Performance Mods................

dhejasvini · April 13, 2011

guys...im looking to modify my marino....she has a 5AFE 1.5l engine...i wanna increase her power ...need some ideas on engine/performance modifications...since i have nil knowledge in automobiles....pls help

thnx in advance..

Ripper · April 13, 2011

i don't think you'd get a lot more power with that motor. best would be to drop in larger engine in there.

http://www.youtube.com/user/5AFTE

this guy had hooked up a turbo to a 5a-fe...bugger is in grenada i think and you can contact him for ideas. cool guy and he will share his views with you.

kelum_wj · April 13, 2011

Whats the amount your are willing to spend?

To get more power from an engine it should inhale and exhale better.

Therefore I would suggest a High flow air filter( Inbox) and new headers with a performance barell (*not a beat barell)

If you want to increase it further more get it turbocharged

Edited April 13, 2011 by kelum_wj

kelum_wj · April 13, 2011

On 4/13/2011 at 2:56 PM, Ripper said:

i don't think you'd get a lot more power with that motor. best would be to drop in larger engine in there.

Yup bro. Swapping a 4A-GE would be better isn't it

dhejasvini · April 13, 2011

On 4/13/2011 at 2:58 PM, kelum_wj said:

Whats the amount your are willing to spend?

To get more power from an engine it should inhale and exhale better.

Therefore I would suggest a High flow air filter( Inbox) and new headers with a performance barell (*not a beat barell)

If you want to increase it further more get it turbocharged

150k-175k..

what are the simplest mods i can do to engine and exhaust system...rather than get it turbocharged..and how much it cost to turbo?..(cudnt find any gt marinos with GE engines)

kelum_wj · April 13, 2011

On 4/13/2011 at 3:12 PM, dhejasvini said:

150k-175k..

what are the simplest mods i can do to engine and exhaust system...rather than get it turbocharged..and how much it cost to turbo?..(cudnt find any gt marinos with GE engines)

Simple mods would be changing the air filter to a high flow performance filter (drop in), Throttle body Polishing.Then get exhaust headers and a performance muffler .Do not expect a huge gain from it.If you are gonna mod it further get a performance fuel pump, Fuel pressure regulator and higher capacity injectors.

I think it would be possible to Turbo charge it within that budget (not sure though)

Edited April 13, 2011 by kelum_wj

da coolest · April 13, 2011

most of the people i have seen thinks that fixing a cone air filter can convert a maruti to a bugatti veyron. so do not expect to gain a huge performance gain through those mods. as mods, you can tweak the intake, cat back, get a good clutch. get a good tune up done. and you might want to modify your suspension to do better conering and also to keep your car stable at high speeds. you might be able to do some mods to slighly change the compression rations, i'm not sure about that though. correct me if i'm wrong.

kelum_wj · April 13, 2011

On 4/13/2011 at 6:09 PM, da coolest said:

most of the people i have seen thinks that fixing a cone air filter can convert a maruti to a bugatti veyron. so do not expect to gain a huge performance gain through those mods. as mods, you can tweak the intake, cat back, get a good clutch. get a good tune up done. and you might want to modify your suspension to do better conering and also to keep your car stable at high speeds. you might be able to do some mods to slighly change the compression rations, i'm not sure about that though. correct me if i'm wrong.

Yah. Sometimes the intake growl makes u feel u have a big gain (Placebo effect ). Also you have forgotten to mention about the brakes. As for brakes performance brake pads, larger disks and braided steel brake hoses can be used as an upgrade.

MrCat · April 14, 2011

Also gents, remember that dropping in CAI`s, extractors, exhaust and the lot might confuse the factory ECU and make things worse. I would complement the additions with a ECU tuneup/remap. I doubt the Tuboing path is possible with 175k(a proper job).

I would suggest:

* Get a proper Cold Air Intake done (do a lot of research on this, dont just chuck in a cone filter)

* Try to work on the exhaust starting from the extractors, if that`s not feasible maybe cat-back

* Invest in a good re-programmable or a piggy back ecu if you could, may use this in other projects as well if you need to(dont know about the availability of these for your engine, and could possibly be overkill for a basic engine like yours. In that case try to get a ECU remap done)

* Clean throttle body, injectors, flush engine oil etc.. check all sensors (diagnostic done), install good iridium/platinum plugs

* I wont expect all these to add more than around 20hp so dont worry too much about brakes and suspension yet

Just my two cents, I dont know how much this is going to cost you. All depends how you want to go ahead with things.

Finally, if I had the same car i would just keep it nice and clean, and be happy. Would not bother spending on performance mods unless if I plan to keep it as a long term project car.

