Here's Why Your 0-60 MPH Time Sucks Compared To The Magazines + C43 AMG Results After One Repair 

Post up any 0-60 MPH results you have.

1:58 i just want to take a moment to appreciate that genius idea of taping the gauge to the windshield. I actually had to laugh a little.

Congrats to the C43 for passing the fuel pressure and compression tests with flying colors! One thought about 0-60 times: some of the magazines (MT and R&T have confirmed it) apply the “1 foot rollout” they use in 1/4 mile times to 0-60 as well. That makes the cars and the test drivers look heroic by shaving a few tenths off acceleration times. The 6.1 benchmark might be closer to 6.4 without the rollout correction.

This is why I've left my CLS55's air intake factory.........the design is already great, would rather spend $ on longtubes, gas and tires. Great vid Alex

Such a great channel. Great video and thanks for the commitment to great content. It shows. Most channels would had made like 5 videos to cover this. I dislike that a lot. Thanks!! You make one great video with all the information, that's fantastic.

I'm not super into cars but this one keeps me coming back. Like, checking once a month since that first video. Can't wait to see what you do to it next.

You produce some of the best put-together videos, man! Always enjoy watching. Thank you. Diehard Mercedes guy here too :)

That transition to the morning was sleek and early morning 0-60 is a great was to start the day in Chicago. Be safe out there man

Clean the MAF sensor! A dirty MAF sensor kills acceleration and lowers fuel economy. Reset the ECU. Also as mentioned by another change the oil in the engine and transmission and replace thw engine air filter. While you're compression testing why wouldn't you replace the sparkplugs?

In Colorado, we usually have low humidity and cool air - but the altitude kills those advantages.

As usual awesome video. I love how scientific you run your tests!

This guys videos are absolutely phenomenal. Im about to pick up my first AMG car in a couple weeks 98 C43 with two tone interior. Maybe I can stop by your shop to do a review.

Really enjoyed the video. As a pilot, I can confirm that temperature plays a huge role and aircraft engine manufactures perform significant testing to determine aircraft performance at different temperatures and pressures. Take off calculations and climb performance often vary by a significant margin depending on temperature alone.

I've got a 2011 C220D manual. We have recently had a run of 30 degrees C weather in the UK. You can really feel the power difference in the evenings when it's a lot cooler compared to the high daytime temps. Great vid as always😁

Try reseting transmission adaptations with sds. I struggled with low end torque with my C43 which has195k miles. The engine performed great over 3k rpm but never performed well at low rpm. After changing all sensors, resetting engine adaptations numerous times and a timing chain, trans adaptation reset made the biggest improvement by far. Great video!

Okay. I just pulled up these figures from memory and experience in dealerships without seeing the improvement your cold air intake system made. Yet even with these awesome mods., it still corresponds to what I know, in fact, you’re doing better than the stock AMG. Good for you, and I thank you for teaching me more. It empowers me toward owning another classic Mercedes-Benz again. :-)

I don't have any fancy data loggers, but this is cool to see verification of what I can feel. I drive a 03 SVT Focus, which comes factory with a decent cold air induction system. I can dramatically feel a difference between mid day heat and humidity and night time cool and dry driving. Noticable difference in the seat dyno!

Wow I didn't realise air temp and humidity would make that much of a difference in a modern computer controlled car/engine! Great and interesting video Alex 👍

This really makes me want to go get the box to make my air filter a bit more "cold air intake" esque. Great video!

Great video! Every 7 deg. F increase in intake temp reduces output by about 1 hp.

I think all that bondo makes it loose that 1 second..

We once owned a 1993 300E 2.8. We purchased it with 102k miles on it. I tuned it with new plugs, Mobil 1, new ATF and filter, as well as new filters all around. On my way to work one time in the Fall (I live in Dayton), I used my cell phone to time it on a 0-60 run and achieved a time of approx. 7 secs. Not bad. That DOHC 2.8L engine with about 193HP was quite fun. I've not yet tried our newer 2013( M276) C300 4Matic car, but it is quite spirited for a V-6. I will need to remove the charcoal filter on the engine air cleaner which seemingly blocks a lot of airflow (it was a NY car new). Nor, have I tried our 1998 SLK230 Kompressor. Both cars seem to have cold air intakes (I remember when they were called "Ram Air") on the front crossmember. Never really thought much about getting a time on either car. I will try it the next time I'm on an open road.

