C230 Kompressor Pulleys and tuning options

[Adam230K]

Hi guys,

Right i've been doing a bit of research on how to gain some power out of the 230k without it being too risky and i may have found a solution (although its slightly pricey, its still a solution!).

I've had a nice long chat with a fella from Angel Tuning (which tudu directed me to, cheers) and he told me that they can remap my car for £300 and they will dyno it for me, before and after for an additional £60 to show an increase of between 15-25bhp which is all hunky dory.

Now he also tells me that they do a pulley for the supercharger in the 230K, which will require a remap after its fitted, this is basically the same kind've remap quoted above but taking into account the new pulley on the supercharger. This will increase the horsepower by 40-50bhp in total. bhp figures sound nice, and they will dyno it for me before and after inclusive in the price. This all costs £900.

But what bothers me is, i know this will wear out my engine more than normal and it will also wear out my supercharger more than normal, but are there any experts here who can tell me a few things;

a. When upgrading the pulleys, would i need to upgrade/reinforce the piping to take the extra pressure? I dont want anything coming loose or going bang.
b. Should i try and source a bigger/more effecient intercooler, my logic to this is just to ease off pressure on the engine/supercharger.
c. Has anyone here actually tried any of this, and if you have, is there anything i should know?

Let me know your thoughts on this!

-Adam

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Pulley mods are popular on supercharged engines. I have no direct experience having not done it myself, but in response to your questions:

a. No need to do anything to pipework but it might be prudent to check all is OK, whether you fit a new pulley or not.

b. Not as common on supercharged engines as turbocharged, but it will maximise the benefit from your new pulley as it will offset increased temperatures from increasing boost. Might also find it reduces boost slightly compared to standard, and therefore may help longevity.

c. No not personally, but check the US forums as they do this stuff all the time as there are so many more supercharged cars in relative terms, and they seem more willing to mod.

 

[BaldGuy]

When I had my G60 Jetta when I was allot younger I changed the puley on that... The only mod i did with this was to have the SC overhauled and upgraded (I was reccomended this at the time)
You dont have to but for me it was piece of mind...

 

[Rovinghawk]

Consider spark plugs 1-2 grades colder as well. Also change your S/C oil.

RH

 

[Adam230K]

What is the recommended mileage to check one's supercharger? every 100k? my car has done only 80k.

 

[Adam230K]

I had an idea that i'd like to share.

You know when car manufacturers make cars, things like turbo's and supercharger aren't usually created by the car manufacturer (like mercedes) but its bought from companies who make them (For turbo's 'Garett' come to mind..).

So is there a way i can find out what company designed the supercharger for mercedes, which would ultimately be the same supercharger that is bolted onto all the kompressor engines mercedes make and maybe if i got some information about them i could acquire the correct pulleys i seek? even maybe that way, they will be perfect for the supercharger and not some after market revision and i risk alot less by buying it?

Am i talking utter pants here or is what i'm saying making any sense?

 

[ET4]

Added heat and lubrication are issues with pulley upgrades... Non of which I'm qualified to advise on. CKS will though . good website too.
Just for the record I'd probably be looking at spending £'000's to get the same performance results from my C240 2.6 V6 as you would with a £300 ECU chip.......

I know I've looked it up. . .

 

[Adam230K]

Ok I've taken some time to decide what i'm going to do and i've decided that I'm going to go with the upgrade. But i'm going to take it in safe steps to get the most out of it, please tell me what you guys think;

1. Going to service the supercharger and fix it if needed. I want it to be in tip-top shape if its going to be more stressed than usual.
2. Once the supercharger has been serviced I will need to purchase colder plugs, I'm not sure what plugs to go for, can anyone suggest anything please??
3. If i get hold of the plugs.. There'll be nothing stopping me from going to angel tuning on a saturday and getting the pulleys fitted along with a remap. Also going to get a dyno test before and after to see the immediate change which will be handy.
4. Suggestions are most welcome!

Regards,

Adam

 

[vijilants]

Ok I've taken some time to decide what i'm going to do and i've decided that I'm going to go with the upgrade. But i'm going to take it in safe steps to get the most out of it, please tell me what you guys think;

1. Going to service the supercharger and fix it if needed. I want it to be in tip-top shape if its going to be more stressed than usual.
2. Once the supercharger has been serviced I will need to purchase colder plugs, I'm not sure what plugs to go for, can anyone suggest anything please??
3. If i get hold of the plugs.. There'll be nothing stopping me from going to angel tuning on a saturday and getting the pulleys fitted along with a remap. Also going to get a dyno test before and after to see the immediate change which will be handy.
4. Suggestions are most welcome!

Regards,

Adam

Even though the M111 engine used in the c230K is quite a tough unit, I'd suggest that your engine is in top condition before you attempt to extract extra HP out of it, or else you may be in for a very costly problem of a wrecked engine, or you may land up reducing the life of the unit.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I would try one step cooler first, and see how you get on.

