Vauxhall Meriva Tuning

"A family car that you can have fun in."

Handling modifications are usually your first port of call for the Meriva. We would go to a maximum drop of 35mm on most models. You risk rubbing on the arches if you go lower than this.

Our aim in Meriva engine tuning should be to increase peak power and Torque at the top end.

The best power gains come from larger engine sizes. The more you start with the bigger the return on investment so engine swaps are good value mods for small engined cars.

Vauxhall Meriva Tuning modifications.

Doing this will help to keep the cars economy at lower speeds. A fast road cam will be one of the best power mod you can do mechanically to your engine. When pushing up the power you will need to pay attention to the fuelling. More power needs more fuel. A fuel pressure boost valve will make the car more responsive and respond better. To get sufficient fuel you may need to uprate the injectors on your engine. A fuel pump will only deliver a finite amount of fuel, so you may need to uprate this.

Vauxhall Meriva Intake and Exhaust.

The next area for modification is the intake and exhaust. Maximum power gains come from a full induction kit. On small engines you will actually lose low down power so we suggest you use a panel air filter instead. Sports exhausts balance the flow of air throughout the engine. But if your exhaust is too larger (over 2.5 inches bore) you will lose back pressure on most engines.

In nearly all cases of Meriva 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, but will help unleash the potential if you have done a lot of mods. The largest power gains for NASP engines usually involve the addition of forced induction although this requires a reduction in the compression ratio unless you are happy with low power gains.

Superchargers are generally easier to add than turbos. It is harder to map a turbo as the boost comes on exponentially with engine speed. Superchargers however will give a boost which is proportional to engine speed so is easier to map. Alternatively you could add water injection to control knock.

Vauxhall Meriva Wheel modifications.

Because alloy wheels are lighter they improve performance and they help to cool the brake disks. Large Meriva alloy wheels can decrease performance. If you get big alloy wheels you will be changing your final drive ratio. Although some people have gone larger we would stick to a 16 inch rim size as the maximum.

Please join us in our forum to discuss the Meriva options in more detail with our Meriva owners. It would also be worth reading our Vauxhall tuning articles to get a full grasp of the pros and cons of each type of modification.