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As was noted in the original thread, when I did the initial hardware list a few of the items typically found on a mods list where suspiciously left off it. This was for a reason. At the time, some of the components we were testing were not providing tangible benefit to the small group of people in our group, i.e Intakes and Water Meth systems. As the old adage goes…”If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it.” So at the time I didn’t.
What started as a very small group of nutters over a year ago who wanted to evolve the Ethanol and TCU tuning capacities of this platform… the W212 engine, has turned into a core group of enthusiasts with a vast background in aftermarket modding. The group has expanded greatly since then, and with it opportunities to test different mods on our cars to see what works and what doesn’t. Our focus has changed somewhat as well in our quest to make our cars faster, and we all wanted to break into the 10’s. Guys are out almost daily testing and evaluating products and reporting back. They are an absolute gem of a group of guys.
In our quest to top the W212 Quarter Mile leaderboard we have left no stone unturned. As a result, we’ve been very successful as a group, with the vast majority of us all safely well into the 10’s in the quarter mile now. As a snapshot, 3 of the top 5 today on the draggy ¼ mile leaderboard below contribute to testing and sharing results daily.
I’ve also amassed a master spreadsheet of the different members and their hardware configurations. It’s because of this spreadsheet that I am able to identify which components added to the increased performance and by what amount. Here is a snippet of the data set.
All these guys are out there testing these hardware configurations.. hats off to them.
With the benefit of hindsight and continuous testing and logging amongst our group I’m confident that the following list of mods, done in order of precedent, will net you the best returns. Doing all the mods will net you a low 10 second car with stock turbos.
Disclaimer… I received zero compensation from any of the vendor's noted below. This is just an amalgamation of all the best products and testing performed to date by our little group of enthusiasts.
Without further ado…
If starting with a clean slate the following mods are recommended in order of best performance gains, with recommended venders based on our overwhelming test data.
1. TCU tune (look to other threads that discuss TCU tunes for more background – vast majority are running EC Canada Slavs white label German TCU tune) The TCU tune allows immediate access to all available stock horsepower in all gears. A TCU tuned Stock ECU car was shown to be faster out of the hole then a stock TCU Tuned ECU car.
2. ECU tune (without getting into a pissing match, the fact is the vast majority of the cars running in the 10’s are on either EC Jerry’s Ethanol tune, or EC Canada’s Slav’s ethanol tune – facts) These guys are on top of their game and the tunes stand on their own.
3. Grippier Tires (rear) Traction will suddenly become an issue off the line – better tires are needed. MT Streets have proven the best DR for dedicated track use… R888r’s are a good overall compromise for track and street.
4. ECE billet Mounts (install once and done - saves on multiple OEM mount installs – I went through 3 sets of OEM ones.. what a waste of money) With the added torque on tap from the above mods…. you will need new mounts sooner than later. Just bite the bullet and get the ECE ones.
5. High Flow Intake (the recent availability of the Black Boost Intake has blown away any performance gains arguments held previously – this is the only intake tested that has shown remarkable gains - https://mbworld.org/forums/w212-amg/...ck-intake.html no other product has shown a 0.5 second improvement in 60-130 times. The improved top end performance is undeniable and documented. Boosted Benz is your local contact.
6. Catless downpipes (Red Star make a great product, but just removing the CAT Cores in the stock downpipes has been shown to be cheaper and just as good)
If you have the above mods, and assuming you’ve kept up with maintenance, fluids and stock plugs at stock gap, then you will have a field proven 10.6 to 10.8 second car on your hands.
If you are not satisfied with a ~10.7 and want to go faster, then you need to look to cooling mods and lowering rotational mass. As such consider the following:
7. A water meth system. The recommended system is from ProMeth. The placement of the water meth nozzles are critical though. Testing of the systems that were sold by Weistec, Renntech and others which placed the nozzles in the charge pipes showed minimal gains for the money spent. Best performance has come from injecting the methanol near the air to water intercooler. This requires pulling the intercooler to make the modifications, meaning it’s more expensive to install. Once dialed in though, the car becomes a true beast. Cars running these kits are in the 10.3 to 10.5 range, on stock turbos.
