I have surfed this board for few days now attempting to educate myself in the area of potentially increasing the current 215 hp in a 2004 XF, and I am impressed with the quality and quantity of posts addressing this issue.

I have couple of questions due to an information overload-
1) is it realistic to at least add/increase an additional 20 hps? lots of debates and brain-storming this issue (almost as if it is a theory).
2) when referring to performance upgrades by Kleemann, Renntech, Powerchip, Evosports, what is the cross reference info to match the motor in the crossfire with the M-B motors they cater to? Upgrading crossfires is not mentioned in their web sites.
3) is there a solid / proven combination of products that can seriously improve the current stock performance of these cars without having to advertise one of my kidneys in the black market? exhaust system, chip? no turbos or superchargers. Something tangible! not just the "it feels better than before with that new chip"!
4) i build / ride high performance american motorcycles, I am aware of the power / cost ratio and the element of being realistic with what really works. Any feed-back will be greatly appreciated. I am currently shopping for a sporty car and the Crossfire is on the top of my list at this point, I have test driven several (TT quattro, S2000, Z350 and G35), the Crossfire remains on top. Thanks.

 

It will be interesting to see what the replies are here. From the reading i've done I have formed an opinion about just the very questions you posted.

#1- No it is not realistic. At least certainly not proven, as i've yet to see a chart or graph of anything that betters the performance of the engine. There are quite a few parts and claims that go with them, but none even come close to making them a decent value. $/HP

#2- I believe its a 3.2L engine from a SLK320... around a 2000 year model.

#3- NO.

#4- This car is a MB. they build them with a high state of tune to begin with, and leave little to add in later on by the owner. The compression and head design is about as good as it gets. Changing things like cam profiles and adding headers is just too expensive for the gains you can expect.

I own a 2004 myself, and i've used 3 different types of exhaust and intake mods, and not one has shown me any improvements what so ever as best I can test and tune at the track. Any other mods that could put some real numbers down just don't make financial sense, especially when the SRT and various other makes do so much better for much less.

 

If horsepower is what your looking for, it's all secretly hidden away in the Crossfires computer. Problem is Mercedes isn't letting any tuning companies have access to the computer controls yet.

Otherwise get yourself a stand alone ECM system so you can program your own fuel maps timing, fuel injection timing, etc, etc...
If your not up to this task than your just gonna have to have patience for the aftermarket to come up to speed.

 

OK - two things that I believe made a NOTICEABLE difference in the performance of my car:

1) InaZma HyperVoltage System

2) Boulekos Sprint Booster

Both are "plug and play" - easy to install and remove and they will dramatically improve your car!

You can wait on dynos, etc., if you want, but what kind of proof will you accept in the end? There are several on this forum who will question every device and are likely to expire from old age without ever getting "proof" to their liking.

After considering these devices, I decided to take a chance with my own $ and they do WORK!

 

I wouldn't hold my breath.
What would I accept in the end? Timed runs, dyno's. Without facts and figures, added HP gains can be whatever the component manufacturer wants to claim. IMHO, that's a no brainer.

I have K&N's and an Upsolute Chip. There may be a "seat of your pants" improvement, but again that could all be in my head and wishful thinking.

 

You do realize the sprint booster will not add any HP correct? There is no claim that it will add HP either. All it does is make the throttle more responsive.

 

Startech sells cam and valve springs that they say dyno at +18 hp, add the Kleeman chip which they have dyno at 17 hp and you have a really nice bump in power.

 

Re: HP and the SB

I made NO statement or claim that this device adds horsepower. If you will read my posts, you will see that I clearly state that. It simply removes all throttle lag and that results in a significant "seat of the pants" improvement. The hypervoltage device claims to increase HP and torque - have no idea if that is true, but it also gives a "seat of the pants" improvement.

I realize that all the naysayers are just waiting to shout "show me the dyno"... to which I reply, until you actually try it yourself, keep your comments to yourself...

 

Firstly, I would drop the name EVOSPORT out of your vocabulary completely and forget you even heard of them.

Yes it is realistic. 20 hp is an easy and relatively inexpensive goal to achieve.

First thing you have to realize is that myself and another member "Woody" seem to be the only ones who have verifiable dyno's performed on the Crossfire, albeit with the RPM limitation of the car. I would recommend you take a look at the figures from both dynos on this thread https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...ad.php?t=11180. Both cars are 6 spd '04 with appx. 20k miles. There could be variances between the two dynos due to temperature differences and equipment used, I would estimate +/- 3 hp would get a good thumb nail.


Woody's engine is completely stock and showing a peak whp of 156.2, while mine is modified (as best my bank account will allow), and showing 184.5 whp.
This is a clear 28.3 hp increase over stock.

Because I did not do an initial stock dyno, nor did I perform one after each modification, I cannot isolate which mod is responsible for the most / least hp gains. All I can say is that gross hp gains of 28.3 whp +/- 3 whp were achieved by installing the following items.

1) PowerChip Gold 93
2) Custom Dual CAI
3) Custom Dual Exhaust

Based on my research, my next modifications are going to be installing Schrick Cams (+7-9 hp and better torque) and having a set of custom headers built (+5-7 hp). Also adding the MegaSquirt (7th) injector system that Woody is developing. (if he ever has the time to get it done).

Good luck on your project...

 

Yeah after you give them $5,000 you too can make a whopping 35 hp, woohoo!!

 

I spent about 50k adding 600 hp to my truck.

 

I got to ask. If you are going to spend that kind of money to add 600 hp to a vehicle why a truck?

And can you actually put that power to the ground?

 

seriously, you must have more money than God, hehehe.

 

I'll be one of two SRT-10 trucks making over 1,000 hp at the rear wheels. Why not a truck? How many have you seen? How boring would it be to do it to a mustang/chevy product? Someone else has always done more than you.

In this case I'll be one of the only people with a viper truck like this. Do you know how fun it is to have someone pull up beside you in a sports car or honestly anything performance oriented and be able to blow their doors off? I'll weigh 2k/lbs more than most and can stomp them into the ground. With a good set of slicks I'll run 3 seconds faster than my SRT-6 in the 1/4.

 

wow a 10 second truck, sound highly dangerous for the street, but as long as the power is easily stopped by your braking system I say keep going, til something breaks.



Click here to see Video

 

It has 15" rotors on it. For as much as it weighs, the stopping power is quite impressive. You can't put a rim smaller than 18" on it because of the size of the calipers.

 

From what I have read on this forum and on the MB forum, The under-pulley kit made specifically for the MB SLK 320...our engine in the crossfire...adds 13 HP to the wheels...and that seems to be the best HP/Dollar performance for the CF.

 

This number sounds a tad high for pulley sets. 6 hp is more reasonable number and that still might be a little optimistic too.
I would buy a set myself if it were not for the $400 price tag.

 

Is there any downside to the pulley kit? I mean will it hurt the car in any way? Will it ruin the air conditioning? And don't pulley kits usually make around 6 to 12 hp?

Sorry for being noobish. I would buy it and the Kleeman ECU upgrade and that would be around 23 hp increase which is a good increase. Kleeman have dyno showing that their ECU upgrade will give 13 to 15 hp at the crank.

 

Would you be kind enough to post that dyno ?