Edited April 14, 2011 by MrCat

da coolest · April 14, 2011

I have not driven this specific model OP has mentioned. But i have driven number of domestic type cars and what i have felt is most of those car's overall performance (I'm talking about stock) is bottle-necked by their suspension and brakes. 1.5L engines like the honda d15 has quite a lot of pulling power but smoother suspension makes the car wobbling even at slightly higher speeds. So i would not advice against modding suspension and brakes even before all those modifications. happy new year to all.

tharindra · April 14, 2011

I would say take MrCats final bit of advice.......unless ur planning on turning this into a fully fledged project car, there's no point doing a hap hazard job on mods,.....keep the car squeaky clean and well maintained, and maybe use that 150k budget to drop in a nice set of original sports wheels [it wont add any hp i know , but hey, marino's with nice wheels look good, almost all marinos in SL have hideous chrome jobs].....use the remaining cash and invest it somewhere!

Edited April 14, 2011 by tharindra

The Stig · April 14, 2011

Yep have to go with Mr.cat here,

Also the first thing i would suggest is to learn at least a little about performance mods before doing anything cause most of these folks who do these stuff will try to rip you off if they know that you have no clue about mods.

BTW the basic stuff comes first before any mods

1) Injector cleaning

2) engine tuning ( might be pointless if you want to add an aftermarket ECU)

3) weight reduction (remove unwanted spares and stuff you carry around)

4)spark plugs

These stuff wont cost you much and 1,3&4 can even be done by you

The next best thing to do is to upgrade the ECU (tunedichips.com will help you in this aspect) or remap the original (maybe even a piggyback one)

Next is to take off the cat (if you are not too much worried about emissions) and put a 3inch straight through exhaust from the exhaust manifold (none of that beat barrel crap) and then go for a cold air intake.

Next would be the headers, get them polished if possible and if you can get aftermarket ones even better.

At this point you would most likely be done with all your money and would add around 30-50HP

If you still want more go for fuel rails,fuel pump, injectors and then forced induction

Also dont change the clutch to a racing clutch if this is your daily driven car cause you will have a very hard time driving around casually.

kelum_wj · April 14, 2011

On 4/14/2011 at 11:30 AM, The Stig said:

The next best thing to do is to upgrade the ECU (tunedichips.com will help you in this aspect) or remap the original (maybe even a piggyback one)

Next is to take off the cat (if you are not too much worried about emissions) and put a 3inch straight through exhaust from the exhaust manifold (none of that beat barrel crap) and then go for a cold air intake.

Next would be the headers, get them polished if possible and if you can get aftermarket ones even better.

At this point you would most likely be done with all your money and would add around 30-50HP

If you still want more go for fuel rails,fuel pump, injectors and then forced induction

Also dont change the clutch to a racing clutch if this is your daily driven car cause you will have a very hard time driving around casually.

Bro, The gains from a straight through exhaust and a CAI can be achieved at high RPMs. So if this cars being used as a daily driver it's highly unlikely that it would be driven in that kind of RPM range. Also CAI will let in more dust to the Throttle body. So a Replacement high flow filter would be ideal . Also De-catting would result in better response as back pressure would be reduced.

Just my 2 cents

Edited April 14, 2011 by kelum_wj

dhejasvini · April 14, 2011

de-catting..???is there any thing to do with green test???

kelum_wj · April 14, 2011

On 4/14/2011 at 1:00 PM, dhejasvini said:

de-catting..???is there any thing to do with green test???

De-catting means removing the catalytic converter. The emissions increase yet there are a lot of de-catted cars that have passed the emission test

MrCat · April 14, 2011

On 4/14/2011 at 1:00 PM, dhejasvini said:

de-catting..???is there any thing to do with green test???

I`m pretty sure removing the catalytic converter will not result in you failing the green test. There are plenty of old cars without proper cat`s passing the test as its tuned properly. Somebody will correct me if im wrong.

YALA · April 14, 2011

perhaps you should sell the car put the money you were going to spend on mods and get an earlier version wrx or an evo..just saying if your purpose was to get power gain best way to spend it the money would be to buy something which already comes with decent amount of power

heavyD · April 14, 2011

Just a suggestion... but why not sell the Marino, add whatever money you have and get yourself something like a P11? They tend to go cheap cause of the 2.0l they pack. It may not be as sporty looking as a Marino, but it's definitely more powerful. Add some tasteful cosmetic mods, and it'll end up looking pretty darn mean.

The Stig · April 15, 2011

On 4/14/2011 at 12:53 PM, kelum_wj said:

Bro, The gains from a straight through exhaust and a CAI can be achieved at high RPMs. So if this cars being used as a daily driver it's highly unlikely that it would be driven in that kind of RPM range. Also CAI will let in more dust to the Throttle body. So a Replacement high flow filter would be ideal . Also De-catting would result in better response as back pressure would be reduced.