A vibrant and loud color wrap seems like a fun thing to do to this thing.

Nicely done and it shows just how far off a car can be from quoted values.

Love the videos on your AMG perticularly the ones about your c43. Thats why im a platinum member for life

Fun video Alex! Maybe throw some new summer tires on the back?

glad you posted this cause real world conditions effect everything.

One thing what could hold few horses is worn out MAF. It coul be with in spec so it doesn't trigger a code but could still be out of optimum range. Bosch for example says MAF shoul be changed in every 160k km.

I have a 99 C43 too. I get better pulls in winter mode instead of sport which starts you in second gear and change rev some. Also find that drive four is better for 0-60 times than drive 5.

Brilliant, entertaining and informative. Love this channel.

I don't know if someone already mentioned that or not but I think that with the closed driver window you cloud got a better results

The heat and humidity deff has a lot of influence on the end time you get. I guess by recording actual numbers you can really see by how much. Just think about going for a run in 50 degree weather vs. 90 degrees and 97% humidity....it's like night and day, and the same for car performance. That is one nice thing about living in Cali, no humidity and it's usually cooler at night. About 7 years ago in Pennsylvania when I had my 1993 rx7, it was really easy to notice a difference in the way it drove, idled, and how it sounded depending on the temperature and humidity. It's fair to conclude that the older a car is, the more likely the temp./humidity will effect it even more.

Can’t wait to run mine in the winter here in Arizona when it’s super cool and dry.

My w221 S550 M273 gets like 5.8-6.0 0-60 in the summer and lower 5’s in the winter. More like 5.4-5.6 in the winter. Sometimes faster than rated by MB which is 5.4.

Next measurement how many tens of a second does a closed window save on 0 - 60 vs an open window! Can't believe you are almost at a 💯k subs!

NOZZZZ

Magazines also use something called Rollout, which doesn't take into account the first 12' (30cm) of distance covered, with a good launch this can drop times by 3/10th of a second.

Really great information. Thanks for sharing.

Good job on the testing. The car runs really well. Hopefully whoever buys this regardless of the cars worth they fix up that exterior. N/A motors just are more consistent. If this was my e55 that 0-60 would just get much worse through each run, heat soak.

Stock 1995 SL500 5.8s shifting by hand. It has this crazy low gear when you pull the shifter all the way back and slide it to the right.

Got my c55 around the same time as you, picked it up for CA and drive it to AZ. The car definitely feels like it is missing some hp when it is 110 degrees outside! Heat sucks hp!

FYI they only count the time after 1 foot as well, it has to do with the way dragstrips work so it will match what they tell you and what you get at the strip. That can easily account for a half second. And a rear alignment can make a massive difference at launch, i noticed that there's a lot of slipping going on. A MK3 Supra i had back in the day had 245/45/16's on stock rims and hooked very VERY well after i very slightly adjusted the toe out on the rear with an estimate of low 300hp to the wheels and did about 5 seconds flat (less with warmed up tires, but never measured that) with a GPS 0-60 machine i borrowed. The way things wear you might have toe in on the rear. Also, it might take some time for long term fuel trim to adjust for cooler intake temperatures and also for spark advance. I don't know how long it was driven before tests were done so that could be a mute point.

Another thing you're missing is the fan shroud - at 2:30 you can see the bare engine driven fan spinning behind the radiator. A fan without a shroud is very inefficient, as it won't pull air effectively through the radiator core. This can cause the engine temp to be higher, and then your fan clutch locks, and saps a lot of hp. Google C43 fan shroud and you'll see the plastic piece.

I love that gen of e320 that ur AMG got beat by

Very cool, thanks for doing this test. Didn't think a NA engine was affected that badly with air temp/humidity. Also maybe this video will stop people from f@cking with their OEM intake systems. Pretty sure OEM's spend millions in development on that stuff. Love the channel.

