The new Mercedes CLA body is amazing and definitely a BMW 3-Series competitor.  The CLA250 features the transversly mounted 2.0L turbocharged engine that puts out 208bhp.  Being that it is front wheel drive, it can definitely feel a bit laggy off the line, but with the VR Tuned Tuning Box Kit, its a different story!  The new Mercedes ECU cannot be OBDII flashed or bench flashed at this moment due to tuning encryption by the manufactures.  But its no big deal as most new car owners are worried about warranty and the VR Tuned Tuning Box Kit can be installed and removed in 5 minutes.  Featuring its weatherproof aluminum casing, OEM connectors, and preloaded map calibration, the CLA250 plug and play gives you 42bhp.

“But wait, that is just a number.  All of your VR Tuned Tuning Box Kits have a BHP gain but no dyno charts?”  Our response is simple, they are tried and proven.  But hey, lets challenge those nay sayers!  So being we have been doing this Mercedes CLA250 as a Project Car Not Ours Project Car, we thought we would give it a go.  Besides the wheels and springs, the car is back to stock with a stock engine and stock exhaust.  Using our Mustang All Wheel Drive Dyno, we had to run the car in AWD mode because in just FWD mode, traction control would kick in and not let us run the car.  So yes this is a FWD CLA250 and much like on the street, all 4 wheels are moving :)

The baseline dyno was done with 91 octane and achieved 164hp and 232ft/lbs of torque.   Based on a typical 20-25% drivetrain loss, this is spot on.  With the tuning box plugged in, and fans placed on the intercooler and engine bay for realistic driving conditions, the car gained 26hp and 25ft/lbs of torque.  This puts us just 7hp shy of what the 42bhp rating is less drivetrain loss.  The 42bhp rating was done with 93 octane so it was time to throw some octane booster in and give it some runs.  Each run we did the power increased until we hit a max and it started to plateau and then decline.  The best run we had was 200awhp and 273ft/lbs of torque gaining us 36awhp and 41ft/lbs.  Based on numbers, this was a success!

Shop the VR Tuned Tuning Box Kits here.

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About The Author

Dan Mermelstein - Co-Owner, Blogger, Porsche Enthusiast, VRTuned Marketing and Technical Support. Available to make your car faster!

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