ptirado961

What to get into the 11s... What should I do?

I can guess this has been discussed probably a gazillion times, but I really want some fresh answers. I have an 05' E55 with only K&N drop ins, and recently took it to the track. My best 1/4 was at 12.6 sec at 110 mph with ESP turned on (Think I should be faster). I would be satisfied getting into the consistent high 11s. This was my first time at the track, and did not want to embarrass myself slipping and sliding all over the track by trying to control the throttle (figured the geniuses at AMG knew what they were doing when they designed the ESP on the E55).

My BIG question is... If you had to do it all over again, and had a limited budget, and little tolerance for headaches, what would be the first Big Bang for the Buck modification you would do/recommend? Honestly, I am scared of the ECU Tune, and don't want to adversely affect the ESP controls (they kick in great and save me from myself). I don't want to have to run drag radials on my car to lower my ET as that would not be real world street conditions IMO. Want to truly get into the 11s (without drags), but don't want to sacrifice wasted $$$, time, and drivability. Am I asking too much?

PS - Considering ASP pulley or Let Tune (not both)

Thank you in advanced for the input/suggestions!!!

skratch77

So you want to get into the 11s with no ecu tune and no drag radials?

What was your 60ft

shardul

iTrader: (1)

get the tune, because pulley without tune is a waste of money.

Evolved8

Get the Pulley, then tune it asap.

tgoss

I would buy my Kleemann headers well before any other performance mod if I had to do it all over again.

Worth the wait

First I would say practice at the drag with your stock set up. Work on getting consistent 1.8-1.9 sixty foots. Your traps should be in the 112-114 area. Work on your skills and make sure your car is running right before you add any mods. You easily have 2-4 tenths to shave off based on what our cars are capable of stock.

Then add headers, replace the primary cat with a race cat, delete the second cat, install an Xpipe and call it a day.

If you want more power simply add a tune at that point.

Adding a larger pulley will cause issues with heat soak and launching at the track. You would definitely make more power, but that does not always equate to a lower et in the 1/4 with our cars on stock cooling.

If I had it to do all over, this is what I would do.

skratch77

Headers will cost him alot.

pulley and tune is the way to go for bang for the buck power and you will be in the 11s all day.

Worth the wait

When cost becomes a significant concern I would tend to agree with you.

However our intercoolers are not up to the task of cooling additional boost stock, so there will be added cost in upgrading that.

Kleeman shorties and race cat will cost about $1800. Install and fabrication of x pipe should be in the 500-800 range. This setup should produce at least 40whp.

Additionally extra boost off the line with further challenge traction, which is already a significant issue on the stock set up.

ptirado961

I ran three consistent runs around 12.6 @ 110 w/ESP on.

Best 1/4 timeslip below:
R/T... .449 (best R/T was .149)
60'... 1.902
330... 5.341
1/8... 8.160
MPH... 87.09
1000... 10.591
1/4... 12.644 (slowest was 12.691)
MPH... 109.72 (fastest was 110.05)

Shouldn't I be traping at 112-114mph? (even with ESP on?) Could my IC Pump be acting up? After I turned off the track, the car felt like it would not boost/respond when I gave it gas...

ptirado961

These are all great ideas.
I am liking the header & exhaust idea more than the pulley and/or tune. Does anyone have a picture of their exhaust setup with the X pipe and secondary cat removed? What size piping? Same as stock? Assume res delete too.

Nitrous anyone??? Spoke to a ZEX rep, and seemed to think a wet system with the right safety controls could give me 50-75hp +no problems.

ptirado961

Will that screw with my launch? Will ESP still work right? It is pretty effortless now with ESP on (I admit.. I am a little lazy), and just want to squeeze myself into the 11s without white knuckling it praying I lock the tires right everytime I race.

GT-ER

I honestly don't think you'll be able to pull of 11's without drag radials OR pulley,tune headers. Your launch will make or break your 1/4 mile times and using the traction control isn't exactly the best idea.