Yet another awesome video. Consistent 0-60 times are also indicative of consistent launch technique, so nice work there Alex!

1. Tires, warm them up so they spin less :) 2. New oil(thinner for the engine and new for the gearbox) 3. Filters 4. Premium fuel 5. Spark plugs.

Really interesting and great video!

Our best quarter-mile time in Texas heat earlier this spring was 15.27 @ 94 mph in our 1998 C43

I’m so glad you did these tests, Thank you! Wouldn’t have guessed that air temp makes that much of a difference. Almost made me think you’d need an intercooler for this NA engine 😂

Definitely lower temperature, i have the scorpion intakes on my 65 which pull engine bay air and it doesn’t pull any power, when your driving along theres quite a bit of airflow in the engine bay

My 96 C280 feels noticeably slower in hot weather, and when the engine bay is heat soaked then it's very noticeable. I was wondering if wrapping the box and piping would help, consulting the internet results in widely different opinions regarding that.

Looking forward to the NOZ kit!

Need to run a more advanced data logger that connects via obd2 to measure timing and see how much timing is being pulled. Logging afr would be helpful too but you'd need a wideband o2 sensor for that.

I like your vids because they are relative to the real world and your average "user" experience, keep going, good work :) Did you try it with the fully TC off btw, or is this another Merc with a TC which you are not able to fully turn off ?

Another great video, Thank you! By chance, did you look into the o-ring failure issue on the oil pan pick up tube in your other two AMG's? That looks like a great tutorial and it's a $4.00 engine killer. It would be cool to see what a really old one looks like compared to a new one (how long it takes them to fail from heat cycling). Thanks again!

Great episode! I have a couple of things on my mind that i think would give you different results. First, At what speed do aerodynamics come into play? If 0-60 times are impacted by aerodynamic desgin then I would say those aftermarket bumpers and missing under-body plastic covers/pans would slow you down. The rear bumper cover could even act as a parachute if aerodynamic testing is not part of the design process. Second, I don't know if Motor Trend used this method but I've heard that standard procedure is to exclude the first foot of the tire rolling out from a dead stop. I'm sure if you google it, the testing procedure will come up. EDIT:::: I did a little research and Motor Trend does use that method and your Vbox should have a box to check off that includes the rollout calculation. Did you use it?? And THIRD, probably doesn't matter in this case but ill throw it out there. Motor oil, gearbox oil/ATF and differential oil is all brought up to temp in the professional drag racing world to reduce the drag that thick fluids create in diffs and trannys. That might help in the top fuel world but I don't know how much that impacts street cars. What do ya think??? Andreas

My C36 AMG probably is doing the same or maybe slower than this C43, but unfortunately I don't have VBOX to check it out...but I'm gonna try with an OBDII and Torque PRO app...I'll post it for you...great vid Alex...

check ur breathing in and breathing out. install highflow k&N filter. check the catalytic converters. primary and secondary one, delete the secondary one. you will get then higher breathing out flow with least pressure drop in ur exhaust system.

I had an slk230 once that never felt as fast as it should. For me it turned out to be the MAF sensor. There was an oilchatcher return to the airbox that coated the maf with a film of oil. It ran better when i cleaned the maf and much better when I replaced it. Have had maf sensor problems on many cars, when it´s a bit of performance is the first problem...

Check MAF sensor working On this engines sometime maf sensors are dieing but you willnt see any mallfunction or any problem on diagnostic So check maf sensor it must show on idle 16kg/s and on revving standing over 400kg/s As well check for air leaks

W205 C43 Estate with stage 1.5 , 3.50 seconds flat-0-60. AhEmGee on Dragy leaderboard. Also you need a more revs on the launch, power brake it a little more .

2003 W163 ML500 2nd cat delete and Flowmaster muffler. Plus drop 200lbs (exhaust spare tire Jack seat) weight reduction. 55 degrees 0-60 5.9 /5.8 sec every time. All day long. Also us a Vbox. Don’t know humidity but, always low in Pennsylvania

Most sports motorbikes will use a ram air intake design which uses Bernoulli's theory to increase air intake exponential to the relative speed of the bike (I'm sure some anoraks will word it better but I'm being lazy.) The air intake is directly faced in line with the airflow. In order to take full advantage of this however, the airbox needs to be large in order for induction system to make use of it.

