Suzuki Ignis Tuning

"The Ignis is popular for tuning projects "

The Suzuki Ignis, a compact and versatile vehicle, has captured the hearts of drivers who appreciate its unique blend of style and functionality.

From its debut in the early 2000s, the Ignis has offered a fun driving experience, combined with practicality.

Under its hood, the Ignis houses engines that are ripe for enhancements, making it a great candidate for tuning and performance upgrades.

In this realm, specific upgrades like the ME221 ECU and throttle bodies stand out, offering significant improvements in performance and driving dynamics.

Please let us know which mods you've tried and your recommendations in our comments below, most of this site content is provided by volunteers and our enthusiastic members and readers for the benefit of the entire Ignis community out there.

Let's explore these upgrades and how they breathe new life into the Suzuki Ignis. In this article we shall give a little insight into the world to the best modifications for your car, but we'd encourage you to spend some time on the site looking into the details of each type of performance mod in our tuning section.

Tuning tips and articles

Engine tuning Transmission tuning Care care Intake & exhaust mods Improve handling Forums

Remapping and Tuning the Ignis ECU.

Standalone ECU upgrades offer more flexibility and are the only way to properly tune most modern Suzuki engines after EXTENSIVE mods, they can be expensive and complex. On a stock engine we have to debate the merits of investing in one, but things get interesting the more mods you add into the mix.

There are many units around but our Suzuki members have only mentioned one to me, so please let me know if there are others out there so I can fully complete this article section.

ME221 ECU Upgrade

The ME221 Engine Control Unit (ECU) is a game-changer for the Ignis, especially for those seeking a more personalized driving experience.

An ECU acts as the command center of your engine, orchestrating critical functions such as ignition timing and fuel injection so controls pretty much every aspect of the cars performance and provides a safety margin to work in.

An aftermarket ECU allows for custom tuning, which means you can adjust your engine's behavior to suit your driving preferences putting the power where you want it. So whether it's smoother acceleration, better fuel economy, or more aggressive performance, the ME221 ECU delivers.

It's a must-have for Ignis owners looking to add something special, or fully maximize their vehicle's performance, especially when considering modifications like turbocharging or engine swaps.

Throttle Bodies

Throttle bodies are crucial for the air intake system of the Ignis.

They control the amount of air flowing into the engine, which directly impacts performance.

Upgrading the throttle bodies means more air can enter the engine, leading to a noticeable improvement in power and responsiveness.

Larger throttle bodies provide a quicker and more efficient air flow, translating to enhanced throttle response and a boost in horsepower at a set point in the RPM range.

For drivers aiming for a livelier and more exhilarating driving experience, this upgrade is a perfect choice.

Moreover, when combined with the ME221 ECU, these larger throttle bodies contribute to a harmoniously tuned engine, maximizing both performance and driving pleasure.

Handling/Suspension upgrades

Improving the handling for loads of people first priority in your Ignis tuning project.

We found that most Ignis factory suspension setups need tweaking, a few degrees of toe out for cornering or toe in for stability, and a bit of negative camber will dramatically enhance your cornering and handling.

The only brands I've found so far is that offered by PI which is essentially an improved spring kit. The PI Lowering Springs offer around 35mm of a drop which is right on our preferred ballpark for the Ignis.

We suggest that you fit motorsport suspension and lower the car by 22mm - 35 mm. Larger drops require arch work - especially on models already equipped with motorsport suspension.

When considering a suspension upgrade, it's important to think about your specific needs and driving style.

Whether it's for improved road handling, a lower stance, or better ride quality, these brands offer a variety of solutions to meet different preferences.

Always ensure that the kit you choose is compatible with your specific model of the Suzuki Ignis.

A nice wide torque band and sweet spot of peak power at one third of your RPM range is optimum.

With performance tips you can turn your Ignis into a really fun car, beating bigger engined cars on the track.

Weight reduction improves handling and performance, so if you can strip out some weight, or source lighter replacement parts you'll help all aspects of your Ignis performance.

Ignis Engine tuning mods.

These are the sports mods are usually carried out by our members, decide how far you want to go before you begin.

Getting the best motorsport upgrade kits for your planned usage of the car is vital. Stage 3 motor sport mods just don't work well on the road hard to control in slow traffic.

Please watch our video which covers the 5 principles of tuning your car. Be sure to keep up with our latest YouTube content and subscribe.

Best Engine Mods for your car

  1. Engine Tunes - engine tuning/remapping provides the most advantage in terms of cost savings,  aftermarket ECUs, and piggyback ECUs are all alternatives.
  2. Fast road cams are one of the most significant mechanical changes, but they must be installed by someone who knows what they're doing and they are not always easy to source but you might find a local firm to regrind a stock camshaft.
  3. Throttle bodies - Larger throttle bodies provide a quicker and more efficient air flow, translating to enhanced throttle response and a boost in horsepower.
  4. Intake and Exhaust - Note that on their own these mods will NOT ADD POWER in most cases, but they can help enhance power after other mods by removing the restriction.
  5. Upgrades to turbochargers and superchargers - forced induction is the most efficient approach to increase air supply, allowing you to burn more fuel and make more power. It is one of the most costly upgrades but provides the best gains.
  6. Head work - The goals of porting and flowing the head are to get air flowing into the engine while removing flow restrictions and turbulence.

