Ever wondered why the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG hasn't entered the thousand-horsepower club yet, despite the car's ex-generation status being perfect for it?
Photo: Youtube screenshot
The answer is simple: doubling the modern-age Gullwing's output is a bit more complicated than planning successful a trip to hell and back. Fortunately, though, Californian developer World Motorsports have been working on this for two or three years now (alongside other projects) and their twin-turbo SLS kit is almost ready.
They've invited Matt Farah to check out the resulting 900 hp SLS AMG, with the rather tight Big Tujunga Canyon serving as a playground. And the clip below gives us a pretty good taste of how driving such a long-hooded animal feels like.
The M159 6.2-liter V8 of the once-a-Grand-Tourer has kept its stock internals, such is the might of the Affalterbach wizards. However, since drivability was the aim here (it's a Benz, remember?), a pair of moderate turbos (Turbonetics T33 frames were used) made their way underneath the vee-eight.
However, installing the turbos was the easy part. At the opposite end of the difficulty scale, we find the ECU mapping, whose caprices were only rivaled by those of the dual-clutch gearbox. Almost all of these aspects have been sorted out, though and we're looking at a friendly 4,800 rpm peak torque point.
The package only delivers 6 lbs of boost, as it has to work with the less-than-brilliant 91-octane fuel. However, going for 100 octane fuel and upping the ante on the boost front should allow this SLS to deliver around 1,100 hp. The reliability wouldn't be the same, though.
As for the handling part of the equation, a KW coilover kit was considered enough. As for future plans, these involve a lowered compression ratio and perhaps even installing such a package on a Black Series, if anybody is willing to pay the astronomical price - while we fully agree with the job we see here, we hope the SLS AMG Black Series the tuned has already bought keeps its superb naturally aspirated character.
The kit hasn't been officially priced yet, but it should sit anywhere between 44 and 50 grand, which puts it on par with a twin-turbo Lambo package. This also includes the clutch upgrade, with five proprietary solutions being used overall.
Check out this Mercedes-Benz's... family tree (you's find it in our SLS AMG Roadster review), which basically explains this car was born due to American reasons and the US TT play described here will suddenly make even more sense.
P.S.: What's with all the devil mentions? Check out the second video below, a development episode from 2014, and you'll understand.
They've invited Matt Farah to check out the resulting 900 hp SLS AMG, with the rather tight Big Tujunga Canyon serving as a playground. And the clip below gives us a pretty good taste of how driving such a long-hooded animal feels like.
Let's get to the tech stuff
The M159 6.2-liter V8 of the once-a-Grand-Tourer has kept its stock internals, such is the might of the Affalterbach wizards. However, since drivability was the aim here (it's a Benz, remember?), a pair of moderate turbos (Turbonetics T33 frames were used) made their way underneath the vee-eight.
However, installing the turbos was the easy part. At the opposite end of the difficulty scale, we find the ECU mapping, whose caprices were only rivaled by those of the dual-clutch gearbox. Almost all of these aspects have been sorted out, though and we're looking at a friendly 4,800 rpm peak torque point.
The package only delivers 6 lbs of boost, as it has to work with the less-than-brilliant 91-octane fuel. However, going for 100 octane fuel and upping the ante on the boost front should allow this SLS to deliver around 1,100 hp. The reliability wouldn't be the same, though.
As for the handling part of the equation, a KW coilover kit was considered enough. As for future plans, these involve a lowered compression ratio and perhaps even installing such a package on a Black Series, if anybody is willing to pay the astronomical price - while we fully agree with the job we see here, we hope the SLS AMG Black Series the tuned has already bought keeps its superb naturally aspirated character.
How much is the fish?
The kit hasn't been officially priced yet, but it should sit anywhere between 44 and 50 grand, which puts it on par with a twin-turbo Lambo package. This also includes the clutch upgrade, with five proprietary solutions being used overall.
Check out this Mercedes-Benz's... family tree (you's find it in our SLS AMG Roadster review), which basically explains this car was born due to American reasons and the US TT play described here will suddenly make even more sense.
P.S.: What's with all the devil mentions? Check out the second video below, a development episode from 2014, and you'll understand.
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