8. Lighter Rims (lowers rotational mass)… if you remove the aesthetic look of aftermarket rims from the equation, the price of admission is a hard sell, and why it’s at the bottom of the list. With lighter rims and wider tires though, you will see a net benefit in improved times, and for that reason is included in the list.
I hope the list above is of benefit to people, especially those new to the platform looking to improve performance.
Hopefully you can get benefit from our learnings.
I urge members of our E Tune and TCU Tune WhatsApp Chats to post up to back up / refute my comments above.
If anyone has issue that their product of choice is not noted above, then I challenge you to go out and test the products performance and post up verifiable claims in this thread. My list is not exhaustive, and if there are products out there that our fellow enthusiasts could benefit from knowing about... then post up. I caveat that though... dyno plots are almost useless in the real world. Real world 0-60, 60ft, 1/8 Mile, 1/4 mile and 60-130 (100-200) performance gains are the metric we most refer to.
What MT ET Street tires are guys running? 285/40/18 front and 305/35/18 rear? Those are still quite a bit taller than stock. I think I’m going 19” R888R for street and above MT ET street SS for strip.
One last question. Are any guys running spool performance HPFP & LPFP along with full E85? Or is stock hardware with E30-E50 fuel the max right now?
I am curious to see a column in the spread with the vehicle configuration. This can explain important distinction in cooling, driveline, and international variety. Here are the config codes:
212.074 = 2011-2016 E63 M157 RWD Sedan
212.075 = 2013-2016 E63 M157 RWD Sedan FACELIFT
212.076 = 2013-2016 E63 S M157 4MATIC Sedan FACELIFT
212.077 = 2009-2015 E63 M156 RWD Sedan
212.092 = 2013-2016 E63 M157 4MATIC Sedan FACELIFT
212.274 = 2011-2016 E63 M157 RWD Wagon
212.276 = 2013-2016 E63 S M157 4MATIC Wagon FACELIFT
218.374 = 2011-2017 CLS63 M157 RWD Sedan
218.375 = 2013-2017 CLS63 S M157 RWD Sedan FACELIFT
218.376 = 2013-2017 CLS63 S M157 4MATIC Sedan FACELIFT
218.392 = 2013-2017 CLS63 M157 4MATIC Sedan FACELIFT
Umm...Let's be sure not to forget the smaller sibling of the M157, the M278. There are a few of us out there in our E550/E500/CLS550/CL550/S550/ML550/GL430.
I have a lot of these mods as they are parallel platforms. Hell, my E550 is faster that quite a few E63's, and even some E63S's...and it's only getting faster!
Will be doing some testing this weekend, may be dropping another tenth or two off my 1/4 mile times. Gimme them DEEP 11's!
Umm...Let's be sure not to forget the smaller sibling of the M157, the M278.
Your efforts are commendable, and results impressive. Many of the M157 platform mods apply indeed. However, M278 is unlikely to become part of the reference base (inspiration) in this forum.
As was noted in the original thread, when I did the initial hardware list a few of the items typically found on a mods list where suspiciously left off it. This was for a reason. At the time, some of the components we were testing were not providing tangible benefit to the small group of people in our group, i.e Intakes and Water Meth systems. As the old adage goes…”If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it.” So at the time I didn’t.
What started as a very small group of nutters over a year ago who wanted to evolve the Ethanol and TCU tuning capacities of this platform… the W212 engine, has turned into a core group of enthusiasts with a vast background in aftermarket modding. The group has expanded greatly since then, and with it opportunities to test different mods on our cars to see what works and what doesn’t. Our focus has changed somewhat as well in our quest to make our cars faster, and we all wanted to break into the 10’s. Guys are out almost daily testing and evaluating products and reporting back. They are an absolute gem of a group of guys.
