[posted this on Club202.com...]
Take a look @ what arrived yesterday....

For those who don't know what you are looking @, do a search for speedybenz on this board or Club202.com. You can also read THIS HERE .

On to the good stuff...


CLICK HERE for the entire library of pics. You can get to the full rez originals from here too.






I especially like the close-ups I took on with the Macro setting.

 

OMG those are sick! makes me totally want to buy a C43 just to put a set of those on it. damm.

 

...not that there's much interest on thie board... ...but anyway thought I'd give an update since I have some news... got a quote for under $1K to install the kit, corner balance and align the car. Car goes in Monday.

...going to try to get a Klemann LSD for me to install that week too.

 

just wanted to ask. how much is the entire kit minus installation and i'm greatly assuming that some, if not all, of these parts can fit on a W203? Hell I love the guys camber arms!

flip

I just read the canyon carving story

 

hehe.... ya, it was a great experience. wish I had a video camera.

The kit cost $5500. Yes, those Penske shocks come in different body styles, including coil-over.

 

I just read speedybenz website yesterday. I'm very jealous. I would love to upgrade to that suspension and get some super light wheels.

Bad *** bro!!!

 

Thanx much,

Car's on the lift as I write this. Should be done Monday ; just in time to put snow tires on the car, and drive it like an old man until spring... ugh.

Ya, I've been researching lightweight wheels. I have 18" Kinesis wheels on it now, that I've bent to ****; about 24 lbs. Plan on going back to 17" around 18 lbs; Volk Racing or Gram Lights or other similar that I'll have modified from 5x114.5 bolt pattern to our 5x112 bolt pattern.

 

I almost jumped on a set of 18" HRE's but held back as I'm really motivated to get the lightest wheel possible now. I too have decieded that I may have to stick with 17's. Not sure where to find them but I remember a BBS RC wheel that weighed 19lbs for both the 17x8 and 17x9. Tire rack has them for the W202 but they don't have the rear 17x9 available.

Is it true that with rotating mass you can expect up to 4x that item's weight once in motion??? In other words if you shave off 5 pounds at each corner it could equate to 80lbs lost in motion???

 

wow those are gorgeous!

 

That affect is goverend by the "moment of inertia", which is the rotational equivalent of Netwon's second law F=M*a. I've read many differing views on just how much that affects acceleration, from the 4x difference you cite, to a 3x difference, to a 5x difference.

The reality of affect on acceleration from changing rims can't be exactly quantified in one simple way like that (either 3x or 5x) ; really need to measure the weight of the rim's center hubs, the rim's "spokes", the rim's outer cylinder, the tire's sidewalls and tire's tread -- for the old set and new set -- applying the appropriate formula for each part of the rim & tire (see here), adding up each component, and comparing the moment of inertia between the old set and the new set.

You got me thinking, so I'll probably try it for kicks tonight (yes, I really must be a geek) and see the difference a 1" reduction in rim size with a 5lb reduction in weight, makes (i.e. the sidewall of the tire with the 17" rim's going to weigh more, tire's tread and wheel's drum & hub are the same, and each spoke is 1/2" shorter, while spreading out a 5lb reduction in weight across all three components of the wheel equally at the same time). I'll use the same "type" of 5 spoke rim, thus weight distribution in the rim will be the same between the 17" and 18", since there has to be some apples to apples in this little experimental comparison of mine ...

 

Thanks for clearing that up. I had a feeling there where way too many inputs to the scenario to have a generic equation to follow. I also didn't even think about rim design and where a rim holds it weight ex. near hub or outer rim. It makes perfect sense to keep the weight near the hub. That explains rim designs with spokes being the thickest near the hub and thining out towards the rim. Keeping the outside weight low. Am I correct with this thought???? Or am I creating my own physics????

I thought of a good practical way of seeing this....take a yo-yo and pinch the string at about 6 inches. Spin it in a circle and it starts whipping around fast. Now pinch the string off at 24 inches and spin the yo-yo in a circle. It doesen't excellerate or spin nearly as fast. The weight is farther away from the center point so dose this show a similar example???

It's been about 4 years since physics so this is somewhat a learning experience for me. I'm happy to get the ole' brain moving again!!

 

nope, not inventing your physics; that's 100% correct (hey, it's been over 20 years for me ). Here's another good visualization of moment of inertia. Sit in a chair that spins, with your arms out. Then pull your arms into your chest. You'll automatically speed up, since angular momentum needs to be maintained. Since the moment of inertia is lower with your arms in, the velocity of rotation has to increase to maintain the same angular momentum. ..."more velocity" for a angular momentum is what we're after, after all...