Typical stage 1 mods often include: Lighter flywheel, Suspension upgrade (drop 30-40mm), Panel air filter, Alloy wheels, Sports exhaust, Remap.

Typical stage 2 mods often include: Ported and polished head (focus on larger ports), Power/Sport clutch, fuel pump upgrades, high flow fuel injector, Fast road cam.

Typical stage 3 mods often include: Engine balancing, Adding or upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Sports gearbox, Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves), Competition cam.

Peak power is good on competition cars but for a daily driven car you need a wide torque band and perhaps extending the rev range.

One of the most cost effective mechanical motorsport mods you can do on your NA (naturally aspirated) engine is to fit a fast road cam .

It maximises the intake and exhaust flow and increases the power if done right. Ideally you'd add other mods and finish up with a reflashed ECU. We'd also caution you not to go with a motor sport cam as this upsets the engines idling and general town driving characteristics.

Don't forget to ramp up the fuelling when you are increasing the power - it makes the car more thirsty.

Most power losses, flat spots and erratic idling after tuning parts are done can usually be traced to timing or fuelling issues.To get sufficient fuel you may need to increase the injectors on your engine.

If have increased your fuelling with bigger injectors you will also need to get a bigger fuel pump to supply it.

Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

Now we move on to the intake and exhaust and ensure proper flow through the engine. Air induction kits are only beneficial to increase performance if your cars air intake is struggling! Adding an induction kit to most small engines will see NONE OF A LOW END POWER GAIN AT ALL. If you have heavily modified your engine and it's need for air INCREASES DRAMATICALLY then an induction kit is the answer and will help remove this restriction.

Derestricting the air feed into the engine is a primary goal of car tuners so get a freer flowing air filter if you find that the car is running lean only if you find the car is running lean. Induction kits can sound fun but due to the warm air in the engine bay they will not add noticeable power and often rob you of power on most cars.

Sports exhausts can help equal out the flow of air through the engine. But if your exhaust pipe is too large, ie: it's over 2.5 inches bore, you will lose a great deal of the flow rate and end up losing power and torque.

Head work including a polish and port and 3 or 5 angle valve job will really help to release the potential of the engine. When you tune up your Ignis you will see that the standard clutch starts to complain so get an uprated clutch. The best mods in our experience for your Ignis are a tune/remap especially on a turbo, a fast road camshaft and sports exhaust, with a good air intake.

Remaps offer big power gains on all turbo charged cars. On NA (naturally aspirated) engines the benefits are doubtful. However a tune/remap on a NA (naturally aspirated) engine will help unleash the potential if you have done a lot of mods.

We've also come across some owners playing with twincharging conversions and making some impressively high power hikes.

Adding forced induction will see phenomenal power gains but this is usually too expensive to be cost effective. Superchargers are generally easier to add than turbos. With a turbo the power curve is related exponentially to the engine speed making it harder to map.

The nice directly proportional boost and rpm characteristics of the supercharger make them easier to map. To cope with forced induction you will usually need to decrease the engines compression ratio .

Alloy wheel upgrades.

Due to the fact that alloy wheels are lighter they improve performance and they help to cool the brake disks. We can't go into too much detail here about tires but they are how the car puts the power down on the road so are a critical choice. soft compound tires work well on Ignis, and make a big difference over budget tires. Please note that although they can look cool on the Ignis big alloys will actually decrease your performance. The larger you go the lower your acceleration will be - this to the change in your effective final drive ratio.

Although some people have with bigger wheels without problems we would restrict ourselves to a 16 inch rim size as the maximum.

If you would like to know more, or just get some friendly advice on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss Ignis options in more detail with our Ignis owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Suzuki tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

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One Response to “Ignis Tuning”

  1. Stig says:

    I have a 2004 ignis 1.3, mostly original, but I have opened the valves up a little, specially on the intake side. My goodness, what a difference. From standstill too flat out is RAPID. It’s official top speed is 100mph, but if you keep it in 4th, 110 no problem but very unstable. My gearbox is whining like mad, but has done since I bought the car and it gets abused everyday as I’m trying to break it to either buy a new car or turn it into a project. It’s so damn reliable and good on fuel. 3rd from 60 will goto 90 in a blink of an eye which has upset some really flash cars. Lightening this car just makes it so much fun and quite a handful, spinning in 2nd all the way to redline in the dry without any issues. These suzukis or this m13a engine is superb. I would have another just for the fun factor and I see why they raced them. Iv’e ran mine without an airfilter since day one, like I said, I’m trying to break it, but it just wont break. I’m going to lighten the flywheel next, then maybe a smaller crank pulley. I think this engine can easily push 120-140 without alot of work. Anyway, some great info on your site, though I do recommend to increase the intake side valves by a thou, maybe 2 thou, makes alot of difference. Aston did this to the 4 litre jeep engine by increasing the valve lift by a millimeter.

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