In our quest to top the W212 Quarter Mile leaderboard we have left no stone unturned. As a result, we’ve been very successful as a group, with the vast majority of us all safely well into the 10’s in the quarter mile now. As a snapshot, 3 of the top 5 today on the draggy ¼ mile leaderboard below contribute to testing and sharing results daily.
I’ve also amassed a master spreadsheet of the different members and their hardware configurations. It’s because of this spreadsheet that I am able to identify which components added to the increased performance and by what amount. Here is a snippet of the data set.
All these guys are out there testing these hardware configurations.. hats off to them.
With the benefit of hindsight and continuous testing and logging amongst our group I’m confident that the following list of mods, done in order of precedent, will net you the best returns. Doing all the mods will net you a low 10 second car with stock turbos.
Disclaimer… I received zero compensation from any of the vendor's noted below. This is just an amalgamation of all the best products and testing performed to date by our little group of enthusiasts.
Without further ado…
If starting with a clean slate the following mods are recommended in order of best performance gains, with recommended venders based on our overwhelming test data.
1. TCU tune (look to other threads that discuss TCU tunes for more background – vast majority are running EC Canada Slavs white label German TCU tune) The TCU tune allows immediate access to all available stock horsepower in all gears. A TCU tuned Stock ECU car was shown to be faster out of the hole then a stock TCU Tuned ECU car.
2. ECU tune (without getting into a pissing match, the fact is the vast majority of the cars running in the 10’s are on either EC Jerry’s Ethanol tune, or EC Canada’s Slav’s ethanol tune – facts) These guys are on top of their game and the tunes stand on their own.
3. Grippier Tires (rear) Traction will suddenly become an issue off the line – better tires are needed. MT Streets have proven the best DR for dedicated track use… R888r’s are a good overall compromise for track and street.
4. ECE billet Mounts (install once and done - saves on multiple OEM mount installs – I went through 3 sets of OEM ones.. what a waste of money) With the added torque on tap from the above mods…. you will need new mounts sooner than later. Just bite the bullet and get the ECE ones.
5. High Flow Intake (the recent availability of the Black Boost Intake has blown away any performance gains arguments held previously – this is the only intake tested that has shown remarkable gains - https://mbworld.org/forums/w212-amg/...ck-intake.html no other product has shown a 0.5 second improvement in 60-130 times. The improved top end performance is undeniable and documented. Boosted Benz is your local contact.
6. Catless downpipes (Red Star make a great product, but just removing the CAT Cores in the stock downpipes has been shown to be cheaper and just as good)
If you have the above mods, and assuming you’ve kept up with maintenance, fluids and stock plugs at stock gap, then you will have a field proven 10.6 to 10.8 second car on your hands.
If you are not satisfied with a ~10.7 and want to go faster, then you need to look to cooling mods and lowering rotational mass. As such consider the following:
7. A water meth system. The recommended system is from ProMeth. The placement of the water meth nozzles are critical though. Testing of the systems that were sold by Weistec, Renntech and others which placed the nozzles in the charge pipes showed minimal gains for the money spent. Best performance has come from injecting the methanol near the air to water intercooler. This requires pulling the intercooler to make the modifications, meaning it’s more expensive to install. Once dialed in though, the car becomes a true beast. Cars running these kits are in the 10.3 to 10.5 range, on stock turbos.
8. Lighter Rims (lowers rotational mass)… if you remove the aesthetic look of aftermarket rims from the equation, the price of admission is a hard sell, and why it’s at the bottom of the list. With lighter rims and wider tires though, you will see a net benefit in improved times, and for that reason is included in the list.
I hope the list above is of benefit to people, especially those new to the platform looking to improve performance.
Hopefully you can get benefit from our learnings.
I urge members of our E Tune and TCU Tune WhatsApp Chats to post up to back up / refute my comments above.
