C-Ya Later

17 Jan C-Ya Later

It’s that time once again, to say goodbye to an old friend. But, as always, it’s going to a better place. It’s heading out onto the open road.

John’s C32 has finished what must be some of the most extensive custom dyno tuning we’ve undertaken. Our given goal at the outset of the build was pretty easy — John wanted power, and in no short supply. Basically, he wanted us to max out the motor while staying within parameters safe enough so that he can track and street the living hell out of it. After all, if it’s a second car, why can’t it be the fun one?

With that goal in mind, Fluid MotorUnion went to work on it. When all was said and done, the modification list stressed cooling (for safety) and power above all else. To keep the engine breathing easier, we created a custom intake setup using BMC conical filters and the intake splitter from an SL500, coupled with some free-flowing FMU piping. On the business end of the motor, we freed up some ponies with a fully custom exhaust system, starting with a set of custom headers and moving all the way back to the final touch, the dual turndown tips.

The remaining power-and-safety adders fell into place, as well; in time, FMU would create a custom rear housing for the supercharger, custom heat exchanger, custom catch can and vacuum venturi system, and a phenolic spacer to keep things a bit cooler. We also installed a Johnson pump, Sprint Booster, WOT Box, the throttle body from an S600 and a set of more aggressive pulleys to up the manifold pressure a good amount.

Lastly, the aesthetics were due for an upgrade as well. With everything that could be blacked out, done up as such (including the FMU-painted stock wheels), it was time to add some carbon fiber. And carbon fiber we did add, in the form of a front lip…

…side mirror covers…

…trunklid spoiler…

…and, last but not least, one more rear spoiler. This time, it’s coming off the roof:

For those of you with keen eyes, you may have noticed a missing foglight housing in the previous pictures. Congratulations to you, because your eyes are currently better than our photographer’s, who didn’t notice this until after the pictures had been taken, and well after the sun set that day. So here’s one more shot of the front with both foglight housings, in what was turning out to be a rather blustery bout of wind and snow.

We know what you’re all thinking at this point. “How much power did it make?!” Well, let’s answer that for you. The final number with the stock blower stands at 381.7 horsepower to the rear wheels. Now, obviously power can be increased with a custom, larger-blower setup, and there’s room to further adjust timing and create power if a water-meth system was added in conjunction with a fuel upgrade to either race gas or E85. For now, however, the blower is at the top end of its safe performance limits, so we’re rather pleased with this amount of power coming from a 3.2L motor with stock internals.

With everything said and done, we’re happy with the results from John’s C32 AMG. Once the weather gets nicer and he’s able to take it out on the track and treat it as it should be treated, perhaps we’ll see it in the shop again next winter. But, for now, we’ve got ourselves a very stout sedan that should blow a stock C32 (4.5 sec to 60) out of the water. Or snow, depending on the weather.

P.S. If you missed the video of the C32 on the dyno, click this link to see it.