HELP ME GET MORE TORQUE AND POWER!

[gordy.r]

I am the (very proud) owner of a 1986 C plate (silver) MK1.
Recently bought with only 86000 miles trodden, it's bodywork is in great condition. BUT..............
I want to get more power from the engine without going into the realms of super/turbo charging it.
I dont want to change the engine for a 20V, i just want to be able to modify what is in there to release more OOOMPH!
So far i have spent most of my money getting new pads and discs all round, new anti roll suspension drop links (they were knackered), and fitting a new stereo and short shift gear change, but i am unsure which exhaust system to get and whether or not it is worthwhile getting a performance ecu.
I am also thinking of getting a K&N induction kit, is this wise?
Thanx again guys for taking the time to read my 'war and peace' effort.

gordy!

[Charged]

I'm sure some will disagree but i would recommend the blitz induction kit - available from Fensport for £180. Makes a lovely noise and opens her up a bit.

[MartG]

Exhaust - Mongoose or Magnex seem to work well, Janspeed is OK but louder ( can exceed noise limits if you plan on doing trackdays ).

Induction - if you fit the filter in the engine bay, make sure its got a good supply of cold air. Alternatively you can fit it in the boot ( have a look at my garage gallery for my SC )

A moderate power increase can be made by basically swapping to the engine version used in the later Corolla GTi ie. no TVIS - this gave 129bhp std compared to the 123bhp of the MR2.

[Lauren]

I'm sure some will disagree but i would recommend the blitz induction kit - available from Fensport for £180. Makes a lovely noise and opens her up a bit.

It might sound nice but:

a) £180 for an induction kit? Are you bonkers?
b) they don't filter anything, so you may as well just run without a filter.

K&N or Apexi basically because they actually filter the air. Anyways an induction kit will make FA difference powerwise.

[Lauren]

exhaust/airfilter and unichop got my friends Mk1 up to 142bhp and really improved how it drove.

A set of cams will release a bit more and with the following mods should see you towards 160bhp.

Sort out the suspenders first though.

look at around £1500 for that engine stuff.

add £500 for the suspenders, a bit more for poly bushes.

[mr2mk1chick]

Talking cams.....
whats best for the mk1 - long duration or high lift, or does this depend on how you want the torque to come thru' / low revs high revs....
dont really know the difference

[kevin..in]

Talking cams.....
whats best for the mk1 - long duration or high lift, or does this depend on how you want the torque to come thru' / low revs high revs....
dont really know the difference

basic rule of thumb longer duration = more torque, higher lift = more peak power at the cost of torque, but the equasion is never quite that simple in reality

[Lauren]

256 duration cams are the limit with stock management and ought to retain some of the driveability of the stock cams whilst giving a bit more at the top end.

Whats best depends very much on what you want.

Basically to make more power you need to rev the engine more, so the peakier the cams the higher you'll have to go revwise.

the longer the duration the more overlap there will be, so this is why lairy cams don't run well at low engine speeds.

If you want low end torque then you want short duration cams, but you'll never make any power at the top end.

[gordy.r]

i may being niave here but what are suspenders (no puns please haha), and poly bushes?
ive heard a lot about poly bushes but what do they do and what are the advantages of modifying them?
hlep - again!

gordy.

[j0nathan]

i may being niave here but what are suspenders (no puns please haha), and poly bushes?
ive heard a lot about poly bushes but what do they do and what are the advantages of modifying them?
hlep - again!

I think you'll find that suspenders = suspension, or more specifically struts and springs. These will probably be a bit saggy if they have not been sorted previously. This recent thread http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=20124 might be of interest though your car is a Mk1a, not a Mk1b, which the thread focuses on.

Poly bushes are polyurethane suspension bushes. The old rubber Toyota bushes deteriorate with age and will probably be needing replacement. My mk1 is about to undergo this treatment courtesy of Peter Gidden at sBits. (Can I have an extra discount please Peter for the plug??? [-o< )

Search the forums for suspension topics.

HTH.

Regards,
Jon

[dgh.mr2]

Exhaust wise 'hope this helps, I've had 2 na and 1 sc cars with Magnex systems (seem to be a very popular add on) but they have never done anything much for power and are quite heavy. I've mentioned this before but never really had any confirmaton? To be fair I don't think they or their distributors mke much of a claim for massive power gains.

Paul Jackson of BJP engines (4AGE engine 'guru' particularly in Irish tarmac rally circles - rwd Corollas etc.) found it was strangling my na engine so Raw Engineering had a specialist make up a custom stainless system, taking 3 attempts to get the lengths/pulse tuning right - apparantly the engine is sensitive to pipe lengths/ratios - and we gained 15 BHP+ with no other changes other than re-mapping to suit.

They charged c.£300 and should have the dimensions templates to make another if you were interested. Best value modification I've ever had done.

[dgh.mr2]

Exhaust wise 'hope this helps, I've had 2 na and 1 sc cars with Magnex systems (seem to be a very popular add on) but they have never done anything much for power and are quite heavy. I've mentioned this before but never really had any confirmaton? To be fair I don't think they or their distributors mke much of a claim for massive power gains.

Paul Jackson of BJP engines (4AGE engine 'guru' particularly in Irish tarmac rally circles - rwd Corollas etc.) found it was strangling my na engine so Raw Engineering had a specialist make up a custom stainless system, taking 3 attempts to get the lengths/pulse tuning right - apparantly the engine is sensitive to pipe lengths/ratios - and we gained 15 BHP+ with no other changes other than re-mapping to suit.

They charged c.£300 and should have the dimensions templates to make another if you were interested. Best value modification I've ever had done.

[spudgun]

256 duration cams are the limit with stock management

Hello all, i'm not saying your wrong here Lauren, because I don't know myself, but kent cams sports cam for the 4a-ge lump (which they say can be fitted to a stock engine which means no other mods at all) are 272's.
There stock lift mind you, but by what your saying seems well over the top. It isn't like kent don't know there onions either. What do you reckon?
Or maybe I just read the documentation wrong

[Charged]

I'm sure some will disagree but i would recommend the blitz induction kit - available from Fensport for £180. Makes a lovely noise and opens her up a bit.

It might sound nice but:

a) £180 for an induction kit? Are you bonkers?
b) they don't filter anything, so you may as well just run without a filter.

K&N or Apexi basically because they actually filter the air. Anyways an induction kit will make FA difference powerwise.

As I said "some will disagree".

No I am not bonkers - I am of completely sound mind.

I was happy to pay he £180 - in fact I have done it twice as I sold my previous Mk1 with the blitz still in the boot. The sound you get from the blitz when the engine reaches certain revs in incredible - the noise appears to be amplified in the boot.

And I refute the fact that an induction kit will make no difference powerwise. I certainly noticed the difference when I had my first drive - maybe not to the BHP but the car certainly pulls better in each gear.

I am not going to comment on the fact the the induction kit does not filter the air, I do not have enough knowledge on the subject.

Does anyone else have experience of the Blitz induction kit which they would like to add?