The Electrifying Elantra

"Hyundai Elantra Tuning"

Due to the soft nature of the cars suspension, many Elantra owners uprate the handling of their cars as a priority, this will certainly increase your enjoyment of the car. Drop the car by as much as 35mm and fit stiffer dampers, bigger drops will need other modifications in most instances.

Our aim in Elantra engine tuning should be to increase peak power and Torque at the top end. Engine options ranges from an underpowered 1.6l to the 2.0 Petrol and a turbo diesel option offering 141 and 113hp respectively (recently the 2.0 models offered 138hp with more focus on economy and mid range torque).

Smaller engines do not provide much of a return in terms of power so start with a bigger engine. Engine swaps are a good option if you have the 1.6.  

Hyundai Elantra Tuning modifications.

Your aim when tuning should be a nice flat torque curve and a wide power band. Fast road cams offer one of the biggest performance gains as far as a bolt on part goes. You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so will need to uprate the fuelling. An aftermarket fuel pressure regulator will almost certainly give a snappier throttle response than the standard Hyundai one! Uprated injectors will enable you to supply sufficient fuel to the engine. When increasing your fuelling with bigger injectors you will also need to get a bigger fuel pump to supply it.

Hyundai Elantra Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

The next area for modification is the intake and exhaust. Derestricting the airflow into the engine is the primary part of tuning so get a better flowing air filter. Induction kits sound great but due to the warm air in the engine bay they will not add noticable power and actually rob you of power. Sports exhausts balance the flow of air throught the engine. But if your exhaust is too large, ie it is over 2.5 inches bore, you will lose a lot of the flow rate and lose power on most engines.

Head work including a polish and port and 3 or 5 angle valve job will really help to release the potential of the engine. In nearly all cases of Elantra tuning your clutch will start to slip and this needs to be uprated - read our article on clutches for more information. Remaps offer significant power gains on all turbo charged cars. On NASP engines the benefits are doubtful. However a remap on a NASP engine will help unleash the potential if you have done a lot of mods.

Hyundai Elantra Wheel modifications.

The benefits of alloy wheels include a lower unsprung weight and more efficient brake cooling. Large Elantra alloy wheels can decrease performance. If you get big alloy wheels you will be changing your final drive ratio. Aim to keep the overall rolling diameter of the wheel the same as supplied from the factory. In all cases we do not recommend going above 17 inches.

For more information on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss Elantra options in more detail with our Elantra owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Hyundai tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.