Hi guys

Looking or info/opinions on how best to tune the 1600 zetec se engine and what sort of gains i will get for my £.

The first job it to make up an exhaust system... any tips on lenth/cat/end can etc would be great.

would it not have been more economical to fit a 2ltr?

Apparently not. The SE is reputed top be a fantastic engine. Wasnt it shawspeed who do good work with these engines. Could be worth on look on their site to see if they do bits.

As usual it's a case of how deep's your wallet but you can get 200+ with out too much trouble. Shawspeed do a lot with this engine as said.

The limiting factor to big power is the revs so you need a strong engine and a dry sump to see the benefit.

just had a look on the shawspeed website... your quite right they do a very long list of parts... and my wallet needs to be much deeper to get some of the goodies they have for sale

I think my first target would be 150bhp and making the car light. My car is heavy ish pinto powered with 120bhp at back wheels and it is quick. Your engine already saves a load of weight and can be tuned easily to beat the pinto so you should have a good combination.

Some tuning shops seem to be a bit pricey, but its interesting to see what mods they offer.

Bloody hell. 180bhp by using throttle bodies, good ECU, good cams and stronger rod bolts. Thats rather impressive considering no major work to the engine. Ported head and better cams for over 200bhp. Costs obviously rise sharply over 180bhp.

Shawspeeds costs dont seem out of the way considering the cost of jenveys and Omex etc. However if you got 165 - 170bhp by using alternative throttle bodies and ECU with good cams (locost route) i reckon you would be over the moon.

Very impressive for a 1.6

Hi.

If serious about using the Se engine it would pay to do some real research first.

Sure enough it can be built to produce 180 - 200bhp in 1.6 form as per MAWMAW on here who races one in kits. And the 1.7 version can be taken up to 240bhp as per PUMAWESTIE on here who sprints his in various championships very well indeed ( 2008 class win and second overall in the WSCC championship ). Both engines are using in excess of 8.5 k revs to achieve that power also.

But as has already been said to get to those sorts of figures you need very deep pockets indeed and ideally as Custard tart has said a dry sump setup as no one as yet has done a suitable wet sump that works well. And if you are thinking of spending that much i would be looking at a company with a better under standing of the engine than Shawspeed IMHO.

Cheers Matt

or fit a 2ltr engine...

don't see the point in throwing tones of money at a small engine when a bigger one produces what you want as standard and will live longer than small thrashed lump. You can go to scrappy and pick up a 3ltr lump for about £150 ready to fit.

with the build cost already out of control (you know how it is) im not really looking to invest endless thousands into the engine this year... i was thinking more about

1) good exhaust system... i either spend £400+ on the kit from mev or make up a custom system myself... but i have no real idea of what will benifit the engine, i have a friend who works for susuki who can get new parts like cats and end cans for penuts but would it be any good ???

2) ecu chip or new ecu?

3) what about R1 TB's... i have a friend that works for yamaha that may be able to get hold of the parts for me.

[Edited on 3/11/08 by pocket rocket]

I am in the same boat as you with regard to tunning a 1.6 zetec.

The main reason for fitting mine is that with a tuned 2.0 I am bound to spin it in the wet and end up in the back of a hedgerow!

The best power gains (on a cheap budget) can be found with the introduction of new high performance cams and bike throttle bodies ran on a good ECU system.

James

[Edited on 09/12/2007 by jnormandale]

I really wouldn't bother tbh unless you REALY have to have a 1600 - if it's a small lightweight alloy engine you're after fit a bike engine, if it's cheap horsepower you're after then if you shop around a bit on ebay etc you should get 150-160bhp out of a 1800 Zetec for £500 all in. To get that out of an SE and make it rwd (£200ish straight off btw) is going to cost you probably at least twice that....... doesn't seem worth it to me for 30ish Kg

well... i already have the 1600 se engine so im quite keen to put it in lol

on the subject of bike engine tho the thought had crossed my mind maybe for next year (after sva)
how hard would it be to put a bike engine in a mev rocket? my friend at yamaha said an FJR 1400 engine may be a good choice as its shaft driven.

What he said^^^

Last week we took a RWD 205 with a 1600 sigma in it to Advanced Motorsport Engineerings dyno in Milton Keynes.

Spec is steel rods, crank, lightened bottom end and fly, decked block and head, fly cut pistons, Piper rally cams & springs, GSXR 750 throttle bodies, 8 injectors, DTA race management, etc etc etc, the owner is 7K into this engine at present, reported to be able to take 10Krpm.

Well..... it made 150bhp @ 8200rpm and it wasn't tailing off, so up with the revs....... bang at 8450 rpm, As the operator correctly stated, you cn get 160+ depending on model, out of an EK9 1.6 VTEC lump that'll rev to 8 all day every day for ever and love it.

Why bother?

I agree that quite OTT... for 7k couldn't you get an R1 or gsxr1300 running?

iv got most of my car build for 7k

Im not after sky high revs or endless bhp... just a little extra go for a little extra cash.

this is my first build so im just keeping it simple, i also can't weld so changing the engine mounts to fit a different engine is off the cards.

A decent exhaust, a set of bike carbs and a megajolt will probably get you close to 130bhp then......... considering though that it's a piece of p*ss to get that out of a crossflow even it doesn't send you rushing out to buy one if you haven't got one already

Which I guess is why everyone isn't!