Just my 2 cents

Ummmm i think you got confused by my statement

Let me explain, When i said daily driven i didnt mean the casual type of guy but mostly the types of folks that drive the car to work daily but in the night take their baby out and unleash all the horses (not endorsing street racing in anyway here)

Shehan_WCC · April 15, 2011

On 4/14/2011 at 1:00 PM, dhejasvini said:

de-catting..???is there any thing to do with green test???

basically a catalytic converter ,converts CO,HC and C to harmless water and CO2 that is a two way converter with

palladium and platinum

and the 3 way converter also incorporates Rhodium which converts or reduces NOx to N2 and O2.

Taking off a catalytic converter should change numbers on the Green test. But i'm sure our green test has maximum values to corp with so you'll be good if your ignition and fuel system is in good condition.

Shehan_WCC · April 15, 2011

On 4/14/2011 at 11:30 AM, The Stig said:

Yep have to go with Mr.cat here,

Also the first thing i would suggest is to learn at least a little about performance mods before doing anything cause most of these folks who do these stuff will try to rip you off if they know that you have no clue about mods.

BTW the basic stuff comes first before any mods

1) Injector cleaning

2) engine tuning ( might be pointless if you want to add an aftermarket ECU)

3) weight reduction (remove unwanted spares and stuff you carry around)

4)spark plugs

These stuff wont cost you much and 1,3&4 can even be done by you

The next best thing to do is to upgrade the ECU (tunedichips.com will help you in this aspect) or remap the original (maybe even a piggyback one)

Next is to take off the cat (if you are not too much worried about emissions) and put a 3inch straight through exhaust from the exhaust manifold (none of that beat barrel crap) and then go for a cold air intake.

Next would be the headers, get them polished if possible and if you can get aftermarket ones even better.

At this point you would most likely be done with all your money and would add around 30-50HP

If you still want more go for fuel rails,fuel pump, injectors and then forced induction

Also dont change the clutch to a racing clutch if this is your daily driven car cause you will have a very hard time driving around casually.

Hi stig sorry to jump abit OT .But what is a "Piggy back ECU" ,just curious to as in what is the difference from a normal control unit .

thanks shehan

Wcc

luckey007 · April 16, 2011

Being a members of a forum,I believe we have a responsibility to protect the environment.So before advising to de-cat we have to think twice.Tuning & repairing should not only to pass the green test. Just my opinion.

Edited April 19, 2011 by luckey007

The Stig · April 16, 2011

On 4/15/2011 at 7:55 PM, Shehan_WCC said:

Hi stig sorry to jump abit OT .But what is a "Piggy back ECU" ,just curious to as in what is the difference from a normal control unit .

thanks shehan

Wcc

Well in most cars the factory fitted ecu's cant be reprogrammed.

And standalone ECU's will cost alot, so this is the best option.

A piggy back ecu is not exactly an ecu but a unit that comes between the stock ecu and all the data from sensors.What a piggyback does is it changes values of readings from sensors and it tricks the stock ecu with false values. For an example if you want your car to run rich what the piggy back does is it gives your ecu a false value like 13:1 making the ecu think that its running lean even though your actual a/f ratio might be 14.7:1, so in order to control the optimum a/f value the stock ecu pumps in more fuel and voila you have a car that runs rich

Here is a basic diagram

Using a piggyback would be the cheapest way to change ecu parameters since buying a standalone ecu will cost a hefty lot.

But piggy backs do have limitations so if you are planing to do some serious tuning a standalone is a must.And if a the car was originally NA and is now turbocharged a piggyback wont do much cause the map in the stock ecu is for a NA car but after turbocharging the whole map must be reprogrammed

Hope i didnt confuse you

Chooti Putha · April 16, 2011

Dude just go for a 4AGE conversion...its the engine which comes in the carina GT im sure it will be able to put a smile on ur face & it will be a good buy.....

Shehan_WCC · April 16, 2011

On 4/16/2011 at 3:58 AM, The Stig said:

Well in most cars the factory fitted ecu's cant be reprogrammed.

And standalone ECU's will cost alot, so this is the best option.

A piggy back ecu is not exactly an ecu but a unit that comes between the stock ecu and all the data from sensors.What a piggyback does is it changes values of readings from sensors and it tricks the stock ecu with false values. For an example if you want your car to run rich what the piggy back does is it gives your ecu a false value like 13:1 making the ecu think that its running lean even though your actual a/f ratio might be 14.7:1, so in order to control the optimum a/f value the stock ecu pumps in more fuel and voila you have a car that runs rich

Here is a basic diagram

Using a piggyback would be the cheapest way to change ecu parameters since buying a standalone ecu will cost a hefty lot.

But piggy backs do have limitations so if you are planing to do some serious tuning a standalone is a must.And if a the car was originally NA and is now turbocharged a piggyback wont do much cause the map in the stock ecu is for a NA car but after turbocharging the whole map must be reprogrammed

Hope i didnt confuse you