Race Cats going in
Got another call tonight.. Friday is cancelled and rescheduled for next Monday. They have a car "stuck" on the hoist and other cars that are backlogged so I have to wait until they catch up.
This is gonna be a loooooonnnnggg week..
Ah well..
Got another call tonight.. Friday is cancelled and rescheduled for next Monday. They have a car "stuck" on the hoist and other cars that are backlogged so I have to wait until they catch up.
This is gonna be a loooooonnnnggg week..
Ah well..
Stock car, K&N, thermotec airboxes: 411rwhp, 476rwtq
Added EVO Headers, wires, cooling system: 442rwhp, 497rwtq
Added 3" mid section exhaust with race cats (at this point I wasnt sure if the intercooler pump was running 100% or not because I thought I was just running too lean): 430rwhp, 497rwtq. (Lost 12hp)
Moved race cats from below headers to further down, replaced X-pipe with H-pipe, replaced intercooler pump with a new pump: 443rwhp, 500rwtq.
When I added the exhaust to the car and got it running 100% the best I could do was 443rwhp, 500rwtq. That power was made with 2lbs less boost than I was running before. (I am not sure how much was lost because of headers separately because I am not sure in the datalogs which was which).
The bottom line is at the current modification level I was at, the exhaust didnt increase power. The car was running more efficiently (less stress on the motor) and making the same power using less boost. I would probably of been better off just removing the primary cats on the STOCK exhaust.. But, since I was planning on taking this car to the extreme I built the exhaust since I knew I would need it eventually.
Now, at the point that I am at, I would either have to go back to the stock exhaust and remove the primary cats and live with this power level, or push forward and put the pullies on to increase the boost.
I decided this would be a good opportunity to put the pullies on and see how much power I can get out of the car with +3lbs of boost (which would put me +1lb over the stock setting). No point in going backwards.
My approach will now have to be reversed form before. I will keep tuning the ECU for the pullies until I have reached the maximum power I can extract. At that point, I will take OFF the exhaust I built and put the stock one back on (minus the primary cats) and see how much I lose (if any). This will give me the delta I was looking for in the first place and tell me if changing the stock exhaust is even worthwhile.
You should make around 580 HP using proper ECU with this set up...
With stock car, if you bring the boost using ECU from 0.9 to 1.0 (MKB approach) you'll get extra 54HP...total 530 + CAI (more air behind throtle bodies) another 10HP, so MKB stage 1 is 540HP stock exhaust!!! with CATs removed may be another 10-15HP...
Are all 4 CATS (primary and secondary) on E55K the same???
The Best of Mercedes & AMG
Mark.
I didn't want to keep posting saying it was postponed so I thought I would wait until the install was complete.. They had an S600 with some major problems and had some backlog of work to complete so they pushed me back until this Thursday. It's been rescheduled 3 times already.
I confirmed and told them they better not cancel on me again or it's their a$$...
I think I am definitely booked for Thursday.
On another note:
I've been driving around with the tune for the pullies for a while now.. I had to let a C5 Z06 Corvette go that I've been itching to run with for a while.. He lives in my neck of the woods and we cross paths all the time but never in the same direction.
As good old murphy's law has it, he happens to tail me onto the highway 2 mornings ago.. Great.. My car is limping and not healthy and he wants to play... Just great! I could tell it was not going to be in my favour just from a little "testing" I did with him so I had to behave and let him go.. Damnit... Can't wait until it's running 100% again. This is killing me...
This guy that works on my car is a Mercedes certified tech and it took him 5hrs to re/re the 4 pullies. The car runs perfectly smooth... no vibrations or noises.
I drove the car home yesterday night and initial impressions are that the car's throttle response has improved even more. I didnt get a chance to really pour on the power because it was a bit slipperly last night. I did a quick 3rd gear blast from 3,000RPM to redline and it pulls VERY hard.
I was going to take it to the dyno tomorrow but I am going to wait until next week. My ECU programmer is going to load a new program for me which he said he picked up another 15hp - 20hp from this initial tune I have. Once I have put 200miles on the new tune I will put it on the rollers and see where we are at.
Even with the pullies and the ECU tune I can already tell that this new 3" exhaust I built is still overkill.. I will test it on the dyno for the heck of it, and then put back my stock exhaust minus the primary cats and see what the differences are.
I am trying to close this chapter soon so I can start testing & tuning the water/meth system. Hopefully we are making good power and I wont have to re-look at the ECU again.
This guy that works on my car is a Mercedes certified tech and it took him 5hrs to re/re the 4 pullies. The car runs perfectly smooth... no vibrations or noises.
I drove the car home yesterday night and initial impressions are that the car's throttle response has improved even more. I didnt get a chance to really pour on the power because it was a bit slipperly last night. I did a quick 3rd gear blast from 3,000RPM to redline and it pulls VERY hard.
I was going to take it to the dyno tomorrow but I am going to wait until next week. My ECU programmer is going to load a new program for me which he said he picked up another 15hp - 20hp from this initial tune I have. Once I have put 200miles on the new tune I will put it on the rollers and see where we are at.
Even with the pullies and the ECU tune I can already tell that this new 3" exhaust I built is still overkill.. I will test it on the dyno for the heck of it, and then put back my stock exhaust minus the primary cats and see what the differences are.
I am trying to close this chapter soon so I can start testing & tuning the water/meth system. Hopefully we are making good power and I wont have to re-look at the ECU again.
I have some new toys on the way also.. Looking at doing a new throttle body and hopefully will have the programming done for the recirculation valve located below the throttle body.
Harry
I only ordered 2 of them. Tomorrow we are taking off those huge cantelopes (I call them cantelopes, you guys might refer to them as the primary cats) and replacing them with these 100 cell stainless 3" race cats.
I will be doing some testing with just 1 set and the stock secondaries.. I'll get a couple of pulls on the dyno (with the guy who dyno'd my car stock since his new shop is setup now).
Then, I will hack off the secondary cats, install a 3" X-pipe and redyno. Assuming I dont get a check engine light with just the 1 set of race cats, I may have to install a second set of 100cell cats to keep the stock ECU happy and not give me a check engine light.
Pics and updates to follow tomorrow.
Wish me luck...
Harry
I'm waiting for the new tune to be put on my car and then will dyno.. With christmas approaching it will probably happen just before the end of the year.
After reading 8 pages of interesting well documented experimentation with no conclusions one could be forgiven for being a little disappointed that the outcomes are not known.
Perhaps the writer succumbed to the snide cynicism that is sometimes prevalent on this forum???







