SL63 R231 - Caught the tuning bug?

[Acej]

I have been watching the forum for a number of months and now I have started my own project I thought I would share some progress.

I have an 18 month SL62 R231 which I use for commuting (80 miles a day) and have done 6 track days in the last 12 months.

I dyno'd my car just after I bought it on DD rolling road and it produced 574 BHP which I was more than happy with.

Now to the task in hand.

Before I embarked on any mods I changed the filters to some K&N's and did dyno run on a different dd rolling road (12k miles of running in). The results came back with 581bhp.

Next up was a Rebellion piggy back box to avoid ecu drilling. The box was installed in 30mins. And then I had a 10 miles drive to the rolling road which allowed for adaption. The acceleration felt significantly stronger and the engine note more aggressive with some bigger bangs and pops. Two runs on the dyno (dd rolling road) produced a reading of 628bhp & 840 nm (I will attach the shoot out when I am on the pc as the ipad wont let me!). I have sinced tracked the car and its a different beast and clocked 3 mph faster than a GTR on the straight. db at 4k revs went up from 92 to 99 on the sound check.

My next mod is being installed hopefully Friday which will be RADO down pipes with sports cats. The install is being done by Eurocharged London and should significantly improve the sound and add some BHP but I have no idea how much. I will follow the install with a dyno run.

Future plans. TCU plug and play from Rebellion, Renntech lowering module and some new alloys to be decided.

I will keep you posted.

[Sticky]

Moved this to the M157 V8 section.

[Ced357]

Great results. I like that you are logging gains on the dyno! Please report back once pipes are installed.

[Acej]

Quick update.

RADO downpipes with sports cat are going on next Thursday and I will be on the dyno the same day.
TCU map should arrive next week which should take me north of 1000nm of torque and should get this dyno Friday as long as all the bits arrive.

Another interesting development is some code that will adjust the vmax to 330kph (205mph) via the can bus. Just doing some research.. This would be a top mod for me as a group of friends run VMAX 200 in the uk (youtube it is worth a watch). Anybody familiar with this?

[Sticky]

RADO downpipes with sports cat are going on next Thursday and I will be on the dyno the same day.

What type of dyno will you be using? Looking forward to this.

[Acej]

I have it booked in on dyno dynamics rolling road post the Rado's. I will do a bore and after to just get a comparable reading. The tcu will be on a Clapton road using dyno magic pro.

[Sticky]

Yes before the downpipes is very important. If you can do baseline, downpipes, then downpipes + tune.

[Ced357]

Update?

[DBFIU]

I would like to hear more about your project.

[M177]

waiting the results ..

[Acej]

Very brief update.

i got a call from a eurocharged last Wednesday night to say the they had measured the new Rado pipes against another r231 and they didn't fit. A new set was sent by DHL and arrived Friday but due to the holiday weekend in the uk they haven't gone on yet! Up early hoping they can go on today if not it will have to be next week due to work.


The TCU device wasn't ready either so a bit of a frustrating week. I will keep you upto date if and when thinks start to happen.

[SEI]

How much was the Rebellion tune? I emailed them when I saw your thread but they never got back to me.

[Acej]

SEI - I think the charge £1000. I was the 1st uk 157 so got it a but cheaper.

[Acej]

Ok booked in for next a Tuesday. This will be the 1st install of the sports Cat Rado's on an SL or so I have been informed so fingers crossed it all fits (eurocharged have lined up a good welder just in case of any adjustments). Hoping to get the tcu flash drive as well as I have the dyno sessions lined up for Tuesday and the EC guys are going to plug in some telemetrics to look at acceleration, G and timings.

i am still looking at limiter removal via the can bus any views on hear or any experience of the hack?

[Acej]

I had my new Rado downpipes with sports cats fitted yesterday.


The new pipes arrived last week pre-assembled with the cats and were supposed to bolt straight on to the existing setup. The pipes were being fitted by Euro charged London but as a precaution they had booked a ramp at EMP an exhaust specialist just in case there were any issues. Once the car was on the ramp and the old pipes were removed it was quite obvious that both the angle of the cats and the length were not correct for my car. So the option were either send them back or get the cutter and the tig out!


Being the impatient sort the cutter and tig were deployed and after four hours of adjustments the pipes were installed. The team at EMP did a great job but this left me tight to get to the dyno before it shut.


On first fire-up the car had noticeably deeper tone but nothing to intrusive but when revved it sound like a different car. The stock car although good under full chat was an aural step down from my c63 but I would say its now a step up. I am really happy with the result.


After a 10mile drive in traffic I had time for one dyno run (not on the dyno dynamics as above) I am waiting for the spec. I tried to keep the temp down but not to much success.

The car was running hot but I was still expecting a BHP increase but it read 611bhp and this was peaking 500 revs earlier a drop of 17bhp (two other dyno's had the car running 628 and 627) Interestingly the torque had moved up by 104nm to 946nm. I am booking it in on the dyno dynamics next week so I can at least get one of the variables nailed.

Apart from the sound the car has definitely gained some more pull and on the road test it felt more urgent and from 2k all the way to the red line.

once I get it onto the dyno dynamics I will report back again and hopefully with some timings.

[Sticky]

I am booking it in on the dyno dynamics next week so I can at least get one of the variables nailed.

Appreciated.

[Ced357]

Great stuff, keep it coming

[Acej]

Updated results. 648bhp 952nm. I changed the setting back from 7 to 6 on my piggy back box and it's seems to of made a difference, maybe it had more time to adapt?? Very pleased

[Acej]

Ok so a bit of a gap since my last update.

the car has been running fine but I still can't fined a limiter removal solution so I am going to go for a EC stage ii tune. Expecting between 700-730bhp maybe more and I will finally get the limiter off.

[Sticky]

Seriously? Rebellion couldn't raise the limiter? Guess that's due to the piggyback...

[Acej]

Seriously? Rebellion couldn't raise the limiter? Guess that's due to the piggyback...

Yes the piggy back has produced good results but the only way to remove the limiter is via the ecu which is protected. So the only way forward is a bench tune.

[Sticky]

Yes the piggy back has produced good results but the only way to remove the limiter is via the ecu which is protected. So the only way forward is a bench tune.

Yep. Piggybacks have their limitations.

Looking forward to seeing your Eurocharged results.