If anyone has issue that their product of choice is not noted above, then I challenge you to go out and test the products performance and post up verifiable claims in this thread. My list is not exhaustive, and if there are products out there that our fellow enthusiasts could benefit from knowing about... then post up. I caveat that though... dyno plots are almost useless in the real world. Real world 0-60, 60ft, 1/8 Mile, 1/4 mile and 60-130 (100-200) performance gains are the metric we most refer to.
THE AMG W212 OSCAR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD GOES TO BRUTUS BRETT FOR HIS INCREDIBLE PASSION, RESEARCH AND CONTRIBUTIONS TO OUR GROUP AND HAS HELPED ALL OF US LOVE THESE CARS EVEN MORE!!!!!
Truly appreciate everything you’ve done Brett to share and collaborate for all our benefits!!
Thanks to Brett I've only had a grin on my face ear to ear driving this 10 second beast!! Love the tcu and e40 tune
most importantly some people take this all way too seriously and this has simply been fun for all of us and I have made great friends in the process online and at the track and on meets.
Last edited by PeterUbers; 10-28-2020 at 07:18 PM.
What MT ET Street tires are guys running? 285/40/18 front and 305/35/18 rear? Those are still quite a bit taller than stock. I think I’m going 19” R888R for street and above MT ET street SS for strip.
One last question. Are any guys running spool performance HPFP & LPFP along with full E85? Or is stock hardware with E30-E50 fuel the max right now?
Those of us that are running the MT Streets are only doing it on the rear, leaving the front alone. We are also running a 18" rim on the back to allow for more meat in 305/35ZR18. This is a dedicated track setup. I'm running Toyo R8882's in 295 width on my stock rear rims and have proven a nice compromise. While I netted my best 60 ft with the MT's my Toyo's aren't too far behind and I feel safer for street driving.
Originally Posted by maxusa
I am curious to see a column in the spread with the vehicle configuration. This can explain important distinction in cooling, driveline, and international variety. Here are the config codes:
212.074 = 2011-2016 E63 M157 RWD Sedan
212.075 = 2013-2016 E63 M157 RWD Sedan FACELIFT
212.076 = 2013-2016 E63 S M157 4MATIC Sedan FACELIFT
212.077 = 2009-2015 E63 M156 RWD Sedan
212.092 = 2013-2016 E63 M157 4MATIC Sedan FACELIFT
212.274 = 2011-2016 E63 M157 RWD Wagon
212.276 = 2013-2016 E63 S M157 4MATIC Wagon FACELIFT
218.374 = 2011-2017 CLS63 M157 RWD Sedan
218.375 = 2013-2017 CLS63 S M157 RWD Sedan FACELIFT
218.376 = 2013-2017 CLS63 S M157 4MATIC Sedan FACELIFT
218.392 = 2013-2017 CLS63 M157 4MATIC Sedan FACELIFT
The excel spreadsheet screen grab I presented did not display the entire spreadsheet or members. We have cells that indicate the year and model of the individual members cars as well, plus a host of other relevant info.
Originally Posted by thesaintusa
What about tunes for people that cannot get e85 / e40 etc and have to use regular 91 or 93?
What kind of numbers are people running with a TCU tune and ECU tune (91 or 93)?
Great thread!
We have members running race gas in lieu of E85 blend with great results....in the draggy screen shot in the original thread, one of those is Cifnyc. He is running a bespoke race gas tune from Jerry.
I can't speak to regular 93 octane tunes as our group consist of members with either a E tune, TCU Tune or both.
Regarding the EC ECU Ethanol Tune - it sounds like it is not a FlexTune, where I would be able to run 91 and WOT and then throw it the proper mix to get to e30 for example and then have the power gains. I would need to run e30 at all times. My car is a daily driver so this would hinder that ability considerably.
Regarding the EC ECU Ethanol Tune - it sounds like it is not a FlexTune, where I would be able to run 91 and WOT and then throw it the proper mix to get to e30 for example and then have the power gains. I would need to run e30 at all times. My car is a daily driver so this would hinder that ability considerably.
