Advice on n/a engine performance mods, please.
I have a 1996 Eunos 1.8 (type 2 – 133bhp) – and I have thought long and hard about supercharging and turbocharging, reading a ton of stuff online, and talking to owners and installers.
I’ve decided, for various reasons, not to go down that route – but am still looking to extract a bit more power, ideally in the 3.5 – 6k rpm area. Not the sort of mental massive hike that forced induction would give me, but enough to be noticeable in spirited road driving.
So a local, very respected MX5 ‘medic’ has said that if they fit new cams (Piper, I believe), that will gain me an extra 12-15 bhp. If while they’re at it, they skim the head 0.5mm, the upped CR should net another 7 bhp. Cam work would be around £560, and the head skim £250. So these combined jobs should net an increase of c. 19-22 bhp, they say – with no ECU change/remap.
A couple of questions (and regardless of the prices compared to forced induction! – I have a budget of up to £1000).
Most importantly, are these claims realistic? And if so, would the extra 20-ish BHP be significantly noticeable under hard acceleration/press-on driving? What could it potentially do to the standard torque curve?
Would it be advisable to have this work done with no changes to the ECU/mapping? Or could that optimise the mechanical work, and extract a few more horses?
What else could I do to chuck a few more BHP into the mix while I’m at it? I already have a new Cobalt catback S/S system fitted, plus a pair of new vernier adjustable cam sprockets to dial the cams in spot-on. Standard airbox/filter etc at the moment – the perceived wisdom seems to be that a free-flow K&N type filter would make little or no difference.
Thoughts please - Thanks!
Steve