hi, am new in the family. drives a C 180 1997. the forum has been useful so far. can i increase my horsepower by installation of any software?

 

Hmmm a '97...that should be running Window '95. Try upgrading to '98?

-Eric

 

Actually I have a related (serious) question about the W203 C180 Kompressor.

The only apparent difference between the C180K and the considerably more expensive C200K - at least in Australia - seems to be the badge and some engine tweaks that lift it from 105kW to 120kW. (Sorry, don't know the bhp equivalents, but the increase in peak power is ~14%.)

The mechanicals all *look* the same in both models, and the engine has the same capacity, so is the only difference in the engine-management software and/or the supercharger boost? If so, can either be "upgraded" in software by someone with the know-how and equipment. Or alternatively, is a relatively cheap mechanical upgrade to the C180K possible which gives a similar power increase?

 

You mean there is no displacement increase from 1.8 Liters to 2.0 Liters to correspond to the name change?

I would expect the pistons to be bigger on the C200.

-Eric

 

> You mean there is no displacement increase from 1.8 Liters to 2.0 Liters to correspond to the name change?

Indeed I do! At least for the Australian C class's the name does not exactly indicate the engine displacement.

> I would expect the pistons to be bigger on the C200.

To quote (paste) from the MB Aust website:

C180 Kompressor:

No. of cylinders/arrangement/valves 4/in-line/4
Bore/stroke/cubic capacity mm/cm3 82.0/85.0/1796
Power output* kW(HP)/1/min 105(143)/5200
Max. torque* Nm/1/min 220/2500-4200
Compression ratio 10.0
Fuel preparation Electronic fuel injection with fuel cutoff (HFM)
Total Displacement cc 1,796

C200 Kompressor:

No. of cylinders/arrangement/valves 4/in-line/4
Bore/stroke/cubic capacity mm/cm3 82.0/85.0/1796
Power output* kW(HP)/1/min 120(163)/5500
Max. torque* Nm/1/min 240 / 3000 - 4000
Compression ratio 9.3
Fuel preparation Electronic fuel injection with fuel cutoff in overrun (HFM)
Total Displacement cc 1,796

It's not just an Oz thing too ... as the MB UK website shows the same two models and specs.

 

Ok, notice they increased the Compression ratio. So the bore and stroke of the pistons is the same but they are not the same on the top. Normally to increase the compression ratio the pistons will be "domed" on the top...right?

I bet that is the source of the extra ponies. And you may need to use 91 octane gas.

-Eric

 

PowerChip ECU will increase 11kW and 18Nm for C180. SpeedInnovation has extra gains.

 

Thanks Eric

> Ok, notice they increased the Compression ratio.

I hadn't noticed that, but now I'm confused - the C200K has the *lower* compression ratio which (as Wikipedia suggests) would give a lower energy per stroke - at least when all else is equal.

> So the bore and stroke of the pistons is the same but they are not the same on the top. Normally to increase the compression ratio
> the pistons will be "domed" on the top...right?

Good point (although surely a domed cylinder would *decrease* the compression ratio, as it increases the cylinder capacity).

However if we assume the 1796cc figure that MB quote doesn't include the dome, then the effective cylinder capacity for the C200K is actually larger by a factor of (10-1)/(9.3-1)=1.09. Hmm, that makes it about 2 litres, rather than 1.8 ... so maybe that's it.

It seems a bit odd that they don't boast about that though! Or is the dome traditionally never included in a quoted cylinder capacity?

 

Oops I read it wrong, the 200 has LOWER Compression....I am baffled.

-Eric