Tuning and mods for the Citroen Saxo

"SAXOn warrior"

 The Citroen Saxo was introduced back in 1996 and was very closely related to the Peugeot 106 sharing many common parts and components.

Many high performance parts can be sourced from the Peugeot 106 parts bin so with a bit of research you should be able to save money and have a wider choice of Saxo mods.

The VTS enjoys a more powerful 16 valve engine (the VTR has only 8) which produces 120 brake horsepower. It propels the car to 60 in around 7.6 seconds and makes the Saxo a very capable track car or fun road car. TorqueCars have seen the Saxo outperform much more powerful cars on very short twisty tracks where the nimble handling and quick steering reactions come into play.

The car is very agile and the best models for suitable tuning projects would include the 1.6 VTR and the 1.6 VTS.

The Saxo is very popular with young drivers as it is cheap to run and insure and there is certainly no shortage of tuning parts available for it. The first modifications you want to do to a Citroen Saxo is outbreak the brakes and you will find that the disc brakes from a Peugeot 306 will fit nicely.

Engine swaps are also very straight forward with the Saxo and you can, with relative ease insert the 1.6 engine into a car fitted with the 1 litre engine and enjoy almost three times as much power. With so many suitable engines available from breakers yards this becomes a very low cost performance modification.

You will also need to upgrade the security on the car (only the VTS model comes with reasonable security equipment), TorqueCars would suggest a deadlock and immobiliser. There are a few tuning companies which can provide turbo conversions offering astronomical power gains! These can be quite costly and require a fair bit of engine work.

Due to its light weight and small proportions, any amount of tuning has a noticeable impact on the car's performance. For the ultimate track day car remove the back seats fit a roll cage, and get some lightweight alloy wheels. As far as the engine goes you should get the head properly gas flowed and ported, fit an induction kit and sports exhaust and apply a fast road cam. A fuel pressure boost felt will also increase the response in acceleration from rest.

Please browse our tuning tips pages and join the forum to discuss the best tuning methods and modifications for your Saxo with our other dedicated Saxo tuners.