I daily mine as well, but I have ready access to E85 from multiple stations in my area so it hasn't been an issue for me. I imagine my thoughts would be different if I didn't have ready access to corn. In that instance I would probably have two tunes... one for everyday driving on 93, and then a race specific tune for running race gas on those instances I want to misbehave.
The E tune we are running have all become bespoke tunes following back and forth logging sessions with both Jerry and/or Slav on their respective tunes. The tunes have evolved so much in the last year it's hard to keep track. I agree that the E tunes we are running should no longer be considered Flex because of how aggressive they have become. Having said that, from personal experience, I can safely run 93 on my ECC E40 tune as long as I don't beat on it. It takes all my control not to do that, and I need to rely on cruise control to dampen my urges, but the car drove fine until I could get to a station with the good stuff.
If I was living in an area where I had access to E85 but didn't want to run it all the time, then I'd consider having two tunes... a watered down 93 gasoline tune and a full on E tune from your tuner of choice...
Thanks for the great info, what a perfect time to be getting into an E63
I know right! Buy one now before prices go up further in the used car market.
If someone is new to AMG and is interested in tweaking their cars performance, or have been here a while and just want to cut through the sales speak and smoke and mirrors the aftermarket seems to generate, then this thread should be considered a godsend.
If you are looking to tune your car to its max potential safely, and the most economically, and are okay with blending ethanol, then you have serious viable options now.
Of course you can rely on salesmen selling their wares telling you that theirs is the best yada yada, I leave it to you to cut through that chaff.
The list above represents the combined efforts of approximately 40 people over the past year across the E Tune and TCU tune chats, all contributing for the most part in comparing and sharing different hardware configurations and experiences.
I know right! Buy one now before prices go up further in the used car market.
If someone is new to AMG and is interested in tweaking their cars performance, or have been here a while and just want to cut through the sales speak and smoke and mirrors the aftermarket seems to generate, then this thread should be considered a godsend.
If you are looking to tune your car to its max potential safely, and the most economically, and are okay with blending ethanol, then you have serious viable options now.
Of course you can rely on salesmen selling their wares telling you that theirs is the best yada yada, I leave it to you to cut through that chaff.
The list above represents the combined efforts of approximately 40 people over the past year across the E Tune and TCU tune chats, all contributing for the most part in comparing and sharing different hardware configurations and experiences.
amen! Perfectly stated.
I added this to the sticky but I vote this becomes a sticky in and of itself
Last edited by PeterUbers; 10-29-2020 at 04:17 PM.
[QUOTE=brutus_tx;8190419]Those of us that are running the MT Streets are only doing it on the rear, leaving the front alone. We are also running a 18" rim on the back to allow for more meat in 305/35ZR18. This is a dedicated track setup. I'm running Toyo R8882's in 295 width on my stock rear rims and have proven a nice compromise. While I netted my best 60 ft with the MT's my Toyo's aren't too far behind and I feel safer for street driving.
What tire are you running up front paired with the R888R? Would you run 265/35/19 or 275/35/19 R888R up front? Think I will run 305/30/19 R888R in rear.
Those of us that are running the MT Streets are only doing it on the rear, leaving the front alone. We are also running a 18" rim on the back to allow for more meat in 305/35ZR18. This is a dedicated track setup. I'm running Toyo R8882's in 295 width on my stock rear rims and have proven a nice compromise. While I netted my best 60 ft with the MT's my Toyo's aren't too far behind and I feel safer for street driving.
What tire are you running up front paired with the R888R? Would you run 265/35/19 or 275/35/19 R888R up front? Think I will run 305/30/19 R888R in rear.
I'm running the stock Pirellis the car came with up front.
None of us are running that rear tire combo. I urge you to check rolling circumference between the front and rear tire you choose. If there is too large a disparity between the two you may run into TC issues.
10-28-2020, 01:56 PM
