A45 AMG: One step at a time
 

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SN peeps!

I know this is not a Subaru "Project Thread", but some of you guys might be interested in my exploits with my latest car that has just replaced the JDM Hawkeye.... a Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG.

Apologies for the detail in this introduction, as it's a bit "old hat" to most of you. But as I'm publishing this information on a number of MB community forums, those guys don't know me from adam..... and we all know what happens with newbies don't we! lol

Anyway guys, hope you enjoy!
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Guys - this is going to take some reading (apologies). Grab yourself a coffee, a pack of biscuits and get comfortable.

Prologue
I’m here to change the world!!!!!

“What the hell is this guy on!?” I hear you scream.

OK…. so that’s clearly not going to take place. Well not this week anyway, but what am I here for? Let me explain…..

Whilst my intention is not to send you to sleep, or waffle on about a load of irrelevant crap, I do think it will make sense for me to introduce myself. Hopefully this will add context to what all of this is really about.

I’m going to cut to the chase. I’m a petrolhead.

If you look on the net as to what this word means, it alludes to a person who is a car fanatic.

So am I really a petrolhead?

Ever since my late teens I’ve found that cars and motorbikes have drawn me in. Whilst being of a mature age can bring it’s downsides, for me, it means I have had many great years sampling the delights of all things petrol (oh… and diesel) powered.

Whilst I don’t want to go through my entire history of ownership, I’ve been and done the motorcycle “thing” and owned a number of (in my opinion) UK market iconic “everymans” performance cars. However, when I say “everymans” I really mean 2ltr turbo screamer, hooligan, boy-racer, chav [please insert your own valid description] cars. This has included the Ford RS Turbo, Escort Cosworth, Sierra RS500, Vauxhall Calibre 4x4 Turbo and Rover 220 Turbo Coupe. Recently, or at least since 2000, I have been into the Subaru scene (don’t hold that against me!), which has seen me own three JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) Subaru’s.

Now, during my “Ford” era I really started to venture into the tuning side of things. What with turbocharged cars just needing a couple of “tweaks” to realise huge BHP potential….. it was like a dream come true for us normal guys. The potential for supercar slaying performance, for a couple of taps on the keyboard, exhaust and air filter…… this is what dreams are made of surely!?

I didn’t really get off to a great experience with having cars tuned….. if I’m being honest. The first Escort Cosworth I owned, only a couple of months old, went in for a Stage 1 tune. You know the normal exhaust, filter and remap. 320bhp…… it was awesome. Well, I say awesome. What I meant was it was awesome, until I was being a bit of a hooligan and the engine decided to say “You’ve got to be kidding!!!”, and decided to munch it’s way through a couple of pistons!

Let’s put this into perspective:

I was 27yrs old and just bought my dream car. The car cost, at the time, around £18,000 - which effectively cleaned me out. After a couple of months I decided to get it tuned; resulting (soon after) in the engine grenading itself; resulting in costing me around £3k to get fixed. I was suddenly brought back down to the real world!

But I tell you something…… from that day on I vowed to myself to understand and learn about the combustion engine and more importantly the tuning side of things. I wanted to know what did what and why. Certainly as a paying customer I learnt not to take the “experts” word for it on face value, but to take time to understand it myself, and if I didn’t appreciate something…. do my research and ask if needed.

Suffice to say that when I had the next Escort Cosworth I owned and had tuned, I took a totally different approach. The previous “mishap” didn’t put me off the whole mod thing.

In respect of owning these 2ltr turbo nutter cars, I’ve taken (not me personally!) a few to some quite extreme levels. 500+bhp RWD RS500 and 600+bhp Subaru being two key ones to mention. You can’t beat a bit of pub talk “bragging rights”...... come on guys. I’m a 70’s kid.

Subaru - the way forward!
Please don’t switch off - this is where it get’s interesting.

During 2001 I became heavily involved in the up and coming Subaru community. It was a time that, what seemed like all IT geeks, had to own a Subaru. However, what really drew me into this scene was the absolute appetite for the “geeks” to be so enthusiastic about modding. I’m not on about individuals throwing their cash at tuners to tune….. I’m talking about the “geeks” taking things into their own hands, literally. Arming themselves with a laptop (our everyday weapon for work - yes, I’m an IT geek!) and a programmable ECU….. a new (to me) generation of enthusiasts were born. Forget the spanner and wrench…… it was all about the laptop!!!

In late 2001 I was so “involved” in the Subaru community that I was presented with an opportunity to play an intrinsic part…. at least as far as the technical side was concerned. I became co-owner and co-administrator of www.ScoobyNet.com.

One of the areas I was getting really interested in was the whole smoke and mirrors scene, that was the world of tuning.

