Fiat Bravo Tuning

"Thank you for reading my Bravo tuning guide."

The Bravo is a good car modification project to do. If you do your homework then you can create an awesome Bravo but don't be fooled there are lots of sports upgrades out there that will simply not suit it read our unbiased guides first.

Tuning tips and articles

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

 

Handling/Suspension upgrades

Handling modifications are high on most peoples lists for the Bravo.

Good suspension tweaks that substantially benefit handling for the Bravo include a couple of degrees negative camber and 1-1.5 degrees of toe in or out on the front wheels. Toe in for stability, or Toe out to improve cornering. It would also pay to improve the brakes, by adding larger discs and or higher friction pads..

We suggest that you fit sports suspension and lower the car by 25mm - 35 mm. Larger drops require arch work - especially on models already equipped with performance suspension.

Turning our attention to the engine we need to get a bit more torque out of the top end.

With the right choice of mods you can change your Bravo into a hot hatch, beating bigger engined cars on the track.

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 a small engine size.

Engine Tuning.

These are the modified modifications are usually carried out by our members, decide how far you want to go before you get going.

First generation models 1995-2001

  • 1.4 S/SX -1999 i4 1,370 cc 80 PS (59 kW; 79 hp) at 6000 rpm 112 Nm (83 lbft) at 2750 rpm
  • 80 SX/HSX From 1999 i4 1,242 cc 82 PS (60 kW; 81 hp) at 5500 rpm 113 Nm (83 lbft) at 4250 rpm
  • 100 SX/HSX/ELX i4 1,581 cc 103 PS (76 kW; 102 hp) at 5750 rpm 144 Nm (106 lbft) at 4000 rpm
  • 115 ELX/HLX/GT i4 1,747 cc 113 PS (83 kW; 111 hp) at 6100 rpm 154 Nm (114 lbft) at 4400 rpm
  • HGT -1999 I5 1,998 cc 147 PS (108 kW; 145 hp) at 6100 rpm 186 Nm (137 lbft) at 4500 rpm
  • 155 HGT -1999 I5 1,998 cc 155 PS (114 kW; 153 hp) at 6500 rpm 186 Nm (137 lbft) at 3750 rpm

 

Diesel engines

 

  • 1.9 D SX – i4 1,929 cc 65 PS (48 kW; 64 hp) at 4600 rpm 119 Nm (88 lbft) at 2000 rpm
  • TD 75 SX – i4 1,910 cc 75 PS (55 kW; 74 hp) at 4200 rpm 147 Nm (108 lbft) at 2750 rpm
  • TD 100 SX/ELX – i4 1,910 cc 100 PS (74 kW; 99 hp) at 4200 rpm 200 Nm (150 lbft) at 2250 rpm
  • JTD 105 SX/ELX/GT From 1999 i4 1,910 cc 105 PS (77 kW; 104 hp) at 4000 rpm 200 Nm (150 lbft) at 1500 rpm

Second generation engine options.

  • JTD 100 SX/ELX/GT 2001 – 2003 i4 1,910 cc 100 PS (74 kW; 99 hp) at 4000 rpm 200 Nm (150 lbft) at 1500rpm
  • 1.4 Fire 16V90 2007–2014 I4, Petrol 1,368 cc 66 kW (90 PS) 128 Nm (94 lbft) @4,500 rpm
  • 1.4 Fire 16V90 GPL 2009–2014 I4, Petrol-LPG 1,368 cc 66 kW (90 PS) 128 Nm (94 lbft) @4,500 rpm
  • 1.4 T-Jet 16V120 2007–2014 I4, Petrol 1,368 cc 88 kW (120 PS) 206 Nm (152 lbft) @2,000 rpm
  • 1.4 T-Jet 16V120 Dualogic 2008–2014 I4, Petrol 1,368 cc 88 kW (120 PS) 206 Nm (152 lbft) @2,000 rpm
  • 1.4 Multiair Turbo 16V140 2010–2014 I4, Petrol 1,368 cc 103 kW (140 PS) 230 Nm (170 lbft) @1,750 rpm
  • 1.4 T-Jet 16V150 2007–2010 I4, Petrol 1,368 cc 110 kW (152 PS) 230 Nm (170 lbft) @3,000 rpm
  • 1.8 E.Torq 1.8 16V 2010–2014 I4, Petrol/Ethanol 1,747 cc 95 kW (130 PS) (petrol)
  • 97 kW (132 PS) (ethanol) 18.4 kg⋅m (180 Nm; 133 lbft) @4,500 rpm (petrol) 18.9 kg⋅m (185 Nm; 137 lbft) @4,500 rpm (ethanol)
  • 1.6 Multijet 16V 90 2009–2014 I4, Diesel 1,598 cc 66 kW (90 PS) 290 Nm (214 lbft) @1,500 rpm
  • 1.6 Multijet 16V105 2008–2014 I4, Diesel 1,598 cc 77 kW (105 PS) 290 Nm (214 lbft) @1,500 rpm
  • 1.6 Multijet 16VPurO2 105 2009–2014 I4, Diesel 1,598 cc 77 kW (105 PS) 290 Nm (214 lbft) @1,500 rpm
  • 1.6 Multijet 16V120 2008–2014 I4, Diesel 1,598 cc 88 kW (120 PS) 300 Nm (221 lbft) @1,500 rpm
  • 1.6 Multijet 16V120 Dualogic 2008–2014 I4, Diesel 1,598 cc 88 kW (120 PS) 300 Nm (221 lbft) @1,500 rpm
  • 1.9 Multijet 8V 90 – I4, Diesel 1,910 cc 66 kW (90 PS) 225 Nm (166 lbft) @2,000 rpm
  • 1.9 Multijet 8V 120 2007–2008 I4, Diesel 1,910 cc 88 kW (120 PS) 255 Nm (188 lbft) @2,000 rpm
  • 1.9 Multijet 16V150 2007–2008 I4, Diesel 1,910 cc 110 kW (150 PS) 305 Nm (225 lbft) @2,000 rpm
  • 2.0 Multijet 16V165 2008–2012 I4, Diesel 1,956 cc 121 kW (165 PS) 360 Nm (266 lbft) @2,000 rpm

