Originally Posted by JHM2K
Greetings all!
So at the last Cars & Coffee, I came to a realization: the intakes utilized by Mercedes are some hot mamma-jammas. And not in a good way.
Nick (thirteendog) and I had a nice spirited run through some back roads on the way there, and were running the cars pretty hard. So, hoods-up and cars on display at the show, about an hour later I walk by and feel the intakes.
He's running a dual Needswings, and I'm running the C320/430 airbox. It's a gutted design; no baffles or extra silencers. Mine was piping hot, and his was almost cool to the touch. An hour later.
I never realized my box retained so much heat. Seeing as every little bit helps, it got me to thinking: what would the benefits be if I were to run a dual Needswings with the gold-ceramic coating, and if I was to get the OEM intake plenum dipped in the gold-ceramic as well? Of course, a P&P job would be in store for the intake prior to installation... but Needswings claims the GC coating has noticaeable temperature benefits.
Seeing as the plenum is nestled between the "v" of the engine, it's in an area doomed to retain heat.
Do you guys think the coating would make a big enough difference to justify the cost?
My DIY intake cools MUCH better than any OEM and maybe a little slower than a needswings because of the caister filters, but then again, my filters never need to dry after precipitation
John, I think with the
potential mild boost in performance vs. the cost of the needswings alone, much less all the coating, I would be surprized if the butt dyno would see any difference. If you had a car you raced and every hundredth of a second counted, maybe. There are many other things I would mod first before going this route, especially with the awesome Merc setup you have now....
Just my 0.02