I was talking to a chip tuning guy today about my project and in passing he said that with a larger crank pulley and ECU reflash they are dynoing 60 more HP at the wheels on the SRT-6. The larger crank pulley speeds up the super charger for a couple more pounds of boost and the reflash adds about 20 of the 60 hp. Just thought I would mention this is case it was new info.

 

It's not really new info. There are a few tuners out there that have Pulleys and ECU Tunes for the SRT-6. Honestly, the realistic improvement at the wheels is closer to 45 HP in most cases if all you're doing is the pulley and ECU.

 

Lantana,

Mind me asking which tuner this is? I am somewhat local and would like to speak with them if possible.

Thanks,
Shawn

 

I am sorry I don't remember, I was calling around to try to find someone that could tell me a little more about MB ECU's for my V8 project. The software is pretty much the same and the best prices are around $350. I did a search for Mercedes chip tuning and found quite a few.

 

If you can find out, let me know who. I'm only a state away, and feel the need for a roadtrip!

 

Hmmm. $350 smells of InMotion. Is that the company?

 

No, it was not Inmotion, but I did speak to them today, they told me it was impossible to do my V8 swap. He was right about the problem with the ECU but wrong about how to deal with it. This company that mentioned the 60 horses also said these SRT-6's were embarrassing ZO6's. I will do another search and try to find out who they were. I am not sure what they wanted for the reflash, I was just mentioning the price range I saw. Inmotion might have been the $350 but I never discussed SRT with him.

 

I've spoken to a few tuners as I am considering the ASP 7" Over-Drive Crank Pulley (14% boost) that does not come with an Out-of-the-box tune.

Custom tunes requiring several passes until peak performance is obtained:

Powerchip - local - (also comes with the EVO pulley) ($650)
InMotion - not local ($400)
UpSolute (Vivid Racing) - Semi Local ($900)
& the infamous Jessie (now with some Van Nuys outfit) - 1/2 hour trip (depends on the time of day) last said he would match Powerchip

From talking with the tuners and me being limited in experience, most box tuners who just flash your stock SRT-6 will quote but not guarantee a 30-40 HP gain using 93 octane, (no OVPS) but always give the - location, weather - engine condition, fuel, dyno used etc... will affect your actual numbers disclaimer.

For me, at sea level, with an AMG V8 intake, new car, 14% OVDP boost, & custom tune at their shop with their dyno - 60 to 65 additional HP is very possible (above stock). Might even see 395 HP at the flywheel (key word - might)

The non-local tuners suggest I record engine data from the port or with a wide-band A/F gauge and sent the data along with the ecu back in for several tweaks. Not sure if saving $250 is worth that issue.

Bottom line, $975 for the pulley, $650 for the custom tune = $1,625 for 60 to 70 HP.

I can do that.

Might be a few more HP in a HE upgrade - but would have to dig into the engine for adding more serious numbers.

 

$975 for a friggen pulley? I pulley'd the super charger on my 2004 Mini Cooper S for a hundred bucks. I had both a 15% and 19%. BTW, what's with the A/C style clutched pulley on the S/C? I bet this thing is the reason some say the SRT has a slight lag and then an unpredictable huge blast of power. Why isn't this always driven like every other system out there? If you had a normal pulley on the S/C you would just change it our for a reduction pulley. Also power application would be smooth and linear.

 

I should add that all tuners said they will raise your max RPM Limit (if you dare) and Max Speed limit to 200 MPH - they all said the speed limit can't be removed only raised to the maximum, and have the SC clutch engage 10% - 14% sooner depending on test runs.

None would guarantee passing SMOG. (might need 2 chips or ECU's after all).

 

http://www.eurobahn.us/contactinfo.html

These may have been the guys I talked to.

 

Sorry - I re-checked my email -
$970 for a Crank Pulley, Water Pump Pulley and Idler Pulley. Use the stock belt.

other tested options out there are:

EVOSport @ $2,899 + CA Tax (for me) (with tune & new belt) 14% boost
RennTech @ $3,300 and must send ECU for flash (no custom tune - stock belt) 14% boost

Not much else out there.

 

And yet forum members will spend $280 - $300 for a sprint booster?

 

Leading Edge Motorsports has the largest pulley for our car...

 

But like I said in a different thread - no phone number, no address, no names, most links on their site take you back to the home page.

Basically nothing to back up their product.

Pulling the ring on the stock crank pulley and machining an oversize ring and attaching back to the hub is not that hard for a machinist, is now reducing the water pump pulley and if you go larger then 14% you must reduce the power steering pulley and then the idler pulleys and fit a new belt...

Gotta talk to them before I whip out the credit card. - so far - no joy.

 

reputable mbworld members have tested their products with success thats about as much information as I have gathered on their products... it is easy to tell that their are new... so you are right you never really know... before you make test yourself.

 

a forum member srt_6 bumped to 350 to the wheels with the SI tune... and the crossfire starts at around 290... the dynos don't tell the whole story, but in his case i guess the bump was 60 horses with these modifications..

 

We should have a DIY section on the forum for guys to share how they did things themselves and saved. Unfortunately most of the after market for our cars is directly related to the SLK32 or SLK320 and Mercedes owner seem willing to pay anything and even seem to take pride in paying more.

The last really fun car I had was the Supercharged Mini Cooper. The first thing we all did was spend about $100 on a pulley. The stock ECU didn't need to be altered but a lot of us did alter the ECU for additional power. This cost us $75 from MTH Software in Germany. We did not need to send the ECU to Germany. We sent him a list of our Mods and VIN number and he sent us a file that we uploaded ourselves from a laptop with a special cable that plugged into the OBDII port. MTH doesn't currently work with Mercedes but if he did, the prices would start dropping. I will send him an email and see what he says.

I will look into the pulley. $975 is nuts. You can buy a whole set of show quality March pulleys for a Street rod for that.

 

True - but show pulleys are mass produced for a larger market (lot's of Chevy big blocks out there). Plus the competition helps keep prices down.

Most MB owners don't buy MB's to boost or modify (maybe a keychain or floormats) their engines with aftermarket parts. If they do - they have the money to go to the big names.

You can't compare aftermarket MB performance parts with Asian or American performance parts.

Two totally different markets.

It's like going into Neiman-Marcus and expecting K-Mart prices.

Or a Mini-Cooper with a Mercedes Benz.

Or Steak and Lobster dinner with a Big Mac and Fries.

 

I agree with what you are saying but some of your comparisons are meaningless. This is my second Mercedes (the first was actually badged as a Mercedes) The parts that are available for Mercedes aren't any better Quality than what I have used on Ford's, Chevy's or the Mini Cooper. The real difference is much lower demand and owners with the means to not care what they pay. Even the BMW guys get much better treatment but there are way more enthusiasts modifying BMW's creating competition.

I looked into the overdrive pulley for Mercedes and see that the crank pulley is also the harmonic balancer which helps explain the cost difference and that you may be getting other pulleys since you only want to speed up the s/c. I would be looking at this a different way. If possible it would be easier to replace only the s/c pulley (and a whole lot cheaper). You can usually put a 15% - 19% underdrive pulley on a s/c engine without having to worry about anything else. I would put a solid mounted pulley on the s/c and get rid of the clutched pulley. Just about no other OEM factory system uses a clutched pulley. Maybe Mercedes did this to get better gas mileage. If you research the manufacturer of the supercharger I bet you will find that there are other pulleys out there maybe used in other cars.