why do people modify small engines?

[one in a million]

i dont understand why people modify small engines like 1litres and 1.2l or 1.4, no offence or nothing, its probably really great to do, but what you gain after all the modification you do on a small engine, hardly makes a difference on performance wise or does it?, because after spending all that money to do all them mods you might as well buy a bigger engine and pay the rest on insurance, at least there would be a difference in performance plus the fact the engines are made for power because there bigger, you might as well have a 2litre then stick 1.2l badge on it to trick people. Can some one explain to me why they like modifying there engines. because i see it as a risk that makes your car un reliable or to break down. thanks guys.

[turbonutter69]

Some small engines take very well to tuning and produce some good power.
Without even thinking I could name 2.

[pgarner]

why modify a 2ltr why not just put in a 3 ltr ?

most of the time its poor education with them being told it works and that noise = power

[one in a million]

i suppose then you modify them to make people think there powerless but actually there powerful yeah? like supeing up a vtr or vts i suppose there good to do on engine mods

[Broken Cambelt]

I sort of know where you are coming from, it does make me cringe when i see tiny shopping cars ( sort of 900cc - 1100cc ) done up badly, eight inch exhausts, covered in pipercross and K&N stickers. there really is no point, unless you like the noise, you are bang on the money that its often better value to buy a more powerful car to start with.

I guess they may simply lack the knowlege of what actually improves performance, and recon that an evo sounding tailpipe will give it evo like power (if only). you can get big figures from small engines, though it may not be cost effective. often it would involve supercharging or turbocharging, requiring extensive head and manifold work, plus probably heavy duty bottom end work too, lest you want to sweep the insides of the motor back to the workshop.

I can think of no other reason apart from the desire to make a sleeper car, where money is little object and the option of swapping a bigger motor in is not feasible, though most cars are able to take somthing larger under the bonnet TBH.

or they could just need the practice, unless they work in a garage how else are they going to learn?

[Loz]

Persuading little cars/engines to do what they weren't intended for, is a bit like mountian climbing, we do because their there!
My old Smart (oh no not again!) had a 600cc engine turning out 64bhp by the time I finished with it it was turning out 115 bhp, the induction noise was nuts the car went like a silly little rocket & everyone loved it!
Modding little engines isn't exactly a new thing either just look what they were doing to Fiat 500's & 850 Mini's. I think there's just as much satisfaction wringing out what you can from a little engine as there is from larger units, sometimes it's not always about huge numbers.

[MasterAuron]

Ask all the kids with 250bhp 1.3ltr Starlet's. Some people just don't have a clue do they.

[indiaman]

Originally Posted by one in a million

i dont understand why people modify small engines like 1litres and 1.2l or 1.4, no offence or nothing, its probably really great to do, but what you gain after all the modification you do on a small engine, hardly makes a difference on performance wise or does it?

The greatest thrill for me , especially in my younger days, was to extensively modify small capacity engines, While in England in the'60s I had a friend with a Ford 100E that could go past most cars of that era in sheer acceleration. Here in India most of our cars until the mid 80's- had 900 to 1500 cc engines, that too with just three main bearings, we used to do extensive porting work, increase compression ratios by installing home made pistons, etc, and the result used to a quick but unreliable engine, However, later on in the mid 80's the Indian version of the Suzuki Alto 800cc car commenced manufacture here, these 3 cyl engines were a pleasure to tune for high performance, and were 100 percent reliable. Though we have all the international brands now in India, the old 3 Cyl 800 OHC mill, tuned to give around 70 BHP, is hard to beat, and all this reliably and without missing a beat!

[waynne]

Email from a website reader, not exactly quoted but it is the general idea.

"You said that there is no point in tuning a 1.0 engine for my car model. That is rubbish, I have added a sports exhaust, fast road cam done some head work and put on an induction kit. I now make 76bhp which I think is pretty good for a 1.0 car!"

(Incidentally this power gain was up from 62bhp!)

It kind of speaks for itself, If i'd spent that money I would want a bit more than a lousy 14bhp power gain.

That said it does depend on the car and I think we all spend too much money on our first cars. A 1.0 Charade GTTi is a veritable stormer when tuned up!

[blacklineninja]

It's not always about making big straight line power. Smaller cars often handle really nicely and a remap can get rid of some irritating flat spots in acceleration making the car smoother and nicer to drive, and although it might not actually give me any gains, there's a definite feel-good factor about bolting on an uprated cat-back exhaust system and improved air filter under the hood. Vernier pulleys, fast road cams, gas-flowed heads, all sound really nice but for me they're always just that little bit too expensive.

Sure, I'd love to just buy a Supra and make it the fastest thing in all of Europe, but on my income it's just not feasible so I have to make the best of what I've got.

[pikey motorsports]

i once got destroyed off the lights by a 1.2 corsa with 4 people in ( i was alone in my old cav sri redtop 160bhp), the thing just powered away spinning the wheels right up through third.
when i caught up (some time later!) i had a chat with the guy and a look under the bonnet. was expecting to see a red top, but was greeted by the sight of a bog standard looking 1.2 lump!

turns out the guy was a race mechanic for some amatuer racing team, and had ported and polished the head to he absolute limit, fitted larger valves, lightened and balanced everything, wossner forged pistons etc etc and reprofiled his cam. he said he'd never had it on a rolling road, and didnt care what bhp it was. but ill tell you it was bloody fast!

there IS a point in tuning small engines, but only if you know what your doing!!!

[choness2004]

I understand where your coming from, but think about it from someone who has done it or plans to do its point of view.

I'll be doing it when I get my first, but I'm doing it more a a learning curve. Everyone has to start somewhere, and if you have the funds to do it on a 2.0 and add turbo's then good on you. But for those of us like that me that is on a very small income that needs to learn the basic's somewhere.

I don't think that those who fit a massive exhust and think they can now do 200mph are doing it for the experience, and are just doing it for their "street cred". I want to do it to help me learn and teach myself, depends on who the person is and their reason for it.

[indiaman]

Does anyonre remember the Mini Coopers? a hotted up example would easily have most of the larger sports cars of the period for breakfast!

[BluntyR5GTT]

engine in my car is only 1.4 8v granted its a turbo fed engine but believe me with a few minor bits of tuning these can easily gain 35-45bhp with same torque and loads out there are 200-250bhp and its just so funny watching these bigger engined cars getting spanked by the old gt turbo

[indiaman]

"and its just so funny watching these bigger engined cars getting spanked by the old gt turbo "

AND most satisfying if you are the driver of the small car.

[one in a million]

well im suprised of the amount of response i got lol, well it starts a conversation dont it lol. thanks guys.