anyone else think thats a bit ridiculous on the price? i mean $23k is a lot for only 400 hp. anyone think it could be done for a good bit cheaper? i'd like to see the time slips of that package though. should be interesting.

 

You could get a custom turbo application for far less.

Couldn't you just get the AMG kit for the SLK?

 

Da Moman has a hard time resisting this.
Sure, it could be custom turbo charged, and intercooled, with the acutrements, for about half that would be my guess.
Anyone interested?

 

A new AMG 32 motor is over $20K. The Supercharger alone is $5k. The RENNtech kit comes with a full warranty as well. If you want to upgrade the car the right way (not cheap, thou) the RENNtech package is the way to go. You have to remember that the car is essentially a SLK and Mercedes parts are a lot more expensive than the domestics.

 

I think the key here is the warranty.

From what I've read, RENNtech caters not necessarily to the "car modification enthusiast".

They've taken the guess work out of it and are willing to back their work up with a warranty, and that's what you are paying more for.

Car goes in, car comes out better, complete with warranty.

 

does anyone know the specifics of this package? i mean like what boost levels the supercharger is pushing, if it has a cooler for it, etc. just curious :twisted:

 

I'm not sure the exact boost level, but I will find out, and it does come with an intercooler.

 

thanks, any other info would be appreciated also, like if the boost can be turned up on stock internals, how much they estimate it can take before needing upgrading, etc.

 

Well with performance package 3 there is nothing really left of the stock internals. They bore out the cylinders to make it 3.8l instead of 3.2 and pretty much replace everything in the engine... that's why it costs 22 grand. They don't offer just the supercharger...

 

yeah after i posted that i reread it and realized that :lol: do you know if the hp/tq rating is at the wheels or crank? an estimated 1/4 mile time? if you don't feel like or can't do this let me know, appreciate it by the way. i don't have renntechs web site or email address. if ya want you can just give it to me and i'll do it if you don't want to.

 

Renntech's website is http://www.renntechmercedes.com. They do not have much information on the Crossfire at all... look for a link in the lower right hand corner to download a PDF, and that's about all they have on there. I'm not sure on the hp ratings, I think they are at the wheels but I'm not sure considering they are using the crankshaft numbers for the base hp.

 

My question is has any car actually had ANY of these mods yet, and has the owner lived with it on the street for awhile?

You'd think if Renntech had done these mods in any way other than computer modeling, or one test mule rolling around, they'd be posting pix of converted cars, actually performance data, dyno charts for horsepower, testimonials and/or references.

Also, there's no way a test mule could've been on the road long enough to really determine the integrity of the mods from a reliability standpoint.

Even with the $1K chip, it looks like most folks are standing by and waiting for others to try it first in terms of actual performance gains, livability with the car, impact on reliability, impact on manufacturer warranty.

I'd love the car to have a little more grunt, and could spend a few bucks to do it (although I'd have some 'splaining to do to the wife for the Stage 3 upgrade), but I'm waiting for a few others to jump off the cliff first.

 

There are owners of SLK 320s out there (same engine exactly) that have these upgrades done, so that is how they know the mods will work. The mods that are a little different for the Crossfire, like a carbon-fiber air intake, lowering springs, and exhaust are not yet available for the Crossfire, and I'm not sure if and when they will be available. And as for reliability, there are a lot of RENNtech modded cars on the road, and the founder was the technical director of AMG and worked for AMG for over 12 years, so he knows pretty well what he is doing.

 

How long do the #3 mods take to be completed by Rennetech?

 

About a month.

 

Actually this superchager package version is still a 3.2 liter setup not a 3.8 liter.

To get the even the normal 330 supercharged power of the SRT6, you have to rebuild the engine with lower compression pistons, special rods and crankshaft, then you have to add the same supercharger with intercooler that AMG uses, after that you need to do the electronics. So to get it to 330 Horsepower would be about $16,000 to $18,000 per renntech. That is why renntech offers this 404 HP version instead.

It looks like it will actually be cheaper to buy a SRT6 rather than having them bore our engines out to a 3.8 liter, which really sucks.

-marc

 

After forking up $23K for a mod to get 400 HP, you've got nearly $60K in your Crossfire. There are lots of automotive alternatives if you're spending $60K. You can buy a low-mileage, mint-condition previously-owned Viper for less than that, for example.

 

I would have to include shipping charges aswell from the UK

Would be awesome 400bhp though

 

As far as the 20,000 dollar mods, I can only say: boring out a cylinder in a 1967 350 or a 04 3.2 should not be to far different in price. Pistons, JE or Ross will make anything you want, I am sure they use stock connecting rods. Porting and polishing of the heads and Manifold could be done at Extrude Hone for about 500-800 bucks to what every dimension you want, that is if you do not want to do it yourself. A hand made supercharger, now I have a picture of a sweat shop in south america some place with a bunch of 8 year olds using chainsaw sharping files to carve out a soild piece of aluminum in to a connect the dot drawling. :?
Jesse James even bought a CNC machine to make his life easer. :shock:

Sad to say but for what they offer, changing a viper into a Venom or a vette into a callaway version are all on the same scale as far as % of increases to dollar ratio. :!:

I would suggest to anyone considering the package to go buy a viper SRT-10 and save the trouble of wraping yourself a around a tree in a car that would have 400 + Hp and only weighing 3000 pounds! :idea:

I would like to see a higher flowing air intake system, low dust brakes(cleaning those big #$% wheels is a pain), a true dual exhaust system or 3" will do.
I bought the car for the look and the limited availablity, so I love the look but they should just do away with the side vent decorations, leave the shape and leave the plastic for the Sicon's(however they spell it), it works for the viper and vette. If crane or bullfrog make a set of cams for it,i would probabaly end up tossing a set in if they were targeted towards gettign some more low end out of the engine. :D