Cooler running plugs were a common mod on my previous car (turbocharged). One step cooler made a standard car run more smoothly. Two step cooler made it worse. On a car running higher boost, two steps cooler was recommended by tuners.

 

[Will]

Have you checked with your insurance company to see how much extra they will want for the policy once the remap and pulley have been installed?

Will

 

[Adam230K]

Not really... since i've changed to Adrian Flux they have been extremely understanding about mods and they dont kick up a fuss whenever i change anything, so in that sense i'm quite relaxed... (They didnt even raise my premium when i told them about my exhaust) and when i told them about the alloys they raised it £37.

My friend has recently gone into Stage 2 on his S14 and they charged him an extra £110 per year. Stage 2 = 260-280bhp, and i'm sure my car wont be near that, i'm guessing mine will be around 240-250 max, so i'm budgeting for about £100ish.

 

[Adam230K]

I would try one step cooler first, and see how you get on.

Cooler running plugs were a common mod on my previous car (turbocharged). One step cooler made a standard car run more smoothly. Two step cooler made it worse. On a car running higher boost, two steps cooler was recommended by tuners.

When u got plugs 1 step colder, did u call up (for example) Bosch, and then ask them for the same design plugs for that particular car but 1 step colder, and they just provided it to you or what?

Can anyone also explain the "Science", or the logic behind 'Colder' plugs? I dont quite understand it, and i'd really appreciate it!

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I'm by no means an expert, and it's been a while ago, but IIRC a cooler running plug just has a shorter insulator, and therefore reduced surface area, which reduces the amount of heat absorbed from combustion. This means that the tip of the plug is likely to cool quicker than one with a longer insulator, which would have a greater surface area.

This is important because if the tip is too hot when the fresh charge comes into the cylinder it may cause detonation - also known as pinking - which is not good for the engine, and the ECU will back off iginition advance to protect the engine, and as such produce less power.

Reason you don't want to go too cold is that it can cause fowling during normal driving, and hence it best not to go colder than you really need.

I bought mine from www.spark-plugs.co.uk as they were half the price as from the marque specific tuners!! Take a look at their website, they used to have a search by model of car.

 

[Mark300SL]

As suggested try one stage colder plugs to start with, but you may need to return to stock plugs unless you are making seriously more power than stock.
The right plug is the one that self cleans, ie it doesnt foul and there is no sign of detonation on the plug tip.

The key to power is getting as much air as possible into the engine at an appropriate temperature, with good spark and fuel control. Just putting a bigger pulley on overdrives the supercharger increasing boost pressure but it will increase temperatures. An increase in air temperatures gives a corresponding drop in air density therefore comparative performance falls off.
Now if Mercedes developed the engine/fuelling/intercooling to cope with more boost than stock then this won't be a big problem. If any component is close to the limit then the difference wont be as dramtic as you hoped.


The remap should deal with the fuel and spark (as long as its a true remap), and the bigger pulley will force in more air. IF the intercooler and remap can cope it wont be an issue but for me I would use an external Air Temp Sensor to monitor temps before and after any conversion.

 

[flango]

Pulley upgrade & remap

Hi Rage

Only just caught up with this one as just back from an overseas trip. As you will have probably seen from my earlier posts my CLK 230 has a Brabus K1 kit which is essentially what you are trying to achieve here, not sure what year your car is but on the CLK facelift models you have to fit the K1S kit which includes a larger intercooler, spec of kit below.



BRABUS K1 kit: Includes BRABUS exhaust (made by REMUS btw) and smaller SC pulley (which consist of modified pulley itself, pulley bearing, plastic top friction plate, SC clutch and shorter belt) This kit is made from OEM mercedes parts (except exhaust, which is made by REMUS) .That is why this kit is so expensive. It produces 210 HPs according to BRABUS specs. Cost: 2550 euros. That kit is the most mild supercharger overdrive kit of all tuning companies you can buy (because there is limit to what degree SC pulley can get smaller because of SC magnetic clutch inside the pulley itself).

BRABUS K1S kit on top of K1 kit also includes BRABUS InterCooler (which is also NOT made from BRABUS itself, but some company makes that coolers for BRABUS). K1S produces 220 HPs, according to BRABUS. Cost: 3550 euros.

Alternatively theres an American kit which for pulley upgrades is the most economical upgrade is to buy the pulley upgrade kit from the USA costs about $799 plus shipping for lightweight aircraft grade aluminium. It can also be sourced in south Africa for about the same money after currency conversion. This system also uses the standard belts which makes life easier.

My advice would don't go to colder plugs, I was advised this and basically Brabus technical told me not to be stupid and go back to standard, in my case (Bosch).

Have now had chance to compare my car directly with another 230clk of similar mileage and to be fair it it does not feel any quicker but we are only talking a claimed 13 hp upgrade by Brabus, although I'm pretty sure it is more and the figure is an underestiamte, got car booked on the Dyno in Novemeber now it's fully sorted so will find out then. I have to say though the car is far more of a flexible drive than the standard car and mid range accelaration feels a lot better, will post the dyno graph when I get it done, hope the above helps but shout if you need anything else