What to do to Roo's engine??

[Crazy_C]

Well the more I think about it, the more I wanna do some performance tinkering with the engine in 'roo, and seeing as it's the same 1.6 engine (K4M) as the Clio, there are a variety of performance parts I can get.

I was looking at getting a set of cams, K&N panel filter to replace the OEM one, performance leads and plugs, an ECU tune, and possibly a port and polish too.

I was thinking about dropping a Clio 172 or 182 engine in there, but can't really be bothered with the time n effort involved in that as well as the costs, plus my engine is extremely low milage (just clicked over to 13k yesterday!!!) so would rather work on my engine.


I am wanting to aim for about 135bhp, possibly nearer the 150 mark, as I believe this is a realistic and assertainable goal (got 100bhp already) and I wouldn't have thought it would put too much strain on the auto-box either.



But basically, any and all advice will be verrrry welcomed :)

Cheers

[macca]

Cams, filter (well shielded or inducted though, no open filter in the engine bay), exhaust, and de-cat or sports cat to be safer would all be good options. Then an ECU remap, or piggyback of some kind would make the most of all of these if mapped by a capable mapper.

In my opinion though, porting the head is very low down on the list of mods, especially when you consider bang-for-buck. It's a pretty major mod needing lots of engine work and specialist work which will hit your pocket for very small gains. Different if you were going for massive horsepower when every little bit counts but I'd say not worry at the moment. Do the easy stuff first :) And polishing ports is never a good idea..

Performance leads would be good, as long as they are good quality. I've seen a lot of leads that are supposed 'performance' leads and look like the wire on my doorbell. Plugs don't need to be anything special, just fresh and properly gapped. I use coppers in the Supra with good results, they don't last as long as the others (especially in my car, 3k max) but they spark better, copper is a fantastic conductor.

I would imagine around 130bhp should be attainable with those kind of mods, but it's more about how it drives than the figures isn't it ;) It should make it more responsive, more revvy and have a bit more kick to it too, all what you want on the road!

[macca]

Oh, and adjustable cam gears can net good results too, but they have to be set up on a dyno by somebody who knows what they're doing and preferably in conjunction with a remap.

[lambo-lude]

by the looks of it ... leafblower and gas :p:D

[Crazy_C]

Hahaa, you cheeky bugger Mark, but yea, a leaf blower would be an improvement on a toaster eh? :p lol

The exhaust I probably won't really do much if anything to as I don't want a loud exhaust, I want to keep the engine noise to as much of a minimum as possible. I won't bother with a sports cat either as think it's a lot of money and without a performance exhaust it won't give much gains.


So won't bother with port n polish then, just look at cams and filter and remap then primarily. I'll see if I can find a performance exhaust that isn't too loud as well to help :)

I'll talk to some local tuners and see what they say and can do. Bet none of them have ever worked on a Kangoo before though LOL Thank god for it being Clio lump in there haha should make it easier, but I'm gonna look at that after I've got the audio installed and done a bit more on the styling too :) Just wanna be able to do research beforehand y'know.

[macca]

Problem is that the standard exhaust and cat will be restrictive and really limit what the others are capable of doing.

First rule of engine tuning is breathing, more in+more out=more power. You need a good filter, cams to get more air in and more exhaust out and a freer flowing exhaust to get rid of the extra air going in. Miss out one of these and you have a bottle neck which will limit the effectiveness.

Universal sports cat's can cost under £100, with a few bob on top chucked to a decent welder. I can't remember the company's name, but I can find out if you're interested.

