Saturday, March 31, 2012

Exhausting mods...

Last weekend I did a simple modification to the exhaust by removing the resonator in my exhaust system -

Here's the before shot - notice the dual exhaust comes into the shared resonator
then back out to the two outlets

here's the guys cutting out the resonator, took about 5 minutes
note the AMG factory heatsink for the rear differential - pretty cool (literally!)

and the final result, two 3" stainless tubes were placed where there was one resonator

The nice part is that the car isn't really any louder and while it doesn't really increase power it changes the tone a bit - makes the shared middle portion into two separate exhaust tubes and gives the car a little 'burble' on the gas, and more pronounced on the manual downshifts :-)





Friday, March 30, 2012

Add a little more air - for free!

Small changes to allow more air into the engine and out the exhaust are pretty common modifications that people make to their cars.  I went a more subtle route - by removing restrictions.  May as well optimize the stuff that's already present...

In my previous post - I put in the K&N filters - and this week I removed the rubber/plastic snorkels that come through the front of the engine bay - they're restrictive to a point - reducing noise mostly as this is an "executive" car - but they also reduce the airflow...

Previous photo of the while I was installing my new LED city lights... 
also note the 5K LED on the left, and the standard 4.3K bulb on the right...

and now with the front end 'de-snorkeled'
 now there's less "stuff" in the way of the air to get to the engine, so it was a 'free' power modification!

hopefully I can save up a few more bucks and get these nice looking TTM scoops to channel more air to the intake, they don't really provide ram air to a s/c engine, but gives more direct airflow when moving...



Tuesday, March 6, 2012

E55 AMG Mods & Upgrades

First and foremost, I'm not one to sit by and drive a plain old car that's not discernible from the rest - pretty much every car I've owned has been unique in it's own way...

So here's the list of modifications done - nothing too crazy - just tried and true mods.

PERFORMANCE UPGRADES:
Get some more air into the engine - for < $40/ea (and you need two) - I love these
K&N 33-2181 High Performance Replacement Air Filters
 
 

TTM Performance Air Scoops
While they don't add much in the sense of 'power' - they look AWESOME!  Many heads turn when you pop the hood, even the Mercedes dealer techs love these.
Check out Tuning Technology Motorsports (TTM) in New York.


AESTHETIC UPGRADES:

AMG Aluminum Pedals from JBSpeed


Painted E63 Lip Spoiler from JBSpeed


LED 5K City Lights from AZNOptics

Eurocharged 82mm S/C Pulley:
  

Eurocharged ECU & TCU Tune:




This blog is (and will be) under construction for a while...