Hi from Redline Magazine, new W202 C230 Kompressor Sport owner

[StavFC]

Hi there, Stav from Redline Magazine here.

I just bought a W202 C230 Kompressor Sport as my new daily driver (as my main 'fun' car is about the least reliable, hardest to drive, and least economical thing known to man), and while I've always wanted one, I'm really surprised how good it is, I absolutlely love it, fantastic to drive sensibly but performs really well too.

However, I cant leave anything alone, ever, so want to make a few upgrades, as its not only my daily but my replacment 'fun' car while the main one is broken/crashed/on its roof.
'Hopefully' (need to confirm this with the boss) it will get a place on the magazine fleet, meaning it will get a page or two in the mag each issue too following its progress.

To be perfectly honest, as this is my first Merc and they are not the most common car to tune in the UK, despite knowing tuning in general, my Merc specific knowlege is low, so please forgive the no doubt lots of relatively simple questions I ask!

Cheers

Stav

 

[d w124]

Hi there Stav and welcome to the forum.As you already know,you can`t do much to the old mercs and even what you can do cost a lot

 

[BlackC55]

Your first purchase must be a Bilstein B12 kit and some braided brake hoses.

Welcome.

 

[grober]

First is it an early manual gearbox car ?- when they first came out they were regarded as very quick "Q" cars. The later auto-boxed cars had slightly blunted performance- maybe due to the autobox/ changed gear ratios/ different ECU mapping???? Most tuning involves altering the drive pulley ratios of the Kompressor unit with a remap. KLEEMANN used to be the name for this? Boost kit for 230 K. cars (M111 pre-May2000)

 

[BaldGuy]

Hello and welcome... You should get along to one of our meets for a mag feature...

 

[NW_Merc]

I've read your magazine Stav, but I cant remember which car you used to drive, was it the white Subaru or purple Nissan or Toyota?

Very informative reading about performance set ups.

 

[StavFC]

D W124- Its relatively limited off the shelf, but suspension/ARB/brake upgrades seem to be there, plus exhaust and ECU remap (and some overly expensive boost upgrades via a pulley change), but beyond that there doesnt seem to be much (but to be honest so far my knowlege is limited to google searches!), but I like making stuff for myself and adapting stuff to fit, so if I find something not available, I'll try and make it.

BlackC55- Yes, suspension particularly is one thing I was thinking of, its a shame nobody seems to make any uprated bushes, as seat of the pants driving feel tells me they my current weakest link.

Grober- Yes its a 5speed manual, 98 model. And I'm surprised how well it goes for the power it has to be honest, but more to the point, I can feel some untapped potential.

BaldGuy- Potentially yes, although to be honest we do very little in the way of meets these days, but thats not to say we never do...

NW Merc- I 'had' the purple Toyota Chaser with a Skyline GT-R engine (now in Holland), now I have a sub 1000kg and once its back in one piece potentially 500bhp plus Mazda RX-7 FC.
I do all the tech stuff for the mag, its the kind of thing I understand (especially supercharged and turbocharged), but Mercs are a new area for me!

My daily drivers have always been totally plain and boring, but I decided to treat myself and go for something longer term and worth spending a bit of cash on for once!

 

[grober]

I would hazard a good gas flowed exhaust manifold and larger bore exhaust system should help. There seem to be several MB manifold designs as typified by these 200 Kompressor parts çàï÷àñòè Mercedes: êîäû çàï÷àñòåé ìåðñåäåñ

as always the steering box will probably be a problem.

 

[Alps]

Hi Stav, i guess you saw my post on facebook ? lol

Welcome !

 

[ACID]

Welcome Welcome

 

[ringway]

Welcome Stav.

 

[s500colin]

Hi Stav
Welcome to the forum
Congratulations on your first Mercedes

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Welcome to the forum!!

 

[trapperjohn]

Welcome Stav.

 

[JasM]

Welcome to the forum Stav.

It's good to see another W202 owner on here.

 

[trainer]

Hi Stav and welcome to the forum.

 

[StavFC]

Cheers for the kind welcome.

Done over 600miles in it already, and tbh I love it.

Needs uprated ARBs I think, but on the road the stock sport shocks and springs are fine, and is plenty low.
Some nicer wheels wouldnt go amiss, the main thing is deciding what I want, 99% of ones with aftermarket wheels look poo IMO.

Really reluctant to do any tuning (never thought id ever hear myself say that) just as it wafts along so quietly at the moment and dont think I want to change that (My main fun car is so ridiculously loud its unreal, so its nice to have a quiet car!).

 

[6pot]

Hi and welcome

 

[Gazza55]

Bluewater AMG's the only place to be!!!!!

First time out in Bluewater on a sat nite was worth every drop of juice to meet nice bunch of guys who between them have a huge knowledge of the cars......One in particular could have been a journalist with some help here and there.....do go one evening!

 

[StavFC]

Few pics of the car here if anyone is interested...
http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/members-gallery/95829-byebye-crappy-chrome.html

Also, some techy questions if anyone can help...
http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/engi...aust-remap-supercharger-bypass-valve-etc.html