Funny thing is my c55 had a hole on one of those intake tubes, I replaced it and felt the power increase right away. Posted my experience on one of the benz forums and everybody thought I was talking out of my ass.

Great video Alex!!!

I am curious if the gains came from the cold air intake or the forced air induction. In other words, did forcing more air through the MAF sensor into the engine intake cause the computer to feed more fuel to the engine, thereby generating more power and lower 0 to 60 mph times? In either case, thanks for the hard work that goes into creating amazing content!

Hey Alex I think you might need some new rear performance tires, see if that makes a difference.

It'd be interesting to see it dyno'd on the same conditions he did. I bet there's a noticeable difference in power output. Anyway, good video and thanks!

2003 Honda Accord V6 6 speed Manual runs 5.8s to 60mph, those, "Mom cars" are super fast with the manual, I owned 2 of them, super underrated.

Well, here's some more for you. First of all, brand new tires make a difference too. If a manufacturer hands out a car for a car magazine to test, you can be sure they fit the best tires on it as it definately makes a difference. Next up, your clutch. A clutch will wear through the years and we're not talking mayor difference, but what's important is that it DOES make A difference and simply put, it makes ENOUGH difference. Lastly, don't forget oils. The better, fresher and newer the oil, the better the engine will run, the better it will perform. That goes, without saying, also for the cooling itself, so fresh coolant and flushed canals (not calcified) will also improve. Yes, we're talking marginal differences, but again, in the end, that will all sum up together. Finally, springs and shocks do play a role too. The furhter springs and shocks have been worn, the more flex it produces, and the more (kinetic) energy gets lost before it's transferred to the road, and i said finally but really, fuel quality matters too. I don't know about the states, i'm pretty sure it's the same out there too, but in Europe, we tend to have mayor price differences in already expensive fuels from the biggest highest quality Fuel stations (Shell, BP, etc.) versus cheaper fuels (Tinq, Tango, etc.) despite being concidered the same 95 unleaded fuel. Quite frankly, the cheaper fuel isn't cheaper at all in the end, as it's less pure quality actually causes fuel consumption to rise, and then the addatives and lesser quality actually pollutes the engine in the long haul. What's to take from that is that fuel does make a difference so all in all we can get to factory spec numbers concidering the following list : Cool (neutral) ambient temperature. Correct cold air intake. Oil friction. Cooling. Clutch. Shock and spring energy loss. Tires. and lastly i forget two important aspects still. Clean exhausts, and driver reaction times. We already saw mayor differences in ambient temperature and air intake effects. The other areas will impose less big difference individually, but jointly, they make all the difference because it's just a small difference to compensate compared to factory numbers. LASTLY, you could actually ditch the spare wheel, car jack, and all unneccesary weight in the car. Fit the car with proper nitrous, chiptune it, improve it's injectors, headers and exhaust kit, and then see crazy performance improvements. lastly, put a compressor on it and see it become a rocket.

A few things to consider. Car and Driver tested your car new, but it is 18 years old now. Do you know when the spark plugs we're changed last? Is the ignition factory or have the coils been changed? What condition are the wheel bearings in? What condition is the transmission in, and have you performed a service, changing the filter and oil? Has the rear differential fluid been changed? Also some sensors like the map sensor could be going bad and even though the compression is good there could still be a lot of carbon build up in the valves, intake, and throttle body. i'm sure you know all these this can affect performance. Especially in a car that old.

Not sure if you did any service on this car?? But a good Oil change,new oil filter, new spark plugs, air filter, Fuel Filter and transmission service i think will make a difference. I know it did on my cars

Do a full service. Change all the fluids and look at the clutch and the differential before you use nitrous. And also check all the spark plugs and the ECU tune.

Another great video. After following this series I'm think I'm getting a used Benz. Had BMWs and after learning about the head gasket issues w/them and the aluminum block issue with the head bolts pulling out them think I'm done. Thanks.

