C43AMG

Has anyone delt with this outfit for "chips" ? The reason I ask is that I went to their website ( www.speedtuningusa.com ) and for $325.00 they can "chip" my C43 - up to 337hp / 439 ft. torque. The problem I have is they state my cars stock #'s as 306/410 - from the factory specs its 302/302.Are these guys legit or another company beating their chest with overinflated claims ?

blackbenzz

If you want a discount, I've been organizing a group buy for a while now. Just call Oliver at speed tuning usa and say you want in on the benz group buy. Anyway, I dont have any dyno numbers or anything but I've done the mod and I definitely feel a difference. There are several othe rpeopl that have done it or are in the process of doin git and hopefully someone will get some before and after dyno numbers or maybe chime in on their experience.

Denlasoul

I highly doubt you will get 35+hp from a chipped naturally aspirated engine. If you ar willing to take the chance, then the only way to know for sure is to do before and after dynos. Everything else is just talk.

BTW, the 439 of torque is in Newton-meters, not foot-lbs.

E55AMG99

I'd expect you'll only gain about half of what they are claiming. Other companies are claiming a more realistic 13-17HP. Before and after dyno plus a money back guarantee would be the way to go.

Good luck

C43AMG

Everyone - thanx for the imput.Since I live within a short drive of the place maybe it pays to take a day trip down and look into it first hand. Again , thanx for the imput.

jt316

5-10 gain max.

don't trust the number from the tuning company.

Garys

I had my CLK500 done by Oliver @ SpeedTuning. The first three WOT runs were defiantly stronger. As I requested it would go to 6,200 RPM. The problem was it hit the rev limiter & shut down and shifted. That isn’t what I was looking for, up to 6,200 rpm then thrown FWD as the engine shut down. After the first 3 runs it was back to the old setup. I believe the car relearned the old program. It now won’t go past 5,800 RPM.

When I called Oliver he said the tuned chip needed broken in. I thought I got that stupid wiped off my forehead. I have never heard of a tuning job needing broken in! He gave me some **** about the torque curve was lower anyways & I didn’t need more RPM. I think he thought it was my first county fair. Not at all happy.

Gary

E55AMG99

Raising the full throttle shift RPM is not a simple task as you seem to have figured out. It sounds like they simply raisied the shift point without increasing rev limiter. Do these guys really know what they are doing?

BTW, shifting at 6200 does not sound optimum. When I was working on the tuning fo rmy cars, I found that my E55 (non-kompressor) shifts best at 5900 in first and 6100 in all other gears. My CLK430 shifts best at 6000 in all gears. I'm not 100% sure but it seemed that the rapid accelleration in 1st gear caused the engine to overrun the rev limiter. In other words, the damn transmission could not shift fast enough before the engine would hit redline.

E55AMG99

The engine does need to "learn" the new program. He's also right about the RPM but if he knew this, why did he do it anyway?

RU_MATRX

Hey All:

I just wanted to add my comments regarding SpeedtuningUSA's ECU upgrade on my SL55. I've only had good experiences with Oliver. Oliver's "remarks" to Gary's CLK500 experience seem out-of-character for him along with basic ECU knowledge and my experience with Oliver in the past.

Anyways, I've had my ECU upgraded about a year ago and have been very happy with the response, advanced timing as well as driveability which have all significantly improved over stock. I'm familiar with ECU upgrades on other vehicles I've owned including a 2002 996TT 6sp (Upsolute) and the first 2003 Infiniti FX45 ECU in the USA (Technosquare testbed) next to the SL55 AMG. The ECU shouldn't revert back to stock settings if the ECU maps are re-programmed properly. Additionally, there is a little learning curve for the MB CAN which is brief when in auto-mode once an optimized ECU is installed (minimal period). One should feel the ECU upgrade in performance over stock immediately though, especially in manu-matic mode with further improvements over a few days of driving. A degradation in performance may be due to a variety of factors as any electronic performance upgrade may exacerbate inherent problems with a stock vehicle. Just food for thought......................

One thing I learned about rev limits is that there's a specific, optimized RPM increase usually required for greater performance depending on the engine architecture and characteristics. It's not just an arbitrary bump.

Garys

I don’t always drive my car on straight roads & the extra RPM would have been helpful. I have had other chipped cars & trucks and have had the RPM raised on them with the setting not reverting to the factory setting. They also didn’t hit the rev limiter. Most of them were manual, not automatics. The CLK500 did this in the first 4 gears at shift points. The car now runs like prior to the chip, I feel like I just threw away the money with no gain.

Gary

blackbenzz

So what advice did Oliver give you?

E55AMG99

In that case, the extra 2-300RPM will gain you zero performance and drivability in this car. You should be looking at improving mid-range torque and leave the shift points were the factory set them. If you were looking to improve straight line performance, then I'd say the extra RPM "might" make a difference.

When you get your money back, save up some more and go see the guys at PowerChip.

Garys

You are missing the point. The wider rpm range is more useful for the not so straight roads. At times it will mean not shifting prior to a turn and able to carry a suspension set through the turn. The extra torque I was looking for is needed for acceleration on straight roads or to get from turn to turn. I live in a close in rural area where I can drive a variety of road types.

The CLK 500 is a fine car for driving and I do like it, but is only marginal performance by my standards. I don’t fly non performing A/C either.

I felt the same about my M Roadster that is why I went to forced induction with it.

E55AMG99

250RPM is not going to make a difference unless you are on a racetrack. Even then, only the oval races use such small incrimental gear changes. If you are driving through a turn at or that close to redline, you are in the wrong gear. Enter the corner in the gear you plan on using to accellerate out of it. Downshifting while braking loses ZERO time (maybe even saves time if you count that it helps slow the car for the corner) whereas upshifting while accellerating does lose time. You should get your money back and spend it on a good driving school.

Garys

Sorry folks this was just a heads up on my experience with Speedtunning, not a grandstand. With all of the tuning on chips I have had done it is my first real disappointment, I know what I requested & what I got was not that.

I first threw Speedtunning up on the board, as I felt it was a very good value & felt they disserved some recognition for that. The second post was only my results, again for a heads up for the rest.

I hope Speedtunning can work this out for all, & I have no interest in chasing them down for the cost or sending my ECU back several times to try to resolve this. Like them this isn’t my first mistake either. Done!

speedy888

how much does it cost to install one of these? will the dealer know when you return a leased vehicle?

blackbenzz

You can install it yourself (its easy) or get it done free at speed tuning usa. The dealer cant tell.

E55AMG99

You can remove and replace the ECU yourself for free but quality reprogramming runs 700 and up. dealer has no clue

speedy888

oliver replied to my email and said that with my 2005, there's no group buy. the car is too new.

blackbenzz

That sucks! Sorry.

koko381

I just got my ECU upgraded by speetuning and am not too impressed. I did not have it dynoed for before and after numbers, but I cannot tell too much of a difference. The only way I was able to compare before and after is racing my roomate against his M3. The same results came about. I beat him opff the line until about 70 MPH, then he takes over and I cannot keep up. It obviously helps that he is able to rev out to 9000 rpms and Im changin at 6000. I will be installing the underdrive pulleys tomorrow and will post the results. Goodluck to all.

Wexford Mark

Hi Dave,
I'm a new SL55 owner, and I wanted your advice on the best/least expensive way to increase the power on my 2004 AMG. Help!!

Thanks!
Mark

dynomite05

This thread is 5 years old......