This was discussed extensively at mbworld before this forum was created. Several people purchsed the Upsolute chip. One person promised to do extensive befor and after dyno and track testing, and apparently did. He refuses to discuss the results. Two people posted before and after dyno runs. The claime 30 hp gain was a transient spike very near the redline. Over the entire rev range the hp increase was less than 4 hp.
Over nine months ago, GIAC promised a chip would be available in a few weeks. We have yet to see it and they are unresponsive when questioned about it. Powerchips of Australia claims a 30 hp increase for the SLK230k, but no gains for the C230k! I have become very sceptical of the benefit of chip tuning for the 230k engine.
The only one I might believe is Renntech. The have connections to AMG, and might be able to do a chip that is more than just hype. However, they have yet to publish any dyno results, and the chip costs $1600.
What about these guys? I have C230K 1996 German version 196hp and I asked them about their chip/kit.
This is the message I got from them:
"Hi George!
No, doesn't make a difference, I had the same engine in Europe and the
performance was almost 50HP, so don't worry it works great.
Best regards,
Oliver
no experience with their benz chips, but a buddy of mine used one of their upgrades on his 20v turbo golf and hasn't had a problem with it. he actually went out to one of their "conventions" where the owner upgrades a few peoples cars and so on...good experience, but keep in mind a benz and a vw are very different beasts...caveat emptor
Anyone tried the Upsolute chipping of their ECU? For $500, seems a bit steep.
Which car do you have and where are you located? The UP chip is $450, not $500, although pricing may vary if you go to a full sevice shop for the install (I just do chips, in MA).
With the supercharged cars, we optimize timing, fuel, and electronic throttle response and develop the tuned program from your ECU's existing stock code. As you may know, boost can not be modified like a turbo car, so the gains with the chip are typical to those of a N/A car ie 5-10%. Cars vary in output from the factory, so there is some variation in the results. Note that an increase in redline might cause the supercharger/engine relationship to change such that there is a boost increase.
For those looking for bigger power gains than just the chip, you can add a pulley kit to increase boost, and then use a chip tuned for the pulley. We offer a custom tuning service for exisiting customers...it is an extra $150, you provide a dyno plot with A/F and we use it modify your exisiting file.
By sourcing a pulley-only from someone like kleeman or ASP and using our chip and doing a little of your own leg work you can put together a high-performance system for much less than others are charging for their kit...
Note that I don't think the 1.8l boost can be raised, it's already 10-11 psi from my research. The older Kompressors (2.3l) run ~5.5 psi stock, so there is some margin for boost increase before the supercharger turns into a giant heat pump.
If someone can accurately measure their stock pullies I'd be happy to work up a model of the system.
Lynn, I'm new to these forums, do you have some links to the info/discussions you are talking about?
Regards,
-Scott
__________________
Scott Ramsey
UPSOLUTE Chip Tuning Representative
Shrewsbury, MA 01545 (Boston Metro-West) sramsey@upsolute.com
Welcome to the board, Scott. The dynos of the cars with Upsolute chips were posted at mbworld.org I don't know if they are still there. mbworld lost almost all of their image attachments a couple of months ago when their servers crashed. They might have been posted at csportcoupe.com also.
I would like to tell anyone considering a custom chip from Upsolute to measure the air/fuel ratio the O2 sensor before the cat convertor. An a/f measured with a probe in the tail pipe will not be accurate.
Also, any one considering a chip should read the forums Upsolute has on their website.
One last thing, I contacted GAIC last month about availibility of a chip for either the M111 or the M271. Their response is that they will not have a chip available early than very late summer.
I had forgotten about that one. The one I remember show an average 3 hp gain over the entire rev range except for a 30 hp spike about 50 rpm wide just below redline. It was a six speed car.
Scott, there are a lot of requests for advice on chip tuning on the various boards. I am very hesitant to reccomend any products. The big reason is I have really not seen any dynos backing up the claims of the various tuners. There is a lot of butt dyno testimony, but there is a lot of placebo effect in butt dynos. People who have just layed out several hundred dollars are going to feel something whether it is really there or not.
Another reason I hesitate is because some chip tuners were selling pulley kits for the 2.3 liter engines , and it wasn't obvious a pulley kit was what was being sold with or instead of a chip. In one case, I suspect a poor translation from German to English was responsible and in another case they may or my not have been trying to be deceptive. I'm sure you'll understand my reluctance to name names. Yet another chip tuner offers chips at such low prices, it seems to be a too good to be true situation.
From the various MB fora and those of other makes, Upsolute and Power Chips seem to have by far the best reputations for customer service. I would very much like to see dynos for cars with and without modified pulleys from both companies.
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