That's why I decided to just screw it and ordered the Eurocharged package with headers, tune, pulley and intercooler. On top of that I plan on getting drag radials ( although my tires aren't exactly crap, I have Falken Azenis RT615's ) on my hopes to get easy 11's.

chawkins2001

Upgrade your HE pump for $200 to make sure you are getting the full potential of the blower. Not wanting to run drags is really shooting yourself in the foot. You can get really good daily driver friendly drags that do ok in the rain. I bet with just a HE pump upgrade and a set of drags, you will hit 11's. Pump and drags will be roughly $700.00 and no real labor costs involved. I have seen that combo slaughter mid 11 second cars on the street.

These cars with drags on the street are lethal. I ran that setup for a year without any issues and mine was daily driven for a while.

skratch77

168mm pulley,tune is what I would do if I had to do it again.

I sold my 168 to dimon so will see what he does at the tack in about a month.

He's running pulley and tune with rear res delete.

Worth the wait

This is EXACTLY why you should leave your car stock until you are pulling times/traps that are consistent to stock numbers.
I would guess, as others have said, that you need to upgrade your pump. Start there, return to the track and see what happens.

Also invest in some data logging so you can monitor IAT's (among many other things). If your times are still off after the pump upgrade a datalogger will be invaluable in diagnosing what could be any number of other problems.

Good luck!

Worth the wait

Wait, didn't you do it again
Jk man!

skratch77

all my stuff is sold

just my 175 thats on her now is left and yeah been there done that lol.

More boost = more heat

Turbo 6

Put a CM30 IC pump on it. Go back to the track, let the car cool down at least an hour with ice on the surge tanks. Report back the results. You should be trapping at least 114 depending on your elevation.
FWIW the first time went to the track I had similar results. New IC pump fixed that. Ended up going 12.06 at 116 mph bone stock. I guarantee I could have gone 11.9x with drag radials.

ryan b

I have a Eurocharged tune which should be the same as a LET tune and was able to squeak out an 11.91 on drag radials. The Mickey Thompson ET streets that I use seem fine for everyday driving and IMO are necessary for a good launch. The only other mod I have are K&N drop in's which you already have. Like others have said, change out your IC pump which will make an improvement on its own.

AKnight55

Going to have to tune if you want to see the best bang for the buck.. Pulley and tune is usually the first stage.. I dont see why people are saying going headers first is best?? Your still going to have to tune with headers and all in all is going to run at least $2500.. Got with the pulley and tune, which by the way has come WAY DOWN in price in the recent years.. Your only looking at about $1500, and you will be in the 11s.

GT-ER

I've seen a few people with headers putting down great power gains with no tuning what so ever.

ptirado961

Update: After the ECU Tune from Eurocharged, and the upgrade of my IC pump to the CM30, I saw a HUGE improvement in my performance on the street and on the track. I invested in replica OEM rims ($150/each) for the rear to mount my BFG drag Radials. They made a huge difference in launching after a good burn out compared to my PS2s (which weren't bad at all) got as low as 12.2/12.3 1/4. Then Shorty EVOSport header install got me into 12.0 @ 117mph. I just received my 172mm ASP pulley from EC, and once installed and retuned by EC, I should be right in the sweet spot of 11's...

An 11 second daily driver... Not bad ehh???

Shifter

FYI- I ran bone stock on those tires, in humid Florida best et 12.2 at 113.

I'm thinking you should still be getting more with those mods? Were you getting wheelspin still? (as I was)

pullejo

I have tons of power and **** tires. And couldn't break into the 11's because I couldn't hook. And I had no clue what I was doing as far as launch.

My best 60' time when I went to the track was 1.957...most were around 2.3...yeah...that bad. I still destroyed everyone I raced and had traps kissing 120 (118.98...118.66...118.73)....

Decent tires, a conscious effort on your 60' and launch, and you're in the 11's. Seriously...I had no idea how important the launch is.

I totally believe the guys that have stock time's in the 11's with DR's because their 60' times are also like 1.7. Totally do it.

If I had a 60' of 1.7 my car would easily be mid 11's.

You can have 700 hp and without a decent launch...doesn't matter.