Get a w124 E300 (132kw M103) Diff without ASR, makes a huge difference.

I was going to buy one this weekend, then I had flashbacks of last winter.

One highly overlooked issue with car performance is binding brakes and badly adjusted handbrakes. If you have any bind be it very minor it just bleeeeeeeds perfomance. Remove your calipers (if you could) and youd be going like a rocket ship because all brakes bind to a tinty extent anyway.

Eh, the see through car would likely run a second quicker also with the colder air temps. That said, I love watching your videos.

Better to have an insulated plastic air intake hose, instead of a metal one. The metal will heat up the cold air much faster than the plastic would. If your time goes down as air intake cools, perhaps try to see if mid-grade gasoline (89-91 oct) would perform better than 87 oct fuel. Check the filters. Change the transmission oil, and engine oil to synthetic. Try to see if E15 makes any difference.

Closing the window will also help I just think u forgot cuz it was getting hot.

I love your videos btw even though I'm a Saab Guy. I believe the slower 0-60 times is due to HP loss since it has the high miles on that AMG. If you put it on a dyno with all or any drivability issues fixed, I bet your closer to 200hpish now.

I'm surprised Motortrend says forced induction motors are not affected. My tuned Saab 9-3 2.8T definitely feels faster on cooler days, like today for instance it's 2C (35F) where I live and it pulled like a monster. I wonder what the C43 would do in 35F.

I’d reset the adaptations, transmission and engine. Make sure your car is in summer mode not winter mode. And do manual shifts. Oh btw I have a clk 430 same motor as you just the 43 is differently tuned

It sounds like cold air tubes help most at the start. Engine bay is hot and no air is moving.

Car companies and magazines also use a 5mph rollout, they don’t start the clock until 5mph

You should re investigate thoughts cold air intakes really do.

It's odd how one banks compression was significantly higher and more consistent than the other . Maybe lubricating , maybe has to do with intake leak on the left bank in the past hmmm.

Also the car magazines shut off the traction control in the car it will drop ur time by 0.5 seconds for sure . But try ur best not to spin the tires ease on it then mash the throttle bro. Anything over 68 degrees outside ur car won't perform its best . Many factors come into play .

Stop talking bad of this absolute legend of a car. Mine has 150,000 miles and it’s very fast. It shows up a lot of newer high powered cars. Whoever said they’re mums car is faster is a day dreamer who can’t afford one.

I'd be curious to see the STFT and LTFT on a scanner. Can learn a lot about a car from them

sensor age will affect power. first thought is O2 sensors and MAF. new ones and some driving around so the car re-learns its more accurate readings and you should theoretically get a bit faster

This is very interesting, I think I need to get some decent timing gear from somewhere and try this. I have a w210 E55 with 225000 miles on it but it still feels really fast, now I'm wondering if that might be because of where I live here in the UK. My house is 33ft above sea level, its fairly flat in this area and average yearly temp is only 50f, I don't know what the average humidity level is but its not excessive.

nice, add a second on your run time, and make the engine bay looks fantastic too. hope to see another run with the see-through-car again

All that stuff about ambient temp and humidity correction was interesting. Do they do any kind of correction for altitude? A car tested at sea level will be getting much denser air than a car that is 1000ft up in the hills etc. so performance will also differ accordingly.

your visco couppler , is it fine / useful ? you got 2 pusher fans for cooling your radiator. a good cheap mod is to delete the cooling fan and rewire the 2 pusherfans to cool when driving slowly. on high speed you don't need fan powwered cooling at all :) . you lose less powwer and gain powwer / torque across the band.

Rear differential oil ,coolant, tires, transmission oil ,engine oil ,gas octane,air filter, suspension, traction control on traction control off all matters in the equation....

o jeez i got so used to car throttle that i expected you to end the video after the first set of tests

Carlos Lagos did a video years ago on his personal channel explaining the sae corrections and why they do it

I have a 99 C43 and the thing hauls ass. Blows away my 99 M3 and 91 MR2 Turbo, seat of the pants feel.