In 2005 I bought a Subaru Impreza Spec C, which at the time was I suppose, classed as the daddy of modern day Impreza’s. Reportedly as quick (if not quicker) than a Porsche GT3….. on the black stuff. This is when I embarked on my first “Project”, getting together with Subaru specialists to take the best that Subaru had…… and aim to make it better. However.... I wanted to take a slightly different approach to how this was done….. or at least how it was documented and involved the community.

You can probably tell I like to type (yes, there is a point in all of this….. I think)!!

It would have been easy (easier) for me to call company x, get my wallet out, get a load of mods done and post a few dyno graphs and say how awesome it is and how huge my penis feels. Whilst there is nothing wrong in that, I wanted to go deeper, learn myself and hopefully inform others of what has been done, why it has been done and what the “real” results are and what they really mean.

Magazine articles are great in some respects, but because they have limited space, they can only go into so much detail. The other side of the coin is that not all writers really understand what they are going on about. I wanted to take the time to understand and then document (step by step) in a fashion that could benefit others. Don’t get me wrong, I love some artistic license (you’d never know!), but I like to base my findings and decisions on evidence….. not just “because”.

Cutting to the chase we took the Spec C from a 320bhp “standard” weapon, to a 600+bhp nuclear reactor. Not only proving the few doubters wrong (we met/passed a number of fairly awesome performance goals at the time), but creating a car that went from road to track (taking part in Tuner GP, Ten of the Best & Time Attack to name a few) and back to road again….. only to prove what an awesome all round package had been developed. Winning competitive events….. beating “tuner” cars that were lighter, stripped out, higher powered and more track focussed (even when the car was in road spec!) along the way.

Whilst I ceased to be involved in the running of ScoobyNet from 2007, I was still “all over” the project stuff.

In 2010 I got shot of the Spec C and bought another standard JDM Impreza….. this time a “Hawkeye” STI (the 2ltr - not the UK 2.5). It wasn’t long before I started another “Project Thread” (click on the link if you have a spare year to read my escapades), but this time with the remit of “road only” and mods required that were only of benefit to road use (chassis, engine and drivetrain). That may sound quite boring, but this project was pretty awesome….. and it certainly received the biggest community interest and involvement, of my projects to date. This thread currently has over 133,000 views and climbing, documenting the journey from its baseline dyno run of 340bhp, to it’s ultimate achievement of a reliable (ran for over 2yrs at this level) 490bhp/475ftlb (running 2bar of boost) - on a standard un-touched Methanol powered 2ltr engine!

I know I’ve perhaps waffled a bit, but I hope this provides some context to my self proclamation of being a “petrolhead”.

Ok enough of that…. what’s this go to do with us then?
Hopefully everything!!

The Hawkeye STI has gone and I’ve now moved on to (just over three weeks ago) the awesome Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG. It’s no great surprise considering this is another turbocharged 2ltr performance car (aligning to my past ownership history)…… that whilst being pretty damn special, it would be rude not to give this the full on “Project” treatment.

Welcome to my crazy world.

I’m not going to sit here and tell you I aim to achieve the dizzy heights my previous projects have seen, but what I do want to do is replicate a similar type of approach (at least as far to content production) with the A45.

I appreciate I’m new to this community, but I really hope you find this journey entertaining, fun, informative and most important of all, you feel “involved”.

What I will promise you is that I will go into detail about what’s being done, why it’s being done and be utterly truthful about the results, supported by as much evidence as possible. I’m not going to state I’m looking to reinvent the wheel, but there is no harm in aiming to make a wheel better! I’m quite excited with the potential development areas that could be investigated.

A slightly different approach I’m taking with this project (compared to my previous projects) is to compliment the “black and white” content (and pictures), with a newly launched YouTube channel. I intend both mediums to compliment each other, in providing as much information as I possibly can.

I’m a “privateer” and enthusiast, so have nothing to gain from this…… other than I absolutely love doing this kind of thing, and love to learn and experience new things. If at least one other person finds this project interesting…… that’s a mega bonus!

Approach - Project Roadmap
Obviously I can’t do this on my own, as the amount of resources needed to do this kind of project approach justice, is more than my brain, skill and hands can cope with. So I’ll be working with a number of “professionals” along the way, but more on that once we get things underway.

Have I got any preconceived plans….. not in precise/absolute detail, but I can tell you I’m going to start with the basics and work my way up.

