Hi all. Last year my NC had a trip to BBR for a Super 200 conversion. What a difference it made to the car, especially at the top end of the revs. Great fun to drive and a vast improvement in pick-up. One thing nagged me a bit and that was the increase in torque - or lack of it. Now I know there’s never going to be a huge difference unless we go down the forced induction route and the increases in BHP and torque are quite linear, but I was expecting a bit more low down than I have. I spoke to BBR and they said increases in bhp / torque will vary from car to car and each remap is bespoke but they were happy to take another look if I was passing by. Anyway, whist under the bonnet the other day I thought I’d give the MAF sensor and throttle body a clean (using Liqui Moly sensor cleaner and Normfest throttle cleaner) and what a difference. Both looked a bit grubby and after gentle cleaning (and drying) I popped it all back together and took the car for a spin. It idled a bit higher than normal at first then settled down but there’s a definate improvement in pickup at the lower end. I though it was perhaps the placebo effect that often follows a bit of car maintenance so I asked Mrs Lakkabay (without telling her what had been done) to take it for a spin and she confirmed the improvement. What was noticeable was when crawling along in slow traffic - in gear but with foot off the throttle - and it was pootling along quite happily without stalling or the need to change down. When you then plant the accelerator into the carpet it was much happier to pull than before. Mrs L confirmed it so it can’t be my imagination. Perhaps it’s a one-off or maybe the grubby air intake bits compromised the BBR conversion somewhat. Eitherway it’s a nicer car to drive now and that little bit of maintenance has made a difference. I also now know how to remove a throttle body and MAF sensor having never done it before!
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I found that doing a MAF calibration also helped ( even on a stock car )
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How would you do that?
Switch ignition on for 1 minute
Switch ignition off for 1 minute ( do not remove key )
Start engine
Hold engine rpm at 2500 for appx 3 mins ( the revs will automatically drop to idle when done )
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