BTW, I was =shocked= last night. I was up until 4am doing my little experiment. Turns out the moment of inertia of a rim is dwarfed by that of the tire! The figures are as such, where moment of inertia is "I":

For my experiment, I used Bridgestone Potenza S-03 Pole Position tires. Both sized tires are 25lbs; 17" rim is 20lb; 18" rim is 25lb:
- 18" set: tire's I = 35.1909 ; rim's I = 7.155 ; total I = 42.35
- 17" set: tire's I = 35.3401 ; rim's I = 4.620 ; total I = 39.96

That's only a 5.6% reduction in moment of inertia for the 17" rim + tire set from that of the 18" ; with the majority of the difference made up by the rims -- 17" tire's moment of Inertia is actually larger then the 18" after all -- yes, but that difference alone of the rim is dwarfed by the inertia from the tires anyway.

Further, though in my experimantal rim, I disributed the weight as 25% to the hub, 35% to the 5 spokes, and 40% to the drum, the rim's drum makes up 87% of the rim's total moment of inertia [!] ; this is since inertia increases by the square of the distance from the axis of revolution.

So what does all this mean? You'll get even greater results by a few pound reduction in tires, then a greater reduction in the weight of the rims. I don't think I've ever seen anyone really caring about what their tires weigh, and a lot of concern about rim weight. ...woa, this is big!

BTW, in trying to find tires to use in my calculations, I found that really only Bridgestone and Continental publish the tire weights... Continentals are a lot lighter ; too bad they can't come close to those Bridgestones Pole Positions in ultimate grip.

 

...anyway, getting back on topic...and....DONE!

Getting a corner balance before alignment...
The car's settled since I left the shop ... it's tucked ... a lot.
Might actually have to have the car raised a 1/2 inch to an inch.


The rears... (the rear spring perch bolts have since been cut) You can see the camber arm, lower link arm, and swaybar link arm in this pik; with remote reservoir nicely tucked away but easily accessible.



If the installer had pix of the completed front on his memory card, I didn't find it, so I'll have to take some myself. (I have pix of the front with the wrong [rear] springs installed the 1st time around, but no reason to post those... ) 'Till then, puttting in the adjustable spring perch in the front:


With springs and Delrin Bushings:


< All 50 Shop Pix HERE >.

 

Ok , when do we get to go for rides in this.

 

hehe ... when it warms up. Tires got =no= traction in freezing weather. (I find while otherwise incredible tires, the Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 tires really start losing grip when the air temp goes under 50 or 60 degrees) The snow tires are about to go back on the car ; gunna be driving like an old man for a few months.

 

Bet that's gonna kill you - new toy and you can't play with it.

 

Beautiful setup

Will this system work on a W208 CLK55?

 

I'm mad at you for driving that in the winter, how dare you

 

RE: ... it's tucked ... a lot
Low rez pic taken w/a a Razor phone, then post processed heavily to increase shadow detail:

Sadly, gunna have to raise it.

C43AMG ... absolutely.

Chappy ... I have to profess ignorance about the exact front and rear geometry of the W208's suspension. But if it's very close to the W202 --i.e. if it's the same shock types and lengths, and the spring perch types and locations are the same, and three rear link arms (lower, camber, and swaybar) are the same on the W208 -- then it seems the answer's a "yes".

I hope Jeff (speedybenz) reads this and jumps in. He did state on several occasions to me that I can "take the shocks with me" if I go to another car, as absolutely every component on them is field replacable; to change the upper and lower connection points, shaft lengths, and even valving types and rates (running dual digressive valving on these) ... why you'll note the threading on the body, so can even be used for coil-over w/the spring mounts.

NitrogenBalance not to fear... the Jeep is really the daily driver; especially in the winter. But in a pinch, the car comes out in bad weather when absolutley necessary, since you can't fit luggage and the inlaws in the Jeep. (need to get a roof rack for the jeep ... to put the inlaws on it of course)

 

Maybe Santa Claus will bring you some clear corners !

 

Actually, waz thinking of having MBenzNL send me some Amber corners... (? ?)

 

Chappy, I got an unequivocal "yes" from Renn 208 when I asked on club202.com. You know how to contact speedybenz...? (click me)

 

jeff "speedybenz", ive been trying to contact you!!! I need a set of replacement bushings for the camber links... i think mine are worn out from excessive drag racing!!! Please email me, HonB3nzo@aol.com or Honson_L@bellsouth.net

 

...via the contact mechanisms provided by Jeff in his "How To Contact Speedybenz" post I linked to above?

 

ive already emailed him a couple times a month ago.... havnt gotten a response yet!!! I bought 2 sets of the camber arms from Jeff..and looking to purchase more for some fellow MBers. Jeff makes a great product, I just hope he accidentily overlooked my emails. I need customer support here!!!