrade.

 

Oh sorry i thought he also has a kleemann kompressor.

 

I wish

 

What's wrong with wishing?