Hey RBM,

I drove the car last Friday to KTR located about 40 minutes outside Boston. The place was in the middle of nowhere and a bit hidden of the main road. It's the huge building that looks like an airplain hanger. When I walked in I was truly thrown back by the number and level of cars they had; Ferrari F40, not one but two GTO 250s, Lambos, Lotus, Race version GT3s, and really nice classics...it was like walking into a car museum/race shop. These are extremely high end classics. The place was well organized and clean. The tech that would work on my car introduced himself at the door and took me upstairs to opened the box of Kleemann parts, I saw the header and LSD as well as the decalls...cool! Before I could say anything he promised to take pics of everything well layed out on the floor and email me them. He also said he would do dynos before and after. He looked passionate about his work and very detail oriented, a self-proclaimed perfectionist (like me). These were my first impressions of the place. My gut feeling tells me I could not be in a better place. If anything it may take longer than then 4 days they suggested it would take but who cares as long as your car is in the right hands? Oh, and they offered me the cheapest install prices out of all the dealers I found on the Kleemann website. JLEE, another member on this forum did his LSD and header install in some place just north of Boston, that guy was asking 3 times the prices of KTR!

Look at their website and read for yourself. I can not recommend them yet as all is not said and done, but so far so good.

http://www.ktrmotorsports.com/

Learso

 

Just spoke with the tech at KTR. They sent out the ECU to Kleemann today and have the old headers removed. They were working on my baby as we spoke.

Okay, here is the crazy part...they put my car on the dyno and it came up with 362 at the crank, as opposed to 342 as rated by MB!!! Aparantly it is known, that US automakers tend to overstate HP while Germans tend to understate the ratings...his words. Anyway, that means that with the installs I could be looking at very close to 400HP!

This made my day, drinks on me!

L.

 

Congrats!

 

This is great news! Keep us updated. Realy looking forward to hearing the final results. I want to get mine dynoed. The local guy who has one says its broken and may not fix it!?

 

Car is ready with the Kleemann LSD, Headers, and ECU. Going to pick-up now...too bad it's pouring rain here today! Here Dyno results AT THE WHEEL, I guess those who can understand it will explain better than me. From what the technician said. the power gains are impressive....can't wait to drive it!

L.

 

Learso,

I'm guessing that dyno you posted is after all the mods have been done correct? If so do you have a before dyno we can compare it to? Looks good though. Pics of the car would be nice.

 

I am dead tired right now, too much so to get the numbers up. I think the en result was around 389hp at the crank and 410 of torque...which in my case ended up actually meaning more than the HP. I think I need to dyno it again just to be sure of all the numbers. If these numbers are correct as is its a bit dissapointing at face value because my car started with aroun 362hp at the crank. But numbers don't tell all.

Detailed first impressions I will wait until I have driven the car a few days, I don't want to be to quick to say anything until I have tested it thoroughly. What I can tell you right now, without having to think about it is that the LSD makes a difference well worth the money. The CLK55 has a problem with traction, this makes it all better...period. The headers have a pronouced sound to them that I am still getting used to. I will tell you more as I can to open it up. Today it is very wet and impossible to let it rip, still with the Kleemann LSD the car has amazing new found traction.

L.

 

If you're thinking of getting the K s/c kit on your car, you can forget about that LSD Talk about traction problems. The s/c will overcome that LSD. It will help somewhat but not enough. At least that's what i'm going through right now. Probably even worse when i get my car back.

 

The thing about all these mods is that the deeper you get into it the further you go from the orginal CLK55, that which you first fell in love with. The idea of mods is to improve from the original design while still keeping it very Mercedes, at least for me. Again, I really love the LSD, amazing product in wet weather, the headers I need to listen to more to feel out. The make the car louder and add power, I need to wait to see if I really like them though.

It's like a father listening to his teenager before and after he changes his voice, the same person, he sounds different, not bad, but you are just not used to him something like that.

L.

 

Learso,

you keep quoting that you had 362 at the crank stock...but i doubt they pulled the engine and measured it at the crank...

What you need to compare are the numbers at the wheel without them extrapolating crank numbers....

did they give you before and after at the wheel numbers?

 

At the wheel, 295.2HP before, and 315.4hp after. That is what is on the Dyno results. Just like Kleemann advertised, I feel an even increase of power, torque is very nice.

L.

 

Thanks, Learso, for keeping us posted as your project progresses.

I am thinking about trying LSD .... Now that you are "experienced" and enthusiastic about it, I am more likely to do that first. Is the improvement noticeable with traction control on as well as off? Any drawbacks, e.g.noise? Kleenman says this mod alone can shave "up to" 0.3 seconds off the sprint to 60mph. Would you tend to agree?

Being in Europe, I probably have the choice between going to Kleenman for the LSD or to AMG's customization department. Has anyone worked with AMG?

 

The LSD is truly amazing. It's still been less than 24hrs since I picked-up the car but so far am delighted with everything. When I was doing launches in the rain yesterday with or without the ESP the car managed to grip the road with very little effort, not like the old days! Hahaha.

The sounds level of the headers comes from underneath your seat, a deep growl like there was a submarine underneath the car. I was concerned that it would be too loud for me but today I am getting into it more and more. Other than that deep growl, the car looks and sounds exactly the same.

Get the LSD if you want an upgrade that should have come stock in your car.

Learso

More to come as I get more driving in.

 

Awesome, congrats! Any pics?

 

Thanks Chappy,

I need to ask the tech about the picture of the installation. I plan on getting you a video clip of the car with sound soon.

Learso