The areas I would like to cover/investigate are (we’ll have to see if all these come to fruition - although certain areas have already been discussed with the individuals I’ll be working with):

Engine & Drivetrain
Tuning boxes
Induction
Exhaust systems
Boost control
ECU reprogramming (straight to PCB and via OBD)
Turbo (hybrid Billet & Titanium cores)
Fuel system
Haldex (tuning)
Charge cooling
Headers
Gearbox modifications
Engine internals

Chassis & Brakes
Geometry
Anti Roll Bars
Anti Lift Kits
Suspension
Brakes
Control Arms

What I aim to do as part of the project content delivery is to provide:
- Detailed product testing
- Documented product development (I’m very excited in this part)
- In-depth performance analysis
- “Real World” road/track feedback

So…. that’s enough of the introductory stuff.

The next update will be coming your way soon - so let the fun begin guys.

I really hope (and encourage) for you all to get stuck in and feel free to contribute to this open discussion thread. :)

"Let's do thiiiiis!" :D

Be interesting to see what potential these 'little' pocket rockets are capable of.......

Subscribed ....

TLDR

So you're not selling it and getting a good car. :D

Only kidding, a good introduction.
Any chance of links to other sites that you're on, ie Mercedes ones so we/l can see how it's being taken/accepted/critiqued etc within the community?

Im sure he is more accepted there, than You with your bull****e here:D

Good call I'd like to see that too. :D

joz,
You and me both. Although to be fair they're pretty awesome as is.

bioforger,
I'm showing my age I know, but WTF does TLDR mean.... I hope it's highly offensive towards me. :D

Carnut,
You really are a legend! :cry:

I'll append the links shortly. ;)

Chaching! Subscribed

Subscribed :D:D

Hopefully this is my next car in September when the Leon is 3 years old so will be interesting to see the progress and no doubt have a shopping list come September time :lol1: :lol1:

Too long didn't read.

What the hell have l done this time, l just genuinely wanted to see how its taken from people that know the cars.
l think it would be interesting to see how the community sees it, what's wrong with that?

Would i EVER do such a thing, sheesh ;)

Anyway we need moar vids and less chat please.

Maz,
Ahhhh.... of course. ;)

I forgot I was on a Subaru board, and I needed to stick to words of one syllable and no more than 40 words to a post. :D

Carnut,
Do you have no sense of humour? ;)

Bioforger,
Yes and soon. :D

I'm sure most on the board enjoy your detailed and informative posts. I know the fact you got nigh on 500 bhp on a standard engine helped me to decide which direction to take. :thumb:

I reckon you should get some 1/4 mile times down for this car in various guises as its ok saying its X amount bhp but terminals and times will give a better indication of how it compares to the boards marque and you have an auto gearbox so the times should be pretty constant :)

Full packet of Jaffa Cakes gone reading that lot. It was like this is your life.

Project sounds exciting.

Subscribed

Maz,
That's really what I like to provide with these threads.... information that is hopefully useful to others. :)

Steve,
That is EXACTLY what I intend to do. :)

The launch control system on this car is pretty awesome, coupled with the gearbox, *should* mean I can get some decent comparisons, without worrying about fluffing the process.

Out of the box they apparently do high 12's and with just a tuning box, can get low 12's.

Mickp,
Best get your order in..... this might end up requiring a few more Jaffa's over time. :D

Elvington, May 15th :thumb:

http://www.straightliners-events.co....tor-entry.html

Behave.... I'm like 25miles from the Pod. :D

Oh for sure, I don't doubt it one iota! ;)

Damn, I want one! :envy: : mad: lol

Excellent project, I look forward to reading all about it :thumb:

Should be a beast

Yesterday saw the initial steps taken to start this whole journey.

It's going to take me some time (hopefully by early next week) for me to formulate all the results into a meaningful and informative update. However, this car has been truly "transformed" by yesterdays work. Whilst this has opened my eyes to how this car responds to initial stages of tuning, it provides me some real excitement as to what we can extract going forward...... even without a turbo!

More to follow soon.....

Amazes me how there's room to transform something that you would imagine to already be pushed near its limit!

Subscribed
Merc 45amg is a fantastic car and is a car many subaru drivers would move up as we are all getting older/richer /sensibke /mid life crises /delete as required

to as not many of us would want to buy another Subaru due to chocolate engines

Would love one of these A45 AMG's one day:luvlove: Saw a lovely red one with the aero kit fitted for sale at Shaks cars a couple of months ago, definitely one of the best looking hatches on the market at the moment:notworthy

i couldn't justify the cost for a hot hatch, 38K basic or in real life over 40K with any options added, pricey :eek:

But it does exactly what your STi does?? Still has 4 doors, AWD and goes like stink. I cant see it matters really if its a hatch, saloon, coupe, its still a great car, but if you dont want to spend that amount on a hatch, but would on a saloon then go for the CLA45 AMG, same car but in saloon form.:thumb:

Well apart from mine being 9K cheaper than an A45's basic price yea, obviously the A45 is a better car, but it should be for the price!