And exhausts don't have to be noisy to be free flowing!! If you want to go that route, you can get a proper exhaust made with an almost normal note to it just that it flows more gas. ;)

[nunchukhamster]

Magnaflow CATS are £100'ish

[macca]

There you go ;)

[Crazy_C]

Coool, so maybe will go down that route then. Just that all the free flowing exhausts I've had have been reaaaaally loud, but yeah, as you say, engine breathing is important. I've always said get the snorting and farting right and the rest will follow :p lol


Wonder if Magnecore do one that'll fit a Kangoo haha

[macca]

Lol.. I like that saying! :)

[lambo-lude]

without stepping on the enthusiasum with experience ..
low displacement engines have proved time n time again to loose power from performance filters n exausts .. unless your GENUINELY going to add cams and remap i wouldnt bother... you "may" gain slight power at 5..6 k revs ..but you will loose all that bottom and mid power ..not that theres much to loose.. pp heads only need doing on older engines ..you wont need it on yours yet ...tbh i would focus on styleing and interior ..no good forking out good cash on a farting pipe and bit of sponge crazy man ;)
sooo many ppl add the above to low power cars ..and talk about cams and turbos and gass and other cr@p but never add them ...if u realy want to up the power take it to a ren tuner and see what they say .. dont cook the auto box :no:

[macca]

Although I agree with you in general, you need the whole package to really get the gains, this statement:

low displacement engines have proved time n time again to loose power from performance filters n exausts

..is rather sweeping and wrong in general.

[lambo-lude]

SIGH!!:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

http://www.torquecars.com/tuning/induction-kits.php


THE BOYS WHO DO... READ THE BOTTOM BIT IF YA DONT WANT TO READ IT ALL


AND HERES ONE FOR ZORSTS ..
http://www.torquecars.com/tuning/sports-exhausts.php

[nunchukhamster]

I agree with regards to induction kits, even on bigger engined cars you're often likely to see equal, if not better, results using a high quality sports panel in the normal airbox.


AND HERES ONE FOR ZORSTS ..
http://www.torquecars.com/tuning/sports-exhausts.php



They were doing ok until I got to their recommended sizes versus engine capacity for exhaust pipes. It's a fact that a 2.3L Volvo goes much better with a 3" than a 2.5" ;)

[lambo-lude]

most cars ive modded ive been lucky enough to of known someone with a rolling road ..so i could chuck my car on and do power runs trying different methods
i only use the net for example and to back my words .. as the net is full of myths and "yes it works..but never tryed it" remarks
i will only give comment on what ive "actualy" done myself and the results that followed ..ive been playing with cars since i was 17 and done some insane mods .. i think tourque cars in respect to bore size will be a rough guide as they state its "a general rule of thumb" not religius fact :d:d

but back to topic ..its a 1.6 auto van .. its not gonna be running at 5k upwards ...if it was a sporty hatch then a stage 1 would be good

[macca]

A good quality panel in the original box is usually the best idea yes, but if you are willing to go to the lengths of getting or fabbing a proper enclosure then a cone etc. filter can be fine. Either way you'll likely see improvements, however small, over standard.

And thanks for the link, but for air filters I don't see where it says it will lose power? I read "power gains are small". It's all relative. On a large engine, sucking in lots of air then the gains will be bigger, but it's all just a percentage and I still stand by what I said, if you want to increase your power you need to pay attention to the breathing in and out.

As for exhausts, nobody was telling him to stick a f*cking great drainpipe under the car, but sensible mods like a high-flow sports car and a sensibly made sports exhaust will help breathing. Again as with the air filters it's a percentage gain, so on a smaller engine the gains will be small. But if you're going with that line, anything you do will be a small gain because it's a small engine so you might as well not bother doing anything?!

You have to start somewhere, and you start with the simple bits. Allow it to breathe more, then look toward cam(s) then an ECU remap maybe. All options, all depends on how much you want to spend and how far you want to go.

Crazy asked the question and I replied with some sound advice for him. Please stop causing arguments just for the sake of it.

[Crazy_C]

Cheers for the advice as always Mr Lamboness, and Macca, he isn't trying to start a fight or anything, he just has had the experience of lots of different cars with various types of engines and different set ups.

I will probably just leave it as it is and just do a remap as the company I looked at reckons they can get it to 115hp with their remapping set up :) Chuck a K&N panel filter in the OEM intake and it'll all help a bit :D



Cheers for the advice everyone :)