Getting the correct grade of sports mods for your planned usage of the car is vital. Stage 3 competition upgrades 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. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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, Alloy wheels, Panel air filter, Engine Tunes/Remapping, Suspension upgrade (drop 25mm - 35 mm), Sports exhaust.

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

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

Your goal when modding the engine should be a wide torque range. You want to avoid sending all the power to be at the top end unless you are creating a motor sport car.

The aim of our advice is to give a brief overview of tuning upgrades and point you in the right direction, our forum is the place to go for detailed advice and tips on your customized car project, the best uprated kits and all aspects of modding cars.One of the biggest mechanical upgrades you can do on your NA (naturally aspirated) engine is to fit a fast road cam .

The intake and exhaust durations play a large part in your cars power band, but be careful here, getting this wrong can upset the idle and make the car impossible to drive in traffic. You'd need to follow a cam upgrade with other mods and finish with a performance chip for the best performance gains.

When pushing up the power you will need to pay attention to the fuelling. More power needs more fuel.

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

Uprate the fuel pump to cope with the extra fuel requirements of your tuned Bravos uprated injectors.

Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

The next area for modification is the intake and exhaust. Induction kits only help to increase performance if the air intake is struggling! Adding an induction kit to most standard engines will see NO 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.

For most Bravo engines TorqueCars would suggest you just go with a washable panel air filter. On heavily tuned engines and turbo vehicles an induction kit will help release the power providing you address the problem of supplying cold air.

Sports exhausts increase the flow of gases through the engine. But if your exhaust pipe is too big, ie: over 2.5 inches bore, you will lose a lot of your flow rate and end up sapping power and torque.

flowed (porting and polishing) the head will allow you to maximise your air/fuel charge.

Leave this to a professional though with a proper flow bench and machine tools A good triple plate fast road uprated clutch will help to keep that power going where it should. Never skimp or ask the standard OEM clutch to cope.

The best mods that we recommend for your Bravo are remaps, sports camshafts and induction improvementsNA (naturally aspirated) engines do not achieve big power gains if you tune/remap them, unless you have done extensive modifications. With turbocharged engines this is another story. A tuned/remapped turbo will give phenomenal power gains and fully release the potential power of the engine.

We've also seen some tuners playing with twin charging applications and making some seriously high power gains.

Despite the large cost involved adding forced induction to a NA (naturally aspirated) engine will give large power gains. It is usually simpler to bolt on a supercharger than it is to bolt on a turbo. With a turbo the power curve is related exponentially to the engine speed making it difficult to map fuelling with.

Superchargers will give a boost which is proportional to engine speed so is simpler. Decreasing the engines compression ratio will allow you to add forced induction, water injection may also help prevent detonation.

Alloy wheel upgrades.

Alloy wheels can help the brake cooling and are usually less heavy than the steel ones. 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. track legal slick tires work well on Bravo, and make a big difference over budget tires. Large Bravo alloys can decrease performance. If you get big alloys you will be changing your final drive ratio.

Due to this we would advise sticking to a maximum wheel size of 16 inches, although we know some of our members have fitted larger wheels with no problems.

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 Bravo options in more detail with our Bravo owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Fiat tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

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