I had set aside some vacation time 2 weeks from now to get my kleemann kit installed in CO. Then I learned something I had took for granted before--that Kleemann no longer uses thier well known IHI twin screw kit but switched to a generic Eaton roots kit.

The advantages of the twin screw are monument over the roots blowers and well known. It now makes sense why they introduced this EMS module you have to have now. It wasn't because of some added benefit, but to try to overcome the inherent deficiencies of the more inefficient roots blower. It would appear it is there to monitor and drop boost in case the excessive heat generated by the less efficient roots blower gets too high to the point of causing detonation. This of course is going to lead to less power if boost is dropped after hard runs but on top of that you'll have less power anyway due to the higher temps getting into the engine compared to the twin screw system. All that extra heat isn't good for the engine either so you're looking at less engine life.

Kleemann still wants to charge $10,000 for this roots setup and on top of that they want an additional $2,200 for the EMS to keep the system from grenading your engine. To me it would appear they're charging you a premium for a system that is inferior to what they had before or am I over analyzing and making it worse than it seems?

I know Kleemann makes good products, but even they can't change the laws of physics to make the roots system close to what the older twin screw system was capable of. Perhaps if the system was much cheaper than it is then it would be more attractive. $12,200 for the roots system seems too much.

 

My friend, looks like you know what the answer is. Its sad because i know you were looking forward to it.

 

The buttom line is horsepower and kleemann makes the same power as renntech kit and they cost about the same. My car resently dyno'd at 408whp and another member here got 410whp from a renntech setup with similar mods (they do promise me that my car will be at 420whp range soon though with a different tune, we'll see). Both kits have ran 11.7 @ 120mph in the 1/4 mile, so the acceleration is probably the same as well.

The way I see it, any way you supercharger your SLK55, you will get hp in 400-420whp range, so you should probably base your decision on what dealer you trust and what dealer is closest to you (if you need service or have problems later on). Just don't be fooled that you will have 480whp in your supercharged SLK55, this is what I expected and got a healthy dose of reality check

P.S. As far as other choices, there are carlsson and MKB, but they are even more expensive.

 

The 550 & 550 powerplants utilize the Roots type blower. I believe the SLK55 powerplant blower still uses the Eaton type....maybe you should speak w/Cory or Brandon (if you have not already done so) to confirm. Kleemann's web site clearly indicates the M113 powerplant uses the Eaton twin screw design. http://www.kleemann.dk/site/D73BB20B...0-FBAD205206BF

 

I know, it makes babies cry. Surely they could have come up with something better. Before you knew you were getting something good, now you get something generic everyone slaps on thier mustangs. It's funny because when HPS made thier system which used the Eaton blower Kleemann was on here saying how much better thier twin screw design was and using that to justify their higher price. Kleemann's own website in the faq still tells how much better the twin screw is than the roots.

I'm sure they've tweaked it to get about the same amount of peak power. The question I have is how consistent is that power going to be with the increased heat coming into the engine? The roots blowers by design are much less efficient and produce much more heat, not a small amount like 5 or 10%, but 30-40% more than a twin screw. Heat robs power and decreases engine life. The roots blower is working a whole lot harder to make 400rwp than a twin screw would; the parasitic loss of a roots is staggering. With the EMS in there dropping boost to compensate for the heat and living in TX where the ambient is already hot am I going to be running around on 1/2 boost all the time or something like that? I'm trying to find out what kind of intercooler upgrade they did when they switched from the twin screw to the roots. The new system would have to have a hefty upgrade to stay somewhat competitive with their old design.

The Eaton is the roots blower. The twin screw was made by IHI. IHI though got out of the supercharger busienss so there's no more available. I'm trying to find out which Eaton blower they're using but I'm guessing its the M112 which is the same one HPS uses in thier troubled kits. The roots blowers work, they're just cheap and poorer design and are the bottom rung of blowers. Their popularity stems from how cheap they are, not how good they are. Unfortunatly Kleemann's isn't cheap.

 

I'm not too familiar with the supercharger business, but JoshK had a centrifugal supercharger done by the folks at http://www.hopracing.com

http://www.mysubprofile.com/mbworld/joshkdyno.mp4 (right click, save as)

 

As far as consistency, all 4 of my dyno pulls were with 3whp and I've never seen the temperature gauge move once even in 105 degree Miami weather when I was stuck in traffic. I'm unhappy with the power of this kit (was expecting 450whp, got 408whp), but I am very happy with how cool the setup stays under extreme conditions, the intercooler seems to be working very well. My car does have phenolic spacers and thermostat though, which are not part of the kit but are worth getting...

 

This is why I am going with a custom setup. None of these SC Kits make enough power for me. Btw...Autorotor makes the old Kleemann blowers, not IHI who makes the Renntech blowers.

 

I am corrected. That's what happens when you do too much research; it all starts running together.

 

You're right, the 7 speed seems to have about a 16% drivetrain loss if the US crank HP # of 355 is to be believed. Most are dynoing at ~300 rwhp. If I remember right you got the SC, ecu, and headers which they advertise as 530HP which should be right near 450 rwhp. That is troubling that you're missing that much power.

 

Either the power loss is at least 20% (seems likely for an auto) or SLK55's have slightly less power than advertised. When my car was stock, it dyno'd just at 285whp, while FishtailZ (see 3 posts below) got only 265whp. A couple of people did get in the 290whp range, but most dyno's I've seen on forums and in person are in the 280-290whp range for a bone stock car on a realistic dyno. Of course it depends on factors like temperature, altitude, whether there is a huge fan blowing in front of your car, etc.

With the kompressor, headers, cats and a couple of other minor things (like phenolic spacers and thermostat), the power went from 285whp to 408whp, which is a 123whp gain. Using 20% powerloss, thats about 490bhp. Jliu from slkworld got 410whp, almost exactly the same as myself. And SLK55 Kleemann from this forum got 512bhp. All three of these cars have same mods: supercharger, headers, minor mods and all of them ended up getting 490-510bhp after these mods so I think this is as much as you can expect from any kit. Tuners seem to always advertise very optimistic numbers (some tuners claim 20-30hp just from ecu tune lol).

Please refer to these two kleemann SLK55 dyno's. Both cars have kompressor, ecu, headers. One is 408whp (~490bhp) and another is 512bhp. I don't have the Jliu's 410whp renntech dyno, he didn't post it unfortunately. I think its still worth it since 130whp+ is a huge gain in power... just don't expect your SLK55 to have close to 600bhp once its done

 

Hey buddy, if you want same setup like Jliu has, pm me and we can go over the pricing and installation.


Adam

 

That 512 hp is one of my old dynos, this one is after adding Cams:



And after that I added their Exhaustsystem, another 15 hp/35 Nm
So totally 550 hp/770 Nm - BUT! it is not measured at the wheels!

550hp - 20% = 440 hp
550hp - 16% = 462 hp

 

Yeah I know, I was comparing your 512hp dyno to my 490hp dyno because at that time, we had the same mods: supercharger, ecu, headers (I don't have cams or exhaust). Jliu also got a little under 500hp with his renntech supercharger and headers... so basically almost all supercharged SLK55's are somewhere around 500hp with headers. With cams exhaust, which is what you have now, most people will probably get 525-535hp.

 

Supercharger issues aside (although I will say that I am surprised Kleeman would drop the twin screw design for the notably inferior roots style...), you can't directly compare dyno results (especially from different types of dynos) to another. Best place to test power is at the track!

My l'il 265whp car, actually 256 as I never had the green filters in then *L*, ran 12.7's and 110+traps last time out

 

fishtailnZ is extremely proud of his 12.7runs - you the man!

 

Still sore huh Earl?

 

Don't turn my post into a flame thread....

 

Amen bfnnrgn. Have you checked into Renntech; don't they still use the twin-screw S/C?

 

I got 535 hp with cams + 15/20 hp with the exhaust = 550/555 hp
I have no dyno after exhaust mod, but this is what I have been told - 550hp atleast!!

 

hey fishy,i have these images of an old man ,that loves his slk so much lol and cleans it everyday his dream car! 12.7 runs! keep them coming pops!

 

Please stick to topic and Fishtailinz is a very respectable member

 

 

Taking the moral high road...not too hard in this case!

 

i have the perfect bumper sticker for you ..... my